Mon, 16 December, 2024
The Materials Innovation Centre (MatIC) – a long-term strategic partnership between TWI and the University of Leicester established in 2016 – is at the forefront of metallic materials research into how properties and performance relate to the processing-dependent microstructures, and the development of computational models to explain these interdependencies.
The University of Leicester is led by discovery and innovation – an international centre for excellence renowned for research, teaching and broadening access to higher education. It has climbed up the Sunday Times University Guide rankings to 27th in the UK, and was shortlisted for University of the Year by the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide as well as the Times Higher Education awards and crowned University of the Year by the Daily Mail. This comes off the back of TEF Gold Award, top 30 NSS ranking and top 30 REF performance (both according to analysis by THE) indicating ULEIC’s performance in both teaching and research.”
The Centre’s objectives are to:
- Create a shared research and technology capability specialising in small and full-scale materials testing in harsh environments.
- Develop new, experimental techniques and computational models to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying materials behaviour.
- Be world-leading in the field of metals research.
- Undertake joint research programmes with like-minded companies and RTOs.
- Secure research funding from UK and EU grant funding instruments
- Develop the next generation of technologies and engineers in materials science
MatIC’S approach is to bring together experts from academia and industry, including its own researchers, other universities, RTOs, SMEs and larger companies, to focus on the fundamental understanding of metallic materials, both theoretical and experimental, and how properties and performance are related to processing dependent microstructures, as well as computational, mechanised and material processing models.
The success of MatIC’s R&D activity is reflected in its ongoing portfolio of collaborative technology projects, delivered in conjunction with fellow consortia members as a result of winning enabling grant funding from instruments such as Innovate UK and Horizon Europe, and its predecessor Horizon 2020. The highly intensive grant application process includes ideation and concept development, identifying a suitable grant funding competition, also known as a ‘call’, building a suitable project consortium, financial planning, proposal writing and review, and online submission to meet the funding call deadline. TWI’s Technology Innovation Management team specialises in matching technology concepts to funding opportunities, and is available to assist MatIC, and other TWI Innovation Centres, with the end-to-end project proposal process, as needed.
MatIC also helps nurture engineers of the future, by hosting PhD students who undertake their studies with the University of Leicester and the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC), a state-of-the-art postgraduate engineering facility established and managed by TWI. The PhD students work on real-world projects on site at TWI, where MatIC is based, giving them direct access to support from materials science, and other technical, experts. This enables them to expand their knowledge of materials related technologies and industries, and associated capabilities, as well as provides opportunities to co-author technical papers, present at conferences and represent their project at international exhibitions.
On PowerPath, MatIC will lead the photovoltaic glass panels coating development side of the project and perform superhydrophobic coating development and lab testing, performance evaluation and optimisation.
Finally, a technology transfer document that will provide guidelines on the materials safety and handling, and risk assessments. MatIC will work to evaluate the lead-acid battery performance.
Therefore, MatIC will strengthen their position as a research and innovation actor in solutions for maximising efficiency of the renewables.