The man who piloted the Starship Enterprise was given a glimpse of the scientific future at the University of Huddersfield.
Famous actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation on TV and film, is Emeritus Chancellor at the University. On his latest visit, he worked closely with young actors and film studies students, but was also shown some of the scientific and technological research taking place.
He visited the University’s Future Metrology Hub, a £30 million research centre that will help transform UK industry by developing sensors embedded into machinery, leading to huge increases in accuracy during the advanced manufacturing process.
The Hub, heavily backed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is based in the University’s Centre for Precision Technologies, home to a team of world-renowned researchers in precision engineering and metrology.
On his visit, Sir Patrick met the Hub’s director Professor Xiangqian Jiang and Senior Lecturer Dr Haydn Martin, plus its multi-disciplinary, multi-national team of researchers who are harnessing new developments in metrology and miniaturisation.
Professor Liam Blunt showed Sir Patrick how metrology and X-ray analysis were aiding the development of new, patient-specific 
medical devices, and could also be used for purposes such as investigating and verifying artifacts including antique weaponry.
The Future Metrology Hub is led by the University of Huddersfield, building on the achievements of its EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology. The universities of Sheffield, Loughborough and Bath provide complementary expertise and support, as does the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) from its bases at Teddington and Huddersfield. The Hub will address major, long-term challenges facing UK manufacturing industries.
A large team of industrial partners, including famous companies from a wide variety of industrial sectors, are providing funding and support to the Hub. More than £30 million has so far been pledged across the consortium, and new partners will be sought as the research progresses.
As part of the Government’s commitment to supporting world-leading manufacturing research in the UK, the Huddersfield research centre receives a major investment of £10 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and is one of six new Future Manufacturing Research Hubs.
The University of Huddersfield is an inspiring, innovative provider of higher education of international renown. It has a national reputation in enterprise and innovation and has been the recipient of the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year Award and Entrepreneurial University of the Year as well as a Queen’s Awards for Enterprise. In the 2015, the University was recognised with 5 star status by international ratings organisation QS Stars for teaching, internationalisation, employability and for facilities and access.
The University annually welcomes 22,000 students to a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across subjects covering: the sciences, engineering and IT; health, education and the social sciences; business, management, law and accountancy; architecture, design, humanities and the arts.
The University of Huddersfield’s researchers are dedicated to solving the problems and answering the questions posed by industry, science and society as a whole. Its pioneering research is showcased by internationally-recognised centres of excellence, strategic industry relationships and a commitment to providing state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.
The Chancellor of the University is His Royal Highness the Duke of York, KG, and the Vice-Chancellor is Professor Bob Cryan CBE.
University of Huddersfield
Tel: 01484 472693
Email: j.p.ramsdin@hud.ac.uk
www.hud.ac.uk