Science City Research Alliance:
Technical solutions and research expertise
for business
materials
advanced
Providing access to the latest thinking, training,
research and state-of-the-art scientific equipment
Who we are
The Advanced Materials programme has expertise to cover
everything from materials synthesis, analysis and characterisation
through to processing and device fabrication.
With an investment of nearly £20 million the programme has
unrivalled expertise in both nano and bulk functional materials
and processing. The state-of-the-art equipment and expertise are
available to business and are applicable to a vast range of
problems in the materials area facing industry today.
The Advanced Materials Programme
About Us
Advanced Materials is one of the three
research themes of the Science City
Research Alliance (SCRA), a long-term
strategic research collaboration between
the University of Birmingham and the
University of Warwick. Nearly £20
million of funding from Advantage West
Midlands (AWM) and the European
Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
has enabled the institutions to invest
in state-of-the-art scientific equipment
and facilities in Physics, Chemistry,
Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy &
Materials and Dentistry.
This investment has allowed the
Universities to provide world-leading
and often unique facilities for research
in advanced materials. This is available
to the commercial sector and to other
HEIs to access as well as allowing us to
develop extensive research capability in
areas such as nanotechnology, coatings
and surfaces, multifunctional materials,
biomaterials and fracture and fatigue
analysis to name but a few.
The Advanced Materials programme, part
of the Science City Research Alliance,
consists of two projects: “AM1: Creating
and Characterising Next Generation of
Advanced Materials” and “AM2: Innovative
Uses of Advanced Materials in the
Modern World”.
The objective of the programme is to
further encourage industrial-academic
collaboration and joint research, as well as
the rapid development of new technologies.
knowl
collabo
The aim of the Science City Research Alliance is to proactively
SCRA’s Offer To Business
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Advice and consultancy from
leading materials experts
The SCRA materials experts are leading
academics across a range of subjects
and specialisms. Truly international
and well networked across departments
and both institutions, they bring
horizon scanning, new perspectives
and can test potential options.
Collaborative research
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Collaborative R&D is a flexible and
cost-effective way for companies to
undertake research. By working with
SCRA you can minimise risk and widen
the range of your research horizons.
Access to equipment, expert
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technical personnel and training
We have a range of state-of-the-art
equipment across both institutions on
which we offer measurement and
analysis via our expert personnel. We
can also train your staff on the use of
a particular piece of equipment on a
one-to-one basis for upskilling and
technique development.
Joint opportunities for
Seminars, workshops and briefings
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SCRA facilitates knowledge exchange
by bringing together academics, industry
and business networks at workshops
and events which showcase the latest
research technologies and innovations.
Internships and placements
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Doctoral projects or internships are
examples of a low-cost way of pursuing
your company’s R&D strategy.
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research funding
Working in partnership with our
institutions can help leverage new
research funding or access exploitation
opportunities. We offer a range of
support in developing joint proposals.
ledge transfer
boration
University Intellectual Property (IP)
n
We can agree exploitation rights on IP
created in collaboration with your
business and can also discuss ways in
which you can exploit IP which has
already been independently developed
through our research.
Analysis, testing and characterisation
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We undertake a wide-range of
one-off and routine testing in all
classes of materials.
Talk to SCRA about the range of
opportunities available.
innovation
encourage industrial-academic collaboration and joint research.
Case studies
Sandvik Hard Materials
Sandvik is a global engineering group with
a strong focus on materials technology.
The company needed to assess two samples
of extrusion paste that originated from
the same production batch because when
tested it exhibited different behaviours.
Sandvik were able to access advanced
equipment through the Advanced
Materials project and several tests were
carried out at the University of Birmingham.
Results confirmed variations in between
the two samples in terms of the chemical
compositions. This has helped to further
establish the difference in the behaviour
of the two materials during processing.
“Working with the Science City Research
Alliance has proven to be a valuable asset in
drawing in external expertise and resources.
We have received great help and support
from Richard Simpson and all the technical
team at the University of Birmingham to
ensure the project addressed our main
objectives and Sandvik will be looking
forward to further joint collaborative work
with the Science City Research Alliance.”
Ihsan Al-Dawery PhD Programme
Coordinator, Sandvik
Unilever
Unilever have been serving the UK for
more than a century and are one of the
world’s leading suppliers of fast-moving
consumer goods, spanning three global
company divisions foods, home care and
personal care.
SCRA researchers have been working
with Unilever to further understand
ingredients for personal hygiene products
using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Gel
Permeation Chromatography techniques.
Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)
techniques are used to determine the
molecular weight distributions of polymers
but it is University of Warwick’s many
years of expertise in the field of polymers
that really adds value to the company’s
understanding of polymer systems.
This comes from cutting edge research
into controlled polymerisation giving
macromolecules of designed, desired
and targeted structure.
“We have worked with the Polymer
Chemistry experts at the University of
Warwick in the past and the facility made
available via Science City has met our needs
perfectly. We are currently exploring
further work with Warwick which will help
us greatly in developing our products in
the personal care marketplace.”
Ezat Khoshdel, Unilever Research,
Port Sunlight
Xerital Ltd
Xerital, based in Stoke-on-Trent, is a
manufacturer of sequential barcodes
suitable for use at extreme temperatures.
