Category: Events

EuRoC’24: High winds and high drama

Posted on by jo.rich

by Dr. Laura Rhian Pickard.

This year’s European Rocketry Competition, held in Portugal, was a busy, chaotic and thoroughly enjoyable event showcasing technical achievements, and promising great things for the future.

Bristols’ HyPower team debuted a novel rocket, much of which was manufactured here at Bristol Composites Institute. In only one year the students have designed and built a rocket with a bipropellant liquid engine, which you can read about in their earlier blog post.

With only days to go before the competition, the team were given the opportunity to carry out a hot fire test of their engine at industrial partner Second Star. Initial flow trials were promising, but a collapse of the propellant tank spelled disaster. A quick change-around and installation of a backup tank brought hope- dashed when the problem repeated itself. This disappointment was keenly felt, but the team have identified the cause and are ready to improve the system- but it could not be done in time for this year. This exemplifies the theme of learning which has driven this year’s project.

Flight version of the ‘space sponge’ coupling bonded to aluminium fixings for rocket integration.  Picture L R Pickard.

Knowing we would not launch this time, the team set off for EuRoC anyway, determined to make the most of the technical advice on offer – and see what the competition are up to! UoB staff members Steve Bullock, Jack Marsh, Laura Rhian Pickard and Natalie Wiggins joined to support the team, meet EuRoC industrial partners and produce public outreach material.

Composites were crucial for most of the teams, with some lovely rocket components on display. None could match the novelty of the ‘space sponge’ internal coupling developed by Bristol Composites Institute’s CoSEM CDT students. Linked to the NextCOMP programme which seeks to improve the performance of composites under compression by taking inspiration from the natural world, the students created a novel lattice structure coupling based on the skeleton of a sea sponge.

This coupling carries the payload bay, sitting just under the nose of the rocket, from where cubesats- or other payload- can be launched. The CDT students tested multiple cones of both the ‘space sponge’ and a baseline thin shell design under compression, the space sponge having approximately double the ultimate failure load of the baseline- a fantastic result. Testing at EuRoC revealed that it can comfortably support the weight of a Sicilian YouTube star. In addition to testing our structure, Etto Fins carried out an interview with team leader Lillian Macbeth for HyPower, and another with Steve Bullock and Laura Rhian Pickard discussing their respective research projects- including NextCOMP.

Flight readiness review.  Jeroen Vandersteen and Horácio Moreira discuss the rocket with team members.  Picture L R Pickard.

 

 

While the rocket could not fly this time, EuRoC was a valuable learning experience for the team- staff support included. The Technical Evaluation Board were most impressed with how far the team has come in a short time frame, with most teams taking many years to reach this point. There was praise for the rocket’s design- including a lot of interest in the ‘space sponge’. The Flight Readiness Review took multiple hours, where every aspect of the rocket was inspected in detail, simulations and design approaches were discussed and many interesting technical discussions took place. The experts and the HyPower team were confident that the rocket can be made ready to fly at a future competition- and came away full of ideas for the next generation of Bristol rocketry.

Meanwhile, rocket launches were happening! Despite the bright sunshine, high winds at altitude left many teams with a difficult decision- launch with only a drogue and no main parachute, accepting a hard and likely destructive landing- or do not launch at all. Multiple teams chose to take the risk and we saw some beautiful launches- plus a perfect demonstration of an abort for safety reasons- disappointing to the team in question but a successful launch nonetheless.

Flight readiness review.  Technical Evaluation board lead Horácio Moreira discusses the rocket with team members.  Picture L R Pickard.

TU Munich’s team WARR rocket featured some lovely filament wound composite cylinders- and the first successful launch of a cryogenic bi-liquid rocket by a European Student team. Team Graz joined WARR with 3 awards each, Delft’s well named DARE group won one award, but the overall winners were team Skyward of Milan. Their rocket deployed a guided parafoil payload which steered to a gentle landing. Thanks to Agência Espacial Portuguesa, their industrial partners and all the teams for this amazing experience.

