Minister Opens Composite Material Facility

The Rt Hon Greg Clark MP, Minister of State for Universities, Science and Cities, officially opened the University of Southampton’s Advanced Composite Materials Facility at the end of last year. The facility, which is unique to the UK, aims to develop and manufacture radically new and advanced materials for semi-conductor electronics, data storage, photonics and energy harvesting, conversion and storage.

One of the first projects will be the development and manufacture of a new form of solid state battery in a close collaboration with Ilika Technologies a spin-out company from the University. This involves the transfer back of experience gained at Ilika in the discovery, optimisation and synthesis of new materials.

Universities, Science and Cities Minister, Greg Clark said: “The UK is already a world leader in advanced composite materials and today we took our capabilities to a new and exciting level. From consumer electronics to space, these facilities will play an important role in transforming British research into world beating products.Supported by a £3.3m government grant, the opening of this centre at the University of Southampton will ensure the UK continues to lead in this increasingly important industry.”

Professor Brian Hayden Director of the Advanced Composite Materials Laboratory and a founder of Ilika Technologies, said: “This is a great example of a virtuous technology and intellectual property cycle between an academic institution and industry, resulting in an on-going and mutually beneficial relationship. There are now huge opportunities to apply these synthetic and manufacturing methodologies in a wide variety of devices in the electronics and energy sectors.”