Disclaimer: The responsibility for quality and suitability of the content of the said web sites linked from this document or it’s availability is the responsibility of the said web page owner. There are no connections legal or otherwise, between ACostE, author of this document or the web page owners linked to from this document. ACostE or the author accepts no liability for the content of this Directory or the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided.

Author: Bob Mills ACostE EMC Chairman – written December 2010

At its core the ACostE EMC stands for 2 key requirements of association; the pursuit of Professional Excellence and a central component of 'Networking' within and across the Profession.

Within and under 'Networking' is the ability to call upon and draw upon the knowledge of like minded fellow Professionals but it needs to be more than that.

The following is a 1st attempt at bringing together into a single point of reference the various UK 'National Centres of Excellence' which have been developed in resent years are may hold the key to your next break-through or Eureka moment.

If you find additional sources of useful, accessible information please advise so that this Central Resource can be developed into a '1st port of call' when looking for 'Knowledge'.

In making this 'Central Resource' available the ACostE EMC is not making or inferring any recommendation of the services that might be available.

·  Link to "The Current and Future Role of Technology and Innovation Centres in the UK" – March 2010
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/10-843-role-of-technology-innovation-centres-hauser-review.pdf

·  UK Business Information - Centres of Excellence, Universities, R&D

http://www.locations4business.com/europe/UK/national-information/universities-research-innovation-and-centres-of-excellence/centres-of-excellence/

Includes information on:

o  Biosciences and Healthcare

o  Information & Communication Technologies

o  Environmental technologies

o  Aerospace and Defence

o  Automotive & Automotive Components

o  Nanotechnology

o  Chemical Industry & Pharmaceuticals

o  Sports Industry & Equipment

o  Nuclear

o  Energies - Oil,Gas & Coal

o  Creative Industries

o  Food and Drink Manufacturing

o  Financial Services

o  Telecommunications

·  National Physical Laboratory
http://www.npl.co.uk/about/
The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is one of the UK's leading science and research facilities. It is a world-leading centre of excellence in developing and applying the most accurate standards, science and technology available.

·  PDR The National Centre for Product Design and Development Research
http://www.pdr-online.co.uk/
PDR is a world leading research, design and innovation organisation.

·  NNCE National Nuclear Centre of Excellence for peaceful International Uses of Nuclear Energy.
http://www.nnce.org.uk/home/
The role of the NNCE in support of the UK’s contribution and commitment to the NPT, focuses on the challenges of:

·  Nuclear security

·  Non-proliferation

·  Enabling international access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy

·  National Centre for Project Management (NCPM)
http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/ncpm/
The National Centre for Project Management (NCPM) is an inter-disciplinary centre of excellence based at Middlesex University and operating in collaboration with industry, government and the learned societies.
NCPM aims to set the national agenda and establish project management as a major profession and discipline in the UK. NCPM is thus concerned with fostering active dialogue about the integration of successful practice and theoretical research within project management.

·  Conference Centres of Excellence
http://www.cceonline.co.uk/
Conference Centres of Excellence is the UK's only marketing consortium of top quality dedicated conference and training centres. Our skills and resources are focused on conferences and learning.

·  UK National Composites Centre
http://www.netcomposites.co.uk/news.asp?5952
NetComposites is a global research, consultancy and online media company, creating and using innovative technologies to advance the composites industry.

·  National Fluid Power Centre.
http://www.nfpc.co.uk/index.html
World leader for Training in Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Control & Automation.

·  The National Centre of Tribology
http://www.esrtechnology.com/news_detail.asp?InfoID=572
Warrington, UK. ESR Technology, one of the UK's leading engineering, safety and risk management consultancies, today announced that its National Centre of Tribology (NCT) is celebrating its 40th year of operation solving industrial engineering problems for organisations all over the world.

