Rail Research and Innovation Centre

What we do

The centre encourages innovation and collaboration between the knowledge base and rail supply businesses within the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire rail supply chains. With Derby now named as the national headquarters of Great British Railways (GBR HQ), we are able to strengthen our collaboration within the sector and look to have significant involvement in future projects.

Our expertise means we can contribute to the development of capabilities, skills and applied research needed to secure national and international opportunities. With access to Europe’s largest rail hub right on the doorstep and the GBR HQ within our city, we offer our students fantastic opportunities to develop their career in the sector. 

We provide access to three technology demonstrator areas:

• Advanced rail composite design and manufacture
• Rail data analytics and artificial intelligence
• Advanced rail solutions to De-carbonise rail

Our support programmes help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) access facilities, develop or improve skills and complete collaborative research and innovation projects. We are based at Lonsdale House in Derby.

Advanced rail composite design and manufacture

We provide access to research and innovation equipment and capabilities. This includes:

• Advanced product design and engineering simulation suite (with licensing for SolidWorks, Abaqus, Ansys, COMSOL)
• Advanced manufacturing facilities (autoclave, resin transfer moulding machine, hot press)
• Materials characterisation and testing suite (impact tester, tensile tester, fatigue tester, metallography)

You can also access strategic facilities in the Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering (IISE). These include design, digitisation, advanced manufacturing (5-axis simultaneous machining, metal based additive manufacturing and multi-material 3D printing), CAE licensing arrangements for research and development and others.

Rail data analytics and artificial intelligence

The rail data analytics and artificial intelligence area provides:

• a data analytics laboratory
• a scalable data warehouse to support building artificial intelligence
• data science-enabled prototypes and supporting equipment to develop immersive reality solutions

Strategic facilities and expertise available in the IISE and the College of Science and Engineering include asset management and digital twin (virtual simulation) applications.

Advanced rail solutions to De-carbonise rail

The advanced rail solutions area provides software and hardware for simulation, data acquisition and control. We also have a laboratory-scale test bed for testing and hardware-in-the-loop.

The IISE and the College of Engineering and Technology provide additional expertise in materials, advanced manufacturing and systems to help develop projects for low carbon, energy efficient propulsion, regenerative braking and hybrid solutions.

Equipment and concepts can be demonstrated and the test bed provides a practical platform for skills development.

How we benefit your business

We can provide your business with the facilities and expertise to support growth and innovation in your sector. Benefits include:

• Easier access to research facilities and support in product development, including knowledge transfer partnerships, consultancy, collaborative research and development
• Technology-driven innovation and growth
• Support to enable innovations and unlock new market opportunities
• Facilitate creation of graduates with the relevant skills needed for the sector to remain competitive
• Links to the Government Rail Sector Deal and Industrial Strategy

For more information about the RRIC, or to get involved, email businesshub@derby.ac.uk or call +44 (0) 800 001 5500.