Peterborough university students to be at heart of cutting edge research after new agreement with award-winning company

Princess Anne receives a gift of a model horse made by 3D printing from Photocentric managing director Paul Holt last year. EMN-210920-142643009

Students in Peterborough will be placed at the heart of innovative research after a leading company and the city’s new university agreed closer ties.

A Memo of Understanding has just been agreed by ARU Peterborough and triple Queen’s Award winning 3D printing specialists Photocentric, which will be the anchor tenant in a £16.7 million Manufacturing and Materials Research and Development Centre that will form the second phase of ARU Peterborough.

The strengthened partnership will allow students to become involved in joint research projects with Photocentric and will benefit from other openings for engagement, new apprenticeship opportunities, professional development pathways as well as an enriched curriculum.

Photocentric is renown for creating new ways to digitally mass manufacture products for use in most walks of life using its revolutionary 3D printing technology.

Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough at the site of the new university at Bishop's Road. EMN-211203-183203009

The company received its third Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2020 and last year opened a dedicated digital manufacturing facility in Arizona in the United States.

Managing Director Paul Holt, who received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours for his contribution to international trade and commitment to education, as well as Photocentric’s role in providing millions of 3D-printed PPE to UK healthcare workers, said: “We are excited about the important role that the centre will play in developing the engineers and scientists of tomorrow.

“A strong and innovative manufacturing sector is at the heart of a modern economy and at Photocentric we are helping global businesses to reimagine their manufacturing processes.

“This centre will play a key role in the development of the disruptive technologies and new materials that will shape tomorrow.

“We are delighted to be working alongside our partner, ARU Peterborough, in helping to place this region at the cutting edge of manufacturing innovation.”

Construction work on the centre, which will feature 2,800 sqm of flexible research space over three floors, started last October and is due to be completed in December this year.

The centre will also be home to other established and start-up companies and will give the university important links to local industry and will encourage collaboration in advanced manufacturing and materials research.

Professor Ross Renton, principal of ARU Peterborough, said: “We have made it clear from the beginning that ARU Peterborough will be a very different kind of university.

“We are working closely with local businesses to ensure we are providing the courses and skills they need, allowing our graduates to remain in this region, in turn helping to power local economic growth.

He added: “ARU Peterborough’s courses include BEng (Hons) Electronics and Robotics, BEng (Hons) Manufacturing Engineering and BEng (Hons) Mechatronics, and we hope our close relationship with Photocentric will provide enormous benefits for our students and future graduates, as well as the region’s economy.”

The new university, which is a partnership between the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Peterborough City Council and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), will open in September.

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