Ben Whiteside launching the MNT Centre

The biennial Polymer Process Engineering international meeting was held in the Norcroft Conference Centre, Bradford on 27 & 28 October 2009, organised in association with the Polymer Processing & Engineering Committee of the Polymer Society a Division of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and supported by the European Union  FP7 programme (COTECH) and Nanofactory, a European Regional Development Fund initiative,  both of which focus on polymer nanocomposites. PPE09 was hosted by the Polymer IRC laboratories, School of Engineering, Design & Technology at the University of Bradford.

The two day event was very well attended with an international range of participants and covered process, particularly injection and extrusion technology, monitoring and simulation developments, as well as a major focus on polymer nanocomposites and micro & nano technology developments. The well received key note presentation was given by Professor Ian Ward on the orientation processing of polymers. Medical applications of polymer process innovation were emphasised with the use of polyetheretherketone for long term implantable medical devices with better mechanical properties match to bone for structural use in areas such as spinal and orthopaedic applications, and the use of hot melt extrusion for enhancing the solubility of drugs. 

A significant range of polymer micro and nano technology presentations formed the major part of the conference. These included precision moulding studies, including surface replication, proactive stimulation of stem cell development by surface structures, a dental root canal product, and microfluidics system moulding; novel techniques and products for two-component micromoulding and in-process thermal measurements and optical evaluations; validation of modelling, and strategies for accelerating innovation.

During the event, the launch of the new Polymer Micro and Nano Technology Centre at Bradford (a £1.4m investment) was celebrated.  

During the coffee and lunch breaks opportunity was available for participants to network and visit the exhibitors, which included equipment suppliers Rondol, Battenfeld, Thermo Fisher and Desma, and the various Nanofactory partners. The last sessions on both days were used to provide laboratory demonstrations for the participants in the Polymer IRC / Polymer MNT Centre. Overall the 2 days were very successful with a great mix of presentation, networking and practical demonstrations. The conference papers are available in a hardbound book - Polymer Process Engineering 09, Enhanced Polymer Processing, Edited by P D Coates (ISBN 13 978 85143 262 2).

Phil Coates

www.polyeng.com