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Advanced Materials
The materials
technology strategy is aimed at delivering new materials and
processes over the coming years to secure the future of a £200bn
industry that directly employs 1.5m people and supports over four million
jobs in the UK. The
technology priorities in the area are crucial to the revival of UK
manufacturing and to sustaining innovation in sectors such as
automotive, aerospace, security, healthcare, oil and gas,
electronics and retail.
The UK has
particular strengths in traditional materials such as metals,
concrete, structural ceramics, wood, polymers, glass and
industrial minerals, and also enjoys world class levels of
competence in the newer areas of composites, engineering,
ceramics, technical textiles and electronic and bio-materials.
Meanwhile UK research, standards and metrology institutions have a
similarly high reputation for their success in the generation of
knowledge and understanding across a wide range of materials.
But
materials-related research and application-driven exploitation is
often high risk and lacks easily identifiable funding streams,
putting the UK at a serious disadvantage compared to its major
competitors in the core task of getting new technologies to
market. Appropriate Government funding can play a vital role in
ensuring that the associated IPR, technology and industry stays in
the UK thereby creating new markets, wealth and future employment.
Activity to
date
In April 2004,
the Technology Programme provided £4.7m of funding for the
National Composites Network which generated £30m from the Regional
Development Agencies and industry. In the same year the
Advanced Materials Forum was developed to provide access to
relevant news and information to an interactive virtual community.
This has now been extended to form the Materials Knowledge
Transfer Network, embracing five materials
Faraday Partnerships, the National Composites Network, new
nodes for Smart Materials, Surfaces and Structures and the
National Metals Technology Centre (NAMTEC)
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Competitions in Collaborative R&D
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April 2004:
Advanced Composite Materials and Structures
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To develop a coherent and
cost-efficient high value-adding UK supply chain (£5m DTI
grant / £345k EPSRC/ Total project cost: £12m)
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November 2004:
Smart Materials and Structures
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To develop products with
intelligent functional properties for a high value-adding
economy (£7m DTI grant / Total Project cost: £17.5m)
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April 2005:
High performance Materials in Extreme and Hostile Environments
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Reliable and effective use of
materials under severe operational conditions (Indicative
budget: £10m DTI grant / £256k EPSRC / Total project cost:
£23m)
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Autumn 2005:
Materials Modelling
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Application of modelling
techniques to predict material properties during during
manufacturing and in-service performance (Indicative budget:
£10m DTI grant. (MOD interested)
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Successful Collaborative R&D Projects:
April 2004 -
Advanced Composite
Materials and Structures
November 2004 -
Smart
Materials and Structures
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