Materials and processes

Report by Ann Marie Newton “…we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl”, Brown, P & Rans, R. 1984. There are a few meanings for the word ‘material’. The above quote is from the song ‘material girl’ performed by Madonna. Although the song refers to concern with financial worth, the … Continued

Innovate UK has launched a fast-track competition where UK businesses can apply for a share of £20m to develop new ways to tackle global disruption such as that caused by Covid-19. Innovate UK is looking for business projects to develop innovative ideas to address the needs of society or industry resulting from the coronavirus outbreak. The … Continued

Following the February 2019 PVC Whitewater workshop and ‘PVC Redesigned’ competition, MaDE collaborator the British Plastics Federation (BPF) has published a Report showcasing these innovative circular economy solutions. Sustainability is an important aspect to the BPF and its VinylPlus UK group. Having seen the vinyl sector grow its environmental credentials tremendously over the last couple … Continued

The UK Circular Plastics Network (UKCPN) aims to bring together the diverse users of plastic products and realise the best means for reducing plastic waste  entering the environment through a programme of networking and knowledge-sharing events and related support activities. The Circular Plastics Network will create a coordinated, integrated and aligned community of stakeholders in order to share … Continued

The Circular Economy aims to redefine the conventional make, sell and discard model and by innovation and careful design to reuse materials for a second life. Such a model goes well beyond conventional recycling but requires novel thinking and careful design to minimise material waste. This competition aims to engage the design community and to … Continued

Rotational additive manufacturing using polymer fibres could make prosthetics stronger. Ellis Davies reports. A novel circular 3D-printing method could give better control over the arrangement of short fibres in polymer matrices, which enables the creation of structural materials optimised for strength, stiffness, and damage tolerance. Developed by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School … Continued

At this MaDE roundtable on 3D printing Dr Phil Reeves of Stratysys addressed the need for real business applications, appropriate manufacturing processes and well considered design/material choices

We live in a world where new materials are being developed at a faster rate than ever before, but these innovations are piling up into a backlog of amazing but under used technology.

The Customer Innovation Centre at Bracknell has been created to share the 3M story of innovation and collaboration with customers and business partners (blog).