·  The National Non-Destructive Testing Centre (NNDTC)
http://www.esrtechnology.com/page_view2.asp?InfoID=335
Non-destructive testing plays a vital part in manufacturing, quality control and plant life management and is used in a wide range of sectors including oil and gas, aviation, rail and utilities.
Set up by the UK Department of Trade and Industry 40 years ago as the UK centre of excellence for NDT, the National Non-Destructive Testing Centre (NNDTC) operates within ESR Technology.

·  National Outsourcing Association.
http://www.noa.co.uk/
The NOA is the UK's only outsourcing trade association and THE centre of excellence in outsourcing.
We are an independent body focused on communicating the significant benefits and strategic lessons of outsourcing. We are not-for-profit, run by our members for our members.
Uniquely representing the interests of both outsourcing end users and suppliers, our services are focused on delivering education, excellence and collaboration. We are involved in all areas of outsourcing, including: ITO, BPO and KPO.

·  Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/structuralceramics
The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics has been funded by a £5.5M grant from the EPSRC Science and Innovation 4th Call to the Departments ofMaterialsandMechanical Engineeringat Imperial College London. It formally started on 1July 2008, and will have with strong links to energy, aerospace and defence, transport and healthcare industries.

·  The Higher Education Academy – Engineering Subject Centre. http://www.engsc.ac.uk/homeThe Engineering Subject Centre's Missionto work in partnership with the UK engineering community to provide the best possible higher education learning experience for all students and contribute to the long term health of the engineering profession.

·  The Higher Education Academy – Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Subject Centre.
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/business/
The Business, Management, Accountancy and Finance Network (BMAF) is part of the Higher Education Academy.
It was formerly known as the Business Education Support Team (BEST), part of the former Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN).

·  UK Centre for Materials Education
http://www.materials.ac.uk/
'The UKCME supports high quality student learning in materials science and related disciplines. It promotes, encourages and coordinates the development and adoption of effective practices in learning, teaching and assessment.'

·  Centre for Software Reliability.
http://www.csr.ncl.ac.uk/
The Centre for Software Reliability (CSR) is a research centre within the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Research is focused on how to make computing systems more dependable. It is linked to the Informatics Research Institute and the work of the dependability group in the School of Computing Science at Newcastle University.

·  EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies
http://www.shef.ac.uk/eee/research/nc35t
The EPSRC National Centre for III-V Technologies is internationally known for the production of state-of-the-art semiconductor epitaxy and device fabrication using III-V semiconductors.
Our mission is to provide collaborative access to world class expertise and facilities, thus enabling top-rate scientific research in the physical, engineering and biomedical sciences. This is achieved by the provision of state-of-the-art epitaxial materials and characterization, advanced technologies for device fabrication, and the provision of custom opto-electronic and electronic devices.

·  The National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC)
http://www.biomanufacturing.co.uk/
The National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC) was developed as a publicly funded project (2003-2008) and the facility is owned by the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA). The publicly funded project is now complete and the NBC operator, Eden Biodesign, is an NWDA tenant operating a fully commercial product development and contract manufacturing business. This website is being maintained to provide historic details of the NBC public project.

·  The National Productivity Centre
http://www.natprodcentre.com/
The NPC works at national and regional level advising on policy and practices needed to create and maintain an effective infrastructure that offers the potential for high productivity; and then works with organisations in all sectors of the economy to realise that potential by helping them identify and implement world-class practice.

·  National Materials Technology Centre.
http://www.namtec.co.uk/
Improving competitiveness of the UK Metals Industry by stimulating high technology innovation and research and development.

·  The Innovative Design & Manufacturing Research Centreat the University of Bath

http://www.bath.ac.uk/idmrc/

·  Advanced Machining Process & Systems

·  Constraint-Based Design & Optimisation

·  Design Information & Knowledge

·  Metrology & Assembly Systems & Technologies

(Includes Costing Research under Dr. Linda Newnes )

·  Innovative electronics Manufacturing Research Centre (IeMRC)

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/iemrc/

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