The company needed to know how their
products would perform in extreme
conditions, specifically its resistance to
physical damage such as abrasion and
impact under adverse conditions including
exposure to strong acids and alkalis,
organic solvents, ultraviolet light and
high temperature. The University of Birmingham developed
a series of evaluation methods including
delaminating using scratch testing that
were carried out with probes of different
sharpness and at a range of applied
loads. This enabled the resistance of the
bar codes to the various treatments to
be compared and areas in which the
product performed well identified.
“The work carried out be University of
Birmingham has given us an insight into
the services offered by these establishments
and the company will look to make greater
use of these resources in the future.”
Howard Quinn, Director, Xerital Ltd
Dedicated experienced business engagement managers facil
3-C’s
3-Cs has developed and patented novel
manufacturing processes for depositing
superconducting thin films onto rotating
proprietary cylindrical substrates for the
next generation of very high power density
electrical machines. Electric motors,
generators, transformers, magnets etc.
will be more powerful, compact and
lightweight than ever before. The
implications for aerospace and defence
are enormous, and the wider commercial
applications include the energy, transport,
medical and industrial processing sectors.
The company wished to gain access to
the specialist high resolution, high flux
configuration of the Panalytical X’Pert
Pro Materials Research Diffractometer at
the University of Warwick in order to help
monitor and optimise key manufacturing
processes under development.
“We have supported the concept of
Science City right from the beginning and
now that we have been able to benefit
directly from the scheme we have no
hesitation in recommending it to any
small business needing access to the
facilities and expertise at the universities
of Birmingham and Warwick.”
“Great care was taken by the Business
Engagement Manager, Richard Simpson,
in understanding our business needs and
technical requirements and in making the
right introductions. All this was accomplished
in short order, and we were able to get on
with the job and lay the groundwork for
improving our manufacturing processes.
It really is a pleasure to deal with such
high-quality people and we look forward
to collaborating more in the future.”
Dr Eamonn Maher, MD - 3-Cs Ltd
This resulted in Dr. Phil Hirst, Principal
Scientist at 3-Cs, having regular access
to the Warwick equipment and being
trained in its use. This resulted in an
increased understanding of the growth
processes required to produce large area
superconducting structures.
litate interaction between businesses and academics.
A strategic union between two of the leading
research Universities in the Midlands – the University
of Birmingham and the University of Warwick
Our expertise
Diffraction
n Microscopy
n Spectroscopy & Spectrometry
n Physical & Mechanical Properties
n Deposition & Growth
n Surface Analysis
n Microfabrication
n Chromatography
n Particle Size & Shape
n Bioanalysis
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The Science City Research Alliance
(SCRA) is a strategic union between two
of the leading research universities in
the Midlands, the University of
Birmingham and the University of
Warwick. The Alliance was formed
under the Birmingham Science City
initiative and has benefited from a
multi-million pound investment by
Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and
the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF) in the technology areas
of Advanced Materials, Energy Futures
and Translational Medicine.
The investment has funded joint equipment
and research infrastructure at both
institutions. Further, it resources specialist
personnel such as Technical Facility
Managers and Business Engagement
Managers who have considerable industrial
experience and expertise and will guide
businesses through each stage of the
engagement process.
The principal aim of SCRA is to engage
with business and industry – giving
access to the latest research and
state-of-the-art equipment in science
and technology.
Advanced Materials
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The Advanced Materials programme
has expertise to cover everything from
materials synthesis, analysis and
characterisation through to processing
and device fabrication.
With an investment of £20 million
the programme has unrivalled
expertise in both nano and bulk
functional materials and processing.
The state-of-the-art equipment and
facilities available to business are
applicable to a vast range of problems
in materials research.
Energy Futures
An investment of £20 million in
infrastructure and equipment has
enabled us to capitalise on the two
universities’ expertise and research
into cardio vascular disease, infection,
metabolism, neuroscience and
reproduction, establishing the
West Midlands as one of the major
centres for clinical trials in Europe.
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Meeting the low carbon challenge
affects us all. How we develop
energies for the future will be
critical to meeting this challenge.
The Energy Futures programme
focuses on a range of specialist areas
in the low carbon landscape including
– hydrogen power, waste to energy,
biofuels, powertrain technologies and
energy efficient technologies.
We have invested £17.2 million in new
equipment and facilities which create
a unique opportunity for businesses to
work with us on collaborative research
in this developing field
Translational Medicine
Translating experimental research
into a direct patient benefit is a key
issue for the medical sector. Two vital
components in this process are advanced
equipment (including new buildings)
and clinical trials.
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For all information and enquiries
please contact:
University of Birmingham
businessteam@bham.ac.uk
T: 0121 414 3898
University of Warwick
advanced.materials@warwick.ac.uk
T: 024 7652 4760
www.birminghamsciencecity.co.uk/research-alliance
SCRA is working in partnership with
many companies across the UK and
overseas, such as Jaguar Land Rover,
Johnson Matthey, Aston Martin, BP,
Sandvik and Unilever. SCRA also
assists SMEs in the development of
their own technologies and improving
products and processes. Through the
work of SCRA, spin-out companies
have also been formed, the first of
which are Anvil Semiconductors,
which develops silicon carbide power
device manufacturing technology
for more energy efficient and robust
power conversion, and Interface
Spectra Ltd, a spin-out company
established to manufacture
instruments for analysing chemical
information of sample surfaces.