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On 2 July 2003, Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, announced a cash injection of £90 million to help industry harness the commercial opportunities offered by Micro and Nanotechnologies (MNT). This £90 million will be spent on collaborative R&D and a new network of Micro and Nanotechnology facilities, and forms the first step of developing and implementing a new Technology Strategy.
The Government recognises that nanotechnologies have the potential to deliver enormous benefits for society from the development of new materials and devices. The potential economic value to the UK is considerable, with the creation of high value jobs and industries. We are keen that the UK remains in the forefront of the development of these new technologies.
This £90 million investment has been spent on collaborative research projects and in establishing a network of Nanotechnology Centres.
The main objective of the Nanotechnology Collaborative R&D Programme was to improve the UK’s innovation performance. This was be achieved by increasing the breadth and depth of collaborative research and development between the UK science, engineering and technology base and UK-based firms. To date a total of £37 million has been invested in 55 nanotechnology projects around the UK.
The DTI’s Capital Facilities Programme is now in the final stages of establishing 22 Nanotechnology Centres across the UK, a network of dedicated open access facilities through formalising access to spare capacity in academia and industry. The overall aim behind these Centres is to drive market development and exploitation of nanotechnology across the UK by helping industry access cutting edge research and resources. To date the DTI has invested a total of £45 million in the Nanotechnology Centres.
The Centres can be grouped into four main themes and are listed below together with contact details for each of the facilities.
| Facility | Service offering | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| INEX | 150mm multimaterial & bio-MEMS | Professor Ken Snowdon 0191 222 7362 k.j.snowdon@ncl.ac.uk |
| UK-LMC | Laser micromachining | Dr Nadeem Rizvi 01248 383662 n.rizvi@uk-lmc.co.uk |
| MicroBridge | Micro-machining and fabrication of non-silicon substrates | Dr Robert Hoyle 029 2087 0018 hoylert@Cardiff.ac.uk |
| BondCentre | Wafer bonding services: bonding process development, associated processes to commercial supply | Rob Santilli 01235 434 340 rob@aml.co.uk |
SemeMEMS | Silicon-based MEMS foundry | Ian McNaught 01592 630 630 ian.mcnaught@semefabco.uk |
| Cambridge Nanoscience | Fabrication of nanoscale devices and structures | Professor Mark Welland 01223 760305 mew10@cam.ac.uk |
| Qudos National Prototyping Facility | Micro and Nano prototyping, process development and production | Nick White 01235 445 468 |
| MNT@BAES-ATC | Micro device and process development | Dr Alan Pritchard 0117 302 8220 alan.pritchard@baesystems.com |
| KNT – Photonix | Nanofabrication service | Dr Brendan Casey 0141 330 4869 |
MetaFab | Extreme laser machining, MNT training, and access to micro and nano facilities | Professor David Barrow 029 2087 592 barrow@Cardiff.ac.uk |
| Facility | Service Offering | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| CEMMNT | Micro and nano measurement and characterization | Elwood Vogt 01509 635631 E.Vogt@cemmnt.co.uk |
| BegbrokeNano | Materials characterization | Dr Alison Crossley 01865 283726 alison.crossley@materials.ox.ac.uk |
| Facility | Service Offering | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| The Bio Nano Centre | Bio-nano early-stage product development and characterization | Omar Cheema 020 7594 6552 o.cheema@imperial.ac.uk |
| Eminate | Fabrication and characterisation of nano-structured materials | Allan Syms 0115 846 6268 Allan.Syms@nottingham.ac.uk |
| Fluence | Micro structures on polymer (microfluidics emphasis) | Dr Tim Ryan 01642 496306 tim.ryan@epigem.co.uk |
| Dolomite | Micro structures on glass (microfluidics emphasis) | Mark Gilligan 01763 242 555 mark.gilligan@syrris.com |
| Facility | Service Offering | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| NanoCentral | Nanomaterial commercialisation via a full service offering of synthesis, formulation, application and characterisation capabilities | Stephen Cash 01642 455 340 stephen.cash@uk-cpi.com |
Comina | Nanoparticulate production (as part of NanoCentral) | Dr Paul Reip 01252 39 7412 PWREIP@qinetiq.com |
| Materials Solutions | Applications development in additive manufacturing, functional surfaces and thin structures | Carl Brancher 0121 414 7117 CarlBrancher@MaterialsSolutions.co.uk |
| NanoForce Technology | Nanomaterials for Creative Industries / Fashion, Architecture | Dr Ata Yoosefinejad 020 7882 2726 a.yoosefinejad@qmul.ac.uk |
| Centre for Micro & Nano Moulding | Micro and nano moulding of polymers, metals, ceramics & nanocomposites | Professor Phil Coates 01274 234540 p.d.coates@Bradford.ac.uk |
| Safenano | Information service concerning the potential risks to the environment and human health from nanomaterials | Dr Rob Aitken 0870 850 5131 rob.aitken@iom-world.org |
The UK MNT Network was established by the DTI and the 12 Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations working together, to provide a market-oriented focus for the facilities, people and organisations engaged in micro and nanotechnologies in the UK. The MNT Network is aimed toward helping to lower the entry barriers and driving the widespread market development and exploitation of these technologies, and ultimately, towards building a prosperous, world-class MNT sector in the UK. UK MNT Network Team has worked closely with the DTI on the investment from the Capital Facilities Programme.
The MNT Network Team has developed a web based UK MNT Directory. Created to promote the presence and capabilities of UK companies engaged in MNT to all potential customers, collaborators and suppliers.
In October 2004 the MNT Network Team launched the Micro and Nanotechnology Forum. This is a web-based resource for all UK MNT companies. It has a free news and patent searching service; a knowledge centre and, an online conferencing facility, complete with a fully searchable archive of past conferences. There is also a section dedicated to highlighting regional activities, such as key industrial clusters and leading MNT centres of excellence in each region.
http://mnt.globalwatchonline.com/epicentric_portal/site/MNT
This is an information resource intended to give up to date information on the MNT activities of UK organisations and MNT activities in the US, Europe and other MNT active nations
