University allocated £16m Good Growth Fund investment for manufacturing and creative innovation facility

Manchester Met has been allocated £16 million from the Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund to establish FUSE-M, a groundbreaking innovation facility bringing together immersive technologies, AI and advanced manufacturing to help businesses develop, test and commercialise new ideas.

The allocation forms a key part of the latest round of investment from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which has earmarked funding for a range of projects through the innovation strand of its  Good Growth Fund.

FUSE-M (Future User-centred Simulation, Enterprise and Manufacturing) will be a 1,600 sq m business-facing innovation facility located in Hulme, where organisations can explore, test and adopt emerging technologies.

The project brings together manufacturing expertise from Manchester Met’s award winning advanced additive manufacturing facility PrintCity, and Centre for Digital Modelling and Analysis for Cultural Heritage (D-MACH) facility, alongside creative and digital expertise from the University’s School of Digital Arts (SODA), and innovation and business support from its Centre for Enterprise.

The new facility will be a specialist innovation space providing companies with access to advanced simulation, digital modelling, immersive technologies, digital twins, prototyping and manufacturing capabilities.

The facility has already attracted support from major industry partners including Siemens, HP, Matsuura, TEKEVER and The Vita Group and will work alongside key regional innovation assets including Atom Valley, Manchester Science Park and the Henry Royce Institute.

FUSE-M will support hundreds of businesses through demonstrations, innovation programmes and collaborative projects while helping to develop skills in AI, immersive technologies and digital manufacturing.

The initial five-year programme includes an initial design and construction phase, with business support, demonstrations and collaborative projects planned for years three to five.

Carlo Harvey, Professor of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “From digital possibility to proven real-world value, FUSE-M will support Greater Manchester’s strengths in Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, Digital, Cyber and AI, and Creative Industries.

“The facility will also create new opportunities for collaboration between businesses, researchers, students and communities, supporting the development of higher-value products, more productive processes and future-ready skills.”

Carl Diver, Professor of Innovative Manufacturing at Manchester Metropolitan University, added: “By aligning Fuse-M with Greater Manchester’s focus on technology adoption and productivity, and the emphasis on digitalisation and advanced manufacturing, we are excited to bring companies on a journey from immersive exploration and simulation through to physical validation, adoption and business impact, allowing rapid turnaround prototyping.”

The Good Growth allocation follows two multimillion pound awards for Manchester Met, announced earlier this year, from UK Research and Innovation’s Local Innovation Partnership Fund (LIPF) to boost AI and health innovation across Greater Manchester.

Together, these projects will help Manchester Met to turn its world-class research into real-world impacts, supporting innovative businesses to develop the products and services that will drive economic growth across the whole city-region.