£10m boost for Composites Manufacturing in the UK

The funding given to the Universities of Nottingham and Bristol to anchor cutting-edge composites manufacturing research in the UK is for the Future Composites Manufacturing Hub (FCM Hub). The aim is to develop the next generation of composites technologies and train the people required to deliver those innovations. The grant which comes to support the FCM Hub has the target of delivering research outputs to enable “Moore’s law for composites” i.e. a doubling in production capability every two years for high performance polymer composites.

The FCM Hub will also train the next generation of composites manufacturing engineers. This is critical as the UK composites manufacturing industry has identified a major shortfall in skilled engineers who are able to deliver on the technical challenges such as rate increases, design integration and process development.

Peter Chivers, CEO of the National Composites Centre, commented: “The funding is great news for the National Composites Centre, as we will be able to use excellent fundamental research from the FCM Hub and working with them and our industrial partners, transition it into commercial applications to maximise the value to the country. The research outputs developed in the FCM Hub, together with the additional NCC ‘Technology Accelerator Fund’ which will be a £1.3 million investment over 7 years, and a further £1.4 million for Engineering Doctorate support, will ensure further extension of the pipeline for technology and workforce ready people.”

The FCM Hub will fund training to support at least 121 PhD/EngD students and 29 postdoctoral researchers over the 7-year period. The proposed industry secondment and international exchange programmes for all researchers within the Hub will ensure technologies and highly trained personnel are effectively integrated within academia, Catapults and industry.

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