Romax and the University of Sheffield open R&D Centre as part of Regional Growth Fund Project

Romax was awarded a share of £5.8 million RGF funding to work with the University of Sheffield to deliver projects that aim to accelerate technological R&D and develop them into further commercial offerings. Romax and the University of Sheffield Electrical Machines and Drives Group have established a technical R&D centre to focus on the development of Romax’s mechanical and electrical machine capability across many sectors but primarily in the wind industry. The centre will focus on the development of tools such as the company’s flagship product, Designer, for wind, and new products, CAD FUSION, Dynamic FUSION and CONCEPT that offer further design, development, optimisation and analysis of drivetrains.

The creation of the Romax technical R&D centre is very timely given the recent growth in the group’s research activities in the renewable energy sector and the strong electromechanical nature of modern drive-trains, for wind turbines and electric/hybrid vehicles. It has become widely accepted that in order to achieve higher efficiencies and reliability with reduced capital and running costs, a holistic approach, which takes into consideration the interactions between the mechanical and electrical components, should be adopted.

This project will help Romax to expand and deepen its knowledge and understanding of the complete electro-mechanical system design, analysis and integration to develop a long term strategy to increase this capability.

The University’s academic lead, Professor Kais Atallah, said of the project: ‘We are very pleased to be working with Romax on the development of drivetrain designs for the wind industry. The project is providing a great platform for us to explore how the University’s strong knowledge base can be exploited and allows us to work at the heart of the economic regeneration within Sheffield as well as the South Yorkshire region to enable the creation of green jobs. We hope that by working with Romax we can continue our global reach for innovative research, looking at applied research into technologies that are likely to be central to future developments.’

Underlining Romax’s expertise in drivetrain engineering and design, the company was recently awarded a 25^th certificate in supporting the development of 25 Germanischer Lloyd drivetrain A design certifications around the world. Romax now boasts an unprecedented capability in the development of drivetrain designs in the wind, automotive, rail, aerospace and marine sectors.

On Thursday 13^th June, Romax CEO, Dr Poon, along with Professor Richard Jones, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation of the University of Sheffield, and Narec, partners in the RGF will officially open the R&D centre that currently employs three electrical engineers working on the project.