Grant award of £1.16m for manufacturing research project

Dr Aylin Ates and Professor Jill MacBryde, Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation, and Professor Colin Lindsay and Dr Robert Stewart, both Department of Work, Employment and Organisation, have been awarded £1.16 million from the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) for a high-impact 12-month research project.

This new project, as part of Made Smarter Innovation programme, will support the transformation of UK manufacturing by helping SMEs adopt digital technologies that boost energy and resource efficiency while placing people at the heart of change.

The project is a collaborative effort between Loughborough University, Strathclyde Business School, and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), and aims to shape a more sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and technologically advanced future for UK manufacturing.

Dr Ates said, “UK manufacturing is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by digitally enabled business models that are increasingly coopetitive, circular, and ecosystem based. We are delighted to collaborate with the University of Loughborough and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland on this new UKRI-funded research project, which focuses on developing strategic capabilities in manufacturing SMEs.”

Published: 1 May 2025