Bradford Digitisation Hub (BDH)
The Bradford Digitisation Hub (BDH) is an exciting £10 million programme which is co-funded by the UK Government through the West Yorkshire Industrial Strategy Zone and allocated via the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The project aims to contribute to improving pride in place and increasing life chances in the West Yorkshire region by enabling local manufacturing and “medtech” businesses to advance their respective markets through R&D and innovation, underpinned by investment in new infrastructure here at the University of Bradford's City Campus. The programme runs to March 2029 and will involve the University working with a minimum of 150 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across West Yorkshire
BDH is designed to solve complex research and development issues for SMEs, particularly health-tech companies, by using the University of Bradford’s scientific instrumentation and engineering capabilities and expertise. It is open to all eligible SMEs based in the West Yorkshire region and is delivered at no cost to the beneficiaries. The grant is given as a Minimum Financial Assistance subsidy from the UK government.
BDH will also provide access to existing instrumentation in the University's Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis and its Advanced Manufacturing Laboratories, ensuring that services can be tailored precisely to the SMEs’ individual requirements.
BDH (Phase1) will establish a range of new instrumentation in our Engineering facilities including:
- A flexible Manufacturing Cell
- A continuous Manufacturing Cell
- Instruments for advanced samples preparation and characterisation
For example we have purchased a Mini Mill for CNC Machining, a Universal Mechanical Tester, a Particle Size Analyser and UR10 industrial robot arm.
The Bradford Digitisation Hub follows on from similar SME funding initiatives from the Univeristy of Bradford, including the highly successful UKSPF-funded Project SIBLING and the ERDF-funded initiative Project CAYMAN, for examples of R&D innovation projects that may be performed under BDH, please visit our Client Case Studies pages.
Complete the BDH Expression of Interest Form or email our Commercial Manager Jason Jones at j.r.jones@bradford.ac.uk to find out more and get involved.
Bradford Digitisation Hub team
Commercial Manager Faculty of Life Sciences
Director of the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis
Lead Research Technician
Project Analyst
Professor of Precision Manufacturing
Associate Professor in Material Science and Engineering
Finance Manager
Contact us
Dr Jason Jones
Commercial Manager
J.R.Jones@bradford.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1274 236193
Dr Richard Telford
Director
r.telford@bradford.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1274 236143