CPI, the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry and the Henry Royce Institute collaborate to help bring new advanced materials and products to market

This collaboration is underpinned by a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The work outlined in the MoU will increase opportunities for collaboration between UK businesses and academia through the application of materials chemistry. Innovative solutions to global challenges can be brought to market at a reduced risk by combining the complementary facilities, expertise and networks of each organisation.

Royce is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation, established to accelerate the invention and adoption of new materials systems that will meet global challenges, enhance industrial productivity and competitiveness, and shape the world around us. The mission of the institute is to enable national materials research foresighting, collaboration and strategy; provide access to the latest facilities and capability; catalyse industrial collaboration and exploitation of materials research, and foster materials science skills development, innovation training and outreach.

Under the new MoU, CPI and KCMC will work closely with Royce and UK companies to help establish science-based collaborations. CPI will use its considerable expertise and facilities to help companies scale-up the production of new materials and products developed in collaboration with Royce academics. The work driven by this MoU will help deliver Royce’s vision of ​‘advanced materials for a sustainable society’.

Royce’s vision is enabled through a UK-wide network of academic champions based within each Royce partner university, developing technology to address global challenges. These diverse challenges include the development of new biomedical devices, efforts to increase the sustainability of plastics, and the development of energy-efficient devices. The challenges addressed align with key national strategies, such as the UK zero-carbon 2050 target.

Prof David Knowles, CEO at the Henry Royce Institute, said: ​“It’s an exciting time to join forces with KCMC and CPI. The role of materials in solving national and global challenges is now more important than ever. Together we can provide innovative companies the support they need to bring real solutions to market.”

John Conti-Ramsden, Director of KCMC, said: ​“Materials chemistry is a critical enabler for the development of advanced materials, so its timely to build these links between our research partners, industry networks and the Henry Royce Institute.”

Nick Johnson, Commercial Director at CPI, said: ​“Collaboration is crucial for advancing the development and use of advanced materials, and for solving some of the most pressing societal and environmental challenges facing industry today. Through this collaboration with the Henry Royce Institute, we hope to make even greater progress in bringing together the right businesses, academics and other industry stakeholders to tackle these challenges.”

Notes to the Editor

About the Henry Royce Institute

The Henry Royce Institute is the UK’s national institute for advanced materials research and innovation. With its Hub at The University of Manchester, the Royce is a partnership of nine leading institutions – the universities of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Liverpool, Leeds, Oxford, Sheffield, the National Nuclear Laboratory, and UKAEA. The Institute’s mission is to support and grow world-recognised excellence in UK materials research, accelerating commercial exploitation and delivering positive economic and societal impact for the UK.

https://​www​.royce​.ac​.uk

About the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry

The Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC), hosted by CPI, accelerates valuable R&D collaborations between business and academics in the chemistry-using industries. It does this to encourage and develop product and process innovations in advanced materials faster, at reduced cost and risk. The KCMC team, spread across KCMC partner universities in the UK, offers extensive knowledge and experience of materials chemistry in both academia and industry to facilitate innovation collaborations. The work of KCMC creates collaborations in materials chemistry and advanced materials that otherwise would not have happened and has been shown to deliver direct impact on business performance and boost the UK economy.

www​.mate​ri​als​chem​istry​.org​.uk

About CPI

CPI works with partners to translate inventions into products and processes that enhance health and wellbeing, protect and improve our environment and increase productivity across industries.

With a deep understanding of technology fore-sighting, innovation processes and funding, outstanding technical expertise and industry-relevant assets, we enable the accelerated development of transformational products and processes that have the potential to disrupt and revolutionise markets. We also engage in incremental technological innovation that allows established products and processes to be optimised for better performance and efficient manufacture.

Through the breadth of our technology platforms, we support our partners across many diverse markets, including pharmaceuticals, speciality chemicals, food and drink, electronics and transportation.