A press release from Mori Seiki giving details about just some of the measures the company takes to promote engineering, particularly in relation to young people.

As well as producing its world renowned high technology machine tools, Mori Seiki understands the need to promote engineering and the benefits of helping young people to become the innovators of the future. Its support of the AMRC (University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) and co-sponsorship of the MANTRA truck, on display at MACH, are just two of the initiatives it has supported to encourage excellence and inspire the pursuit of engineering as a career.

The AMRC is dedicated to the development of cutting edge technology solutions for advanced materials forming, in a partnership between industry and academia, and is now a model for collaborative research centres worldwide. Adrian Allen, co-founder and Commercial Director of AMRC says, “Mori Seiki is one of the founding fathers of our research centre. Its philanthropy and proactive input has been invaluable in helping us to build a world-class facility, it is testimony to the company’s long term view of its business and the importance it puts on research for improving its products through new tools, techniques and technologies. The AMRC is proud to have such an association with one of the world’s leading machine tool companies.”

The MANTRA truck on display at MACH is the embodiment of the original ideas of Adrian Allen and Keith Ridgway, Professor of Design and Manufacture at the University of Sheffield, to promote the importance of manufacturing and to encourage more youngsters, back into engineering. Adrian Allen adds, “On board the truck, as well as the Mori Seiki DuraTurn 2050MC, students will be able to see exhibition material from Rolls-Royce, Boeing and Sandvik Coromant, and experience a 3D Virtual Reality system from Virtalis. By taking the truck to schools and colleges the MANTRA team aims to show off the latest technologies, the environment engineers work in, and some of the exciting products produced, ranging from jet engines to baby scanners and racing cars - illustrating the key role engineers play in developing the worlds greatest innovations.”

At MACH the MANTRA truck highlighted two of the European collaborative projects in which the AMRC is a participant. RAPOLAC, which involves the production of large aerospace parts from welded wire, and AFFIX, which provides a solution to the problem of clamping difficult to hold, or flexible parts, ready for manufacture, both gave visitors a taste of the latest advances in engineering technology.

Dr Masahiko Mori, President of Mori Seiki, visited the MANTRA truck at the MACH exhibition and commented, “We are very pleased to be involved in the AMRC’s initiative for the promotion of engineering as a career. The advanced technology on display will inspire the best young minds so that they become the innovators of the future.” Adrian Allen concluded, “We are delighted that Mori Seiki is sponsoring the MANTRA truck – again, it shows its commitment to the future, the AMRC and indeed the UK.”