New research centre opened in strive for next gen materials
The University of Sheffield, UK, has opened a new state-of-the-art research centre, called Royce Discovery Centre, with the aim of developing the next generation of materials to meet the needs of UK manufacturers.
The facility is said to address a gap in UK innovation by reducing both the cost and timescale of translating the discovery of advanced materials into new products and technologies.
The Royce Discovery Centre will be a leading national centre for advanced metals processing in the UK and is already helping to develop new materials for medical implants, electric vehicles, green hydrogen energy storage, and nuclear fusion reactors.
Based in a new building in the heart of the University’s Faculty of Engineering, the centre will enable manufacturers to harness Sheffield’s R&D capabilities to develop new materials for new technologies and test them before investing further capital and implementing them into their operations.
It will also aim to train the next generation of materials scientists at the University of Sheffield who are critical in ensuring the UK’s long-term innovation in materials discovery and closing the skills gap.
With the centre based in Sheffield, manufacturers could work with the Royce Discovery Centre on early-stage research in materials discovery and processing, then collaborate with the Royce Translational Centre at the University of Sheffield Innovation District to commercialise them.
Professor David Knowles, Chief Executive Officer of the Henry Royce Institute, says, ‘The University of Sheffield is a Royce founding Partner, with world leading prowess in materials science and metallurgy. The exciting research being undertaken at its new Royce Discovery Centre further supports Royce’s vision to develop advanced materials for a sustainable society.
‘The Discovery Centre will transform aspects of Royce’s research capabilities in the Advanced Metals Processing research area. It will build on the UK’s strength in metals processing and provide academia and industry with the advanced facilities and technical support they need to deliver both innovative processing technologies and novel alloy development.’