CompletedMaterials & ManufacturingEngineering

Sir Henry Royce Institute - Imperial Build and Equipment

FunderEPSRC(part of UKRI)
Recipient organisationImperial College London
Funding£10.0M
PeriodMar 2016 — Mar 2022

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials is building a national network of labs and equipment to turn new materials from laboratory discoveries into working products faster and cheaper than the UK currently can. The problem is a missing link in the innovation chain. Researchers in universities can invent promising new materials—for batteries, medical implants, electronics, or aircraft—but translating those discoveries into manufactured products often takes decades and costs too much. The Institute will provide the specialised facilities, equipment, and expertise needed to test, characterise, and scale up these materials in one place, bridging the gap between a lab prototype and a factory-ready product. If successful, the Institute could accelerate the development of materials for energy storage, nuclear reactors, biomedical devices, and energy-efficient electronics. This would strengthen UK manufacturing, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains, and help deliver on the government’s economic strategy. The work also includes training the next generation of materials scientists, ensuring the UK has the skilled workforce to sustain this capability long-term.

View original technical description
As a national institute, The Sir Henry Royce Institute (SHRI) for Advanced Materials, will provide the missing 'link' in the UK innovation chain allowing the iterative design of advanced materials for various applications, at speed and reasonable cost, providing a critical component to delivering on the government's economic strategy. The Institute will reduce the time-scales to translate discoveries to applications, provide strategic leadership together with training and career development in areas of particular need. The aim is to establish the Sir Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials as an 'An international flagship for the accelerated discovery and development of new materials systems for the economic and societal benefit of the UK.'. The SHRI will cover the invention and manufacture of Soft Materials; Functional Materials; Structural Engineering Materials and Energy Materials along with the necessary facilities to test and characterise them within a framework that emphasises the sustainable use of materials. Initially there will be 9 core material areas led by founding partners. Chemical materials discovery Biomedical materials and devices Materials for energy efficient ICT Atoms to devices 2D Materials systems Advanced Metals Processing Materials systems for demanding environments Energy Storage Nuclear materials

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Neil Alford (Principal Investigator)

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Original classification

Research Grant

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.