The HyPower student rocketry team have facilitated links between research groups within the Faculty and students on different courses. The ‘space sponge’ coupling demonstrates direct application of ongoing research, and plans for the next rocket include opportunity for a lot more of this- especially in composites.

We are proud of the work done by our HyPower team and the CDT students, and look forward to seeing a launch in the near future. Bristol students are amazing.

The HyPower team show off their rocket and panels with the sponsors’ logos.  The team and associated staff have signed the tail.  Picture S Bullock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BCI Showcases Research at ECCM21

Posted on by jo.rich

In previous years, the European Conference on Composite Materials has been at the forefront of showcasing innovation and key research developments into composites: ECCM21 (July 2024) was no different, with over 25 presenters from Bristol Composites Institute alone! A full list of presentation titles and abstracts can be found here on our blog.

Hosted in the city of Nantes, France, an impressive variety of topics ranging from structural performance and material fundamentals all the way up to large-scale industrial process and simulation were on offer. Comprising of a mix of introductory tutorials, posters and parallel presentation sessions, the conference delivered on providing insight and highlighted trends towards more sustainable use of composites – an ever-growing topic of importance in today’s world.

Of particular note in this conference was the focus on machine learning and data-driven approaches to composites: for example, to advance current simulation and process modelling of liquid composite moulding, to in-line monitoring during deposition using novel sensors and inspection techniques. Data is fast-becoming an increasingly valuable asset used by manufacturers and customers, particularly in the aerospace sector, to make more informed decision-making about how to best navigate the challenges in a post-pandemic global supply chain.

However, the ways in which data is processed is just as important, but can be expectedly variable given the diversity and spread of the composites community. Take the microstructure of a composite laminate, typically, a micrograph of the laminate cross-section is captured and the fibre volume fraction quantified using image-analysis.
The challenge? Methods X, Y & Z used to analyse the same image all return different values. The first step towards a solution? An image-based benchmark to establish guidelines for improving the consistency between researchers and therefore, increasing confidence in their analyses and maturation for industrial applications.

It is clear that composites has a far-reaching impact on many sectors and research themes. To capitalise on these innovations, the continued active dialogue between industrial and academic partners is of critical importance.

written by Umeir Khan, PhD Aerospace Engineering.

———————————————————————————————————————–

NextCOMP enjoyed a very successful set of 5 special sessions at ECCM21 which took place across two days on the subject of “Understanding and Improving longitudinal Compressive strength”.  With a keynote from Prof Michael Wisnom a highlight, the sessions which took place in a large auditorium at le Cite Congres, Nantes were very well attended and sparked considerable interest, conversations and discussions in and outside the sessions.  Speaker contributions from academia and industry meant the sessions successfully showcased the excellent research into composite compression being undertaken around the world. Once again, this focussed session has facilitated the creation of new connections and collaborations to extend the NextCOMP Programme’s research in the future.

The NextCOMP team from BCI and Imperial College enjoyed a very productive week at the conference, and were pleased to attend numerous fascinating talks on a range of different subjects including the latest composites research.  After-hours highlights in the lovely city of Nantes included many crepes, visits to fascinating historical buildings and some unique street and creative arts spaces – certain members of the NextCOMP team might have even been spotted watching some entertaining Euro football matches (with colleagues and friends from around the world).  We thank the organisers for a fantastic conference, which we all thoroughly enjoyed!

written by Jo Gildersleve, NextCOMP Project Manager.

Festival of Enterprise returns for third year

Posted on by jo.rich

Our Early Career Enterprise Fellows, James Uzzell and James Griffith were fine ambassadors for BCI at the 2024 Festival of Enterprise. Both delivered excellent presentations with aplomb to an expert panel of judges and answered questions on their work.

Judging was extremely tight and both were highly commended; James Griffith being a narrow second in the panel judgement but won the audience vote and prize for the most engaging presentation titled “Developing Composite Solutions for Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Fuel Storage on Zero Carbon Emission Aviation (Developing Materials for Net-Zero Flight).”

James Uzzell’s presentation was focused on dynamic induction coils for energy efficient composites manufacturing.

