Advanced manufacturing lab to open this year

Muscat: Oman's first Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is expected to begin operations this year in Sohar, an official said.
The lab that will complement Oman's industrial hub of Sohar to create in country value is currently nearing completion at the Sohar University in partnership with Sheffield University in the UK.
“It is about finding the right technology to create value in the country. We have some industrial major players like Sohar Aluminium, Orpic and Vale who manufacture raw materials and export them outside. At the AMRC, we plan to create more value using these raw materials in the country and then exporting them or using them here in Oman. This can give rise to local employment and more research based projects,” Professor Barry Winn, Vice Chancellor at Sohar University said.
The project is a part of Oman's National Diversification strategy Tanfeedh, to be developed in two phases. The phase one will focus on developing in country value (ICV) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and support industrial innovations. Phase two will involve private sector and create a new industrial hub in the region.
"Our vision is to support the development of the manufacturing sector and enable provision of technology capability in advanced manufacturing through world-class facilities in design, machining, prototyping and proving pre-production," Winn said.
Sohar University has also won a research grant of 400,000 pounds to research in the area of food security. Winn added that several research projects are currently underway that can be a technology which be exported to other areas in the region.
“One of our major goal is to research different technologies which allows food security in a sustainable manner. In Oman the climate is very hot and we are trying to find out how we can grow food in such a climate without harming the environment. If we are able to perfect this, we can export this technology to other places in the world that have similar technology. That can be excellent for Oman.”