Co-AIMS Hub Kick-Off: Building Momentum for the Future of UK Manufacturing
We were delighted to host the successful kick-off meeting of the EPSRC Co-AIMS Hub (Collaborative AI for Manufacturing Sustainability) on Friday 12 December at the University of Birmingham. The event brought together over 60 attendees, with strong representation from industry, industrial associations, and regional government, underscoring the clear demand for a coordinated national effort in this space.
The discussions reflected the ambition and national importance of Co-AIMS: positioning the UK as a global leader in human-centred, trustworthy AI for manufacturing, driving green growth, productivity, resilience, and social sustainability across priority sectors.
We were particularly pleased to hear perspectives from key external stakeholders:
- EPSRC, with contributions from Anke Davis, highlighting the strong alignment of Co-AIMS with national strategy on sustainable manufacturing, AI and robotics.
- Innovate UK, where Gary Cutts set out the industrial opportunity and the critical role of AI in accelerating adoption and impact across UK industry.
- Siemens UK, with David Moss emphasising the importance of deep industry–academia collaboration to translate research into real-world competitiveness and value.
With an inspiring programme spanning the hub vision, research themes, industrial flagships, and pathways for engagement, the kick-off marked the start of an exciting journey. Co-AIMS offers a unique national platform to work together to advance AI-enabled manufacturing that is productive, sustainable, and people-centred.
We look forward to building this community and turning ambition into impact.
Agata Suwała CEng MBA MSc, Ales Leonardis, Professor Ashutosh Tiwari FREng, Bernadin Namoano, David Butler, David Sanderson, Duc Pham, Emma Kendrick, Fern Elsdon-Baker, Giovanna Martinez Arellano, Ingmar Posner, Jack Chaplin, John Ahmet Erkoyuncu, Karol Janik, Kerstin Eder, Masoud S Bahraini, Mike Wilson, Mostafizur Rahman, Natanael Bolson, Niels Lohse, Paolo Missier, Sabine Hauert, Professor Samia Nefti-Meziani OBE, Dr Seemal Asif CENG FHEA MIET, Svetan Ratchev FREng, Tiziana C. Callari, Tom Hodgson, Phil Webb, Windo Hutabarat