Joseph Hotchkiss is anxious to bring academia in sync with industry demand. As Director of Michigan State University’s School of Packaging, USA, he hopes to steer the department into practical development. Ledetta Asfa-Wossen finds out more.
Stretched nanofibres of polyethylene can have a thermal conductivity larger than that of bulk material, meaning polymers can be used as efficient heat conducting materials.
No other subject than bioplastics is so hotly debated in the plastics
industry, and yet, it is not always clear what the term means. This article provides some background information.
Dr Stuart Cook, Director of Research, at the Tun Abdul Razak Research
Centre in Brickendonbury, UK, discusses how natural rubber can meet the
demands of the modern tyre.
With concerns about the state of UK manufacturing, Meagan Ellis takes a look at niche fields where UK firms are making a name for themselves and the challenges that lie ahead.
Polyethylene pipe systems may provide solutions for the global water challenge. It is argued that they are cost effective accross the lifecycle and that ease of laying offers environmental benefits.
Professor Dame Julia Higgins, former Principal of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London, UK, explains neutron scattering with reference to the £200m second target station to complement the
existing neutron source at ISIS, UK, which will be optimised for the production of
long-wavelength neutrons.
The Microscale Polymer Processing initiative links industry research groups to eight university teams with
expertise in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and computer
science. The aim was to design new plastics at the molecular
level, with all the subsequent processing and product properties
targetted from the design of the polymerisation itself. The group now knows the basic rules connecting molecular structure to
process performance in polymer melts, and how to tailor the rules for
any chemistry of polymer chain.
