BFPA recognises Bath University’s Fluid Power Centre 50th year anniversary

19 Sep 2018

BFPA members will be the first to recognise the challenges presented by the now evergreen skills shortages at all levels in business. Since 2006, the single largest obstacle to business growth has been a shortage of suitably skilled individuals with a good work ethic. Most members will be seeking shop floor staff with skills in machine operation and the like but it is often easy to forget that the technological drivers in our industry don’t necessarily reside in the offices of larger private sector fluid power companies. More often than not they are to be found in the ivory towers of academia and in our higher education establishments.

However, in the fluid power sector, such establishments are few and far between.   The most significant contributor to R&D in our industry is the University of Bath Department for Power Transmission and Motion Control.

The PTMC as it is known, has a world-leading reputation as a centre of excellence in many aspects of fluid power, actuation, and the dynamics and control of electro-mechanical systems. It was founded as the Fluid Power Centre in 1968. The Centre’s scope has grown beyond the original fluid power field, to include electro-magnetic and piezoelectric systems and other technologies motivated particularly by challenges in automotive and aerospace engineering. A common thread is systems modelling and design, including control engineering. Research is now grouped into control and actuation, fluid power and fluid systems, robotics, mechatronics and systems, vehicle dynamics, aerospace actuation. They are also affiliated with the robotics and autonomous systems lab.

The Centre undertakes research, runs CPD courses and offers consultancy services to industry. Every year since 1988, the Centre has hosted or co-hosted an international symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control (FPMC). It was also a founder member of the Fluid Power Centres of Europe (FPCE), a grouping of the foremost research institutions in the field, now merged into the Global Fluid Power Society (GFPS).

Accordingly, when BFPA CEO was invited to attend this year’s conference dinner he also took the opportunity to present the Director (and two previous Laboratory directors), with an award as a token of our appreciation of the contribution that the University has made to the world of Fluid Power.

Members interested in making contact with the Laboratory should contact Chris Buxton on 07787 400747.