Generating
partnerships
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s support has
been instrumental in inspiring a complete change in
the research philosophy of Cummins, an international
powergeneration group with long standing roots in
the UK
C
ummins, an Americanowned multinational
company with a long
heritage of manufacturing
in the UK, is known primarily for its
diesel engines that power trucks and
off-road vehicles around the world. But
engines are only part of their business,
which covers a broad range of power
generation systems and related
technologies.
One arm of the Cummins group,
Cummins Generator Technologies,
has had manufacturing operations
in Stamford, Lincolnshire for over
100 years and is a long established
supplier of generators to some of the
largest power generation companies
across the world. Cummins Generator
Technologies already had strong links
with the UK research community
spread over many universities and
research groups, but new challenges
and changes that faced the advanced
electrical machines industry meant that
a different approach was needed.
Increased electrification of transport,
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the growing need to integrate
different kinds of power generation
systems and evolving environmental
and emissions targets are stretching
existing technologies to their limits and
require a fresh wave of innovation from
research. Dr Neil Brown, Director of
Research and Technology at Cummins,
reflects: “In the past we engaged with
most of the UK universities wherever
we saw pockets of expertise, and also
with some in other parts of Europe.
That was great for creating a network
and keeping our ears to the ground in
terms of knowing what was going on”,
said Dr Brown. ”This policy of ‘trying
to do lots of little bits in lots of places’,
though, meant there was a lack of
focus to our overall research strategy”.
Dr Brown acknowledges the Royal
Academy of Engineering’s support in
the area of applied sciences. “Funding
is already available from research
councils for blue skies work, but there
is always a need for other funding
streams that can help turn ideas into
profitable products and services,”
he said. “The Academy has really
caught on to the urgent need for
support in the applied sciences and
that is really commendable. I think
we’ve already made a lot of progress
between ourselves and the University
of Nottingham thanks to their support
and there’s still a huge amount more
to come.”
The impact of research
A particular challenge of conducting
a research project is the vagaries of
academic life – individual researchers
leave when a project ends, and hence,
the talent pool of the institution can
dry-up very quickly. After discussing
the possibility of collaborations
between academia & industry with the
Royal Academy of Engineering, Brown
decided to steer Cummins’ research
strategy in a completely different
direction.
“We decided that we needed to
establish a single centre at a
centralised location,” Dr Brown said.
“We had worked with the University
of Nottingham for many years and
noticed that people didn’t move on,