An innovative digital lab will be set up at University Coventry where students can learn skills in demand in the health and engineering industries. This will include metal 3D printing. The Precision Digital Manufacturing and Healthcare Technology Lab has been awarded £5million from the Office for Students and will be equipped with industry standard digital technologies such as 3D metal printing and high-end radiography equipment.
Students from Coventry University’s Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing and the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, will both benefit from the facility, learning how to use specialist equipment employed in both health and engineering sectors.
It is hoped the lab will also foster a collaborative approach and potentially lead to developments in areas such as prosthetics and wearable technologies, which require both areas of expertise.
“Digitisation of healthcare is the future and in order to develop this area we need to have access to this high-cost equipment, enabling us to train the specialists that our hospitals are calling out for. We already have equipment to train our students in diagnostic radiography, but this new laboratory will make it possible to teach therapeutic radiography, which is the use of radiation to treat cancer. Having this level of collaboration between faculties in a shared laboratory will make us unusual as a university, as due to the high-cost, many higher education institutions are not able to offer these facilities. Nationally there is a shortage of key staff in these specialist areas of healthcare. We’re delighted to have this opportunity, without large capital investments like these we would not be able to gain access to this type of specialist and costly cutting-edge equipment”, explains Professor Stephen Hagen, Interim Academic Dean at Coventry University’s Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.
Prof Hagen added that he expects Coventry University will develop new healthcare courses when the equipment is available.
“This project presents great opportunities for students as they will be able to access state-of-the-art digital engineering technology, but further forward collaboration between both faculties will offer great benefits especially in areas such as digital healthcare. The precision 3D printing technology available will mean we can create useable components for healthcare applications, while digital twinning will allow us to simulate how objects will work in a virtual environment. We are absolutely thrilled that we will be able to invest in these technologies, it’s an incredible opportunity for us, that doesn’t come around very often”, says Professor Catherine Hobbs, Academic Dean at Coventry University’s Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing.
Find out more about the University Coventry at coventry.ac.uk.
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