Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

The Centre for Sustainable Engineering (CSEng), which has received £500,000 funding from the East of England Development Agency, will become the UK’s central point for existing and start-up businesses engaged in the development of new, more sustainable technologies and industrial processes that could shape environmental protection globally in the years to come.

It has been set up in Peterborough by national charity, UK CEED, in partnership with centres at Cranfield and Newcastle universities.

The new centre is one of a network of enterprise hubs across the region that EEDA is supporting which link together businesses and universities in the East of England and the rest of the UK.

As EEDA chairman Richard Ellis explains: “There is broad recognition across the region that the East of England is ideally placed to become an exemplar in its use of environmental technologies and efficient use of resources.

“The Centre for Sustainable Engineering will build on the world-class knowledge and expertise we already have in this region, to make a really positive contribution to this important priority.

“It will also bring universities and businesses closer together through technology transfer, which can only strengthen the region’s R & D sector and the economy in general.

“The centre will focus on providing market intelligence and support services to existing and start-up businesses which are developing new industrial processes.

“It will also link businesses with cutting-edge academic research and act as a catalyst for a more inter-disciplinary approach to engineering research within universities to match business needs.”

The centre has already won its first major project funding.

Bidding with one of its founding partners, the International Ecotechnology Centre at Cranfield University, the centre has secured £200,000 from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) for a project to improve the take-up of sustainable technologies within the East of England.

The concept for the centre arose from UK CEED’s Encluster initiative – a unique environment sector business support programme covering Greater Peterborough and the East of England.

The opportunity has subsequently been tested and confirmed by two detailed feasibility studies funded by EEDA over the last 18 months.

UK CEED’s Director, Jonathan Selwyn, explains: “There is a huge opportunity for forward thinking and innovative businesses if they can design products and processes that are more resource efficient and less environmentally damaging.

“The new centre is designed to help new and existing businesses, both large and small, to meet these challenges with the help of focused university intervention.

“This will mean more jobs and a growing regional presence in some of the world’s fastest growing industries.”

• Businesses interested in more information about the centre should contact Phil Sheppard or Peter James on 01733 311988.

For more information about the Centre for Sustainable Engineering please visit www.cseng.org.uk