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Bradford Digitisation Hub (BDH)

Black on white logo Funded by UK Government text

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.

Follow this link here to express your interest in signing up for the Bradford Digitisation Hub, you can also email our Commercial Manager Jason Jones at j.r.jones@bradford.ac.uk

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Bradford Digitisation Hub team

Dr Jason Jones

Commercial Manager Faculty of Life Sciences

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Jason has a PhD in Chemistry from University of York and 20 years’ experience in R&D and business development in the pharmaceutical and chemical research services sector. Jason has extensive experience in business development and business management and is currently responsible for growing the commercial and grant funded revenues of a number of Research and Knowledge Transfer Centres across the Faculty including Pharmaceutical Engineering Sciences, Institute of Cancer Therapeutics and Centre for Chemical and Structural Analysis. Director and Business Manager for Lena Nanoceutics Ltd a University spin-in company

View my full profile.

 

Contact

Email
j.r.jones@bradford.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0) 1274 236913
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Commercial Manager Faculty of Life Sciences

Professor Richard Telford

Director of the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis

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Richard is a Professor of Analytical Chemistry  and Director of the Analytical Centre at the University of Bradford; a specialist facility managing the major analytical equipment for the University. He joined Bradford in 2005 to manage commercial projects run through the Centre and continues to collaborate widely with industrial partners delivering continuously on multiple projects to the Pharmaceutical, Agrochemical, Healthcare and Specialty Chemical Sectors as Principle Investigator. He has delivered over £2.0m commercial research income since joining the University. Prior to this, Richard started his career at Zeneca (subsequently AstraZeneca and Syngenta) where he spent 8 years in characterisation functions at their HMC and Jealott’s Hill manufacturing and R&D sites as a Senior Analytical Chemist. He has extensive expertise in a broad range of analytical techniques including NMR, vibrational spectroscopy (Raman, FTIR), separation science (HPLC, GC, CE), mass spectrometry, thermal analysis (DSC, TGA, DMA), and electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), with a particular research interest in hyphenated techniques including DSC-Raman/FTIR/XRD (the focus of a recently co-authored book chapter for the RSC text “Principles of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry”).

To view Richard's full profile

Contact

Email
R.Telford@bradford.ac.uk
Phone
01274 236143
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Director of the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis

Dr Laia Rafols Parellada

Lead Research Technician

Lead Research Technician, Faculty of Life Sciences

Laia completed her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry followed by her Master's degree in Applied Materials Chemistry with honours from the University of Barcelona in July 2019. Shortly after, she secured a studentship to pursue her PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Bradford from 2019 to 2023.

Currently, Laia is employed as a Research Technician for the SIBLING project at the Centre for Chemical and Biological Analysis. Her field of expertise includes a range of analytical techniques such as NMR and UV-Vis spectroscopy.

Lead Research Technician, Faculty of Life Sciences

Lead Research Technician

Professor Ben Whiteside

Professor of Precision Manufacturing

Professor Ben Whiteside

Prof Ben Whiteside, CEng, completed a PhD in 2001 studying ‘Simulation and validation of glass fibre orientation in automotive injection mouldings’ at the University of Bradford. Since then he has actively researched the field of micro-injection moulding (micromoulding), beginning with working at post doctoral level on an EPSRC funded research programme.  Over the last decade, he has built the area considerably by attracting further grant funding and industrial contracts worth in excess of £5m. 

He is now Director of the Centre for Polymer Micro and Nano Technology (the Polymer MNT centre) based at the University of Bradford which was officially opened in 2009 and has quickly established a reputation as a key research facility in Europe for micro and nano moulding activities. The Polymer MNT Centre provides a focus for industry-facing aspects of research activities and a route for industrial engagement for proof of concept work, contract R&D and small scale manufacture.  Key Academic research areas investigate many aspects of the process including material modification and characterisation, micro and nano scale surface structuring, process measurement, high speed imaging systems, precision part handling systems, tribology  and product property assessment.

To View Prof Whiteside's full profile 

Contact

Email
b.r.whiteside@bradford.ac.uk
Professor Ben Whiteside

Professor of Precision Manufacturing

Dr Kavian Cooke

Associate Professor in Material Science and Engineering

Dr Kavian Cooke

Dr Cooke joined the University of Bradford in 2017. He is an Associate Professor in Material Science and Engineering and Director of Post-Graduate Research. Before coming to the University of Bradford Dr Cooke served as Programme Director of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Technology, Jamaica. He was awarded a PhD in Materials Engineering from the University of Calgary in 2011, which focused on transient liquid phase diffusion bonding of particle reinforced aluminium alloys. His qualifications also include a B. Eng. with honours and an MPhil from the University of Technology in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in Management from Patten University. Dr Cooke is a reviewer for several international journals illustrating international recognition in the main field. In 2013, he won the prestigious University of Technology, Jamaica President Research Excellence Award for research excellence in surface and interface engineering. Dr Cooke is also a chartered engineer (C.Eng.), a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Member of the Caribbean Academy of Science.

To see Dr Cooke's full profile

Contact

Email
k.cooke1@bradford.ac.uk
Dr Kavian Cooke

Associate Professor in Material Science and Engineering

Sharon Mason

Finance Manager

Assistant Finance Business Partner

Sharon Mason works within the Financial Management Team at the University and is helping to deliver the SIBLING Project.  She has worked at the University since 2015 as part of the finance department, starting as a Finance Officer (Grants) and moving on to Assistant Finance Business Partner in more recent years.  She also supported the CAYMAN project from a financial aspect.

Her first job on leaving college was within the Estates Department of the University.  She then worked in schools for 18 years whilst raising a family and held varying admin and finance rolls there.

She returned to studies in 2011 and completed her AAT qualification which then brought her full circle to return to the University.

Assistant Finance Business Partner

Finance Manager

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