The event, which was held in the Bill Brown Design Suite within the Faculty of Engineering on Thursday 20 June, focused on showcasing the range of research and enterprise activities, the people that have been supported and the impact of the funding and training provided by the University Enterprise Fellowships (UEFs) and Early Career Enterprise Fellowships (ECEFs).

The event featured presentations by the 23/24 Cohort of UEFs, and a series of PechaKucha style presentations by our ECEFs with an expert panel of judges who awarded the prize for best presentation with regards to project outcome & impact, in addition to an audience vote and prize for the most engaging presentation on the day.

BCI have been awarded funding from EPSRC and 29 industrial partners of £20M for 6th Centre for Doctoral Training

Posted on by jo.rich

Following our successful application to EPSRC led by Professor Janice Barton for our sixth Centre for Doctoral Training, we are delighted to announce we will be able to train 67 doctoral students over five years starting in 2024.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Innovation for Sustainable Composites Engineering will train highly skilled future leaders equipped with the expertise and resilience to address the sustainable design, manufacture, and assurance of composite products. 

The focus of the Centre differs considerably to the previous ones with sustainability as a continuous thread and close interaction with industry, with research projects running across the four years of the programme. An entirely new taught programme has been designed, which aligns with structured professional development activities that focusing on creating the leaders of tomorrow.  

Dr Lee Harper from the University of Nottingham presents the key points of the research programme

The research projects will provide a means of achieving environmental neutrality for composite products through production, service, and reuse. The research topics include the pursuit of more sustainable composite materials, creation of energy efficient manufacturing processes and novel data-driven design approaches that take advantage of the freedoms offered by composite materials to generate efficient structural concepts.
The target is to create inherently sustainable composite solutions, able to perform in diverse environments, and made using new scientific advances, with new energy efficient, waste-free manufacturing procedures.  

Attendees were encouraged to discuss thoughts and ideas in the afternoon break-out session

We recently hosted a CDT in Innovation for Sustainable Composites Engineering Start-up meeting with Industrial Partners at the University of Bristol, which created an opportunity for researchers and industry experts to discuss the key targets of the centre and how these will be achieved. It was a successful day with a space for thoughtful conversation welcomed in the break-out group session.
The event targeted the setting up of new research projects with common goals identified such as low-cost tooling to enable high-rate manufacture, in-process NDT, new approaches to acceptance and certification and development of a life cycle assessment tools. Professor Janice Barton remarked “I am pleased that so many of our industrial partners were able to attend and help shape the start of the CDT. The engagement across academia and industry is key to the success of all aspects of the CDT.”

The CDT is strongly supported by the UK composites sector and is a partnership with University of Nottingham, the National Composites Centre, National Physical Laboratory, Henry Royce Institute, and 26 industrial partners representing a diverse range of sectors: Aerospace (Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Dowty, Leonardo, GKN), Defence (QinetiQ, AWE, BAE Systems), Automotive (Gordon Murray, JLR), Wind Energy (Vestas, EDF-Renewables), Marine (Tods), Rail (Network Rail), Oil and Gas (Magma Global), Hydrogen (Luxfer), Material suppliers (Hexcel, Syensco, iCOMAT, SHD), Design and manufacturing companies (Pentaxia, Actuation Lab, LMAT, Carbon ThreeSixty), RTOs (NPL, NCC, Royce, HVMC).  

The list is not exclusive; we welcome participation from other companies. If you would like to be involved, please contact composites-institute@bristol.ac.uk  

 

Bristol Composites Institute at ECCM21

Posted on by jo.rich

We are pleased to announce an impressive line up of academics, researchers and PhD students from the Bristol Composites Institute (BCI) who will be presenting their latest work at ECCM21 (the 21st European Conference on Composite Materials) in Nantes, France, from 2nd-5th July 2024.

 

ECCM is Europe’s leading conference on composite materials and will provide a forum for access to the latest knowledge from both industry and academia in all areas of composite materials. The event is organised by the Institute of Civil Engineering and Mechanics (GeM) of the Nantes Université and Centrale Nantes, under the patronage of the European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM) and the French Association for Composite Materials (AMAC).

The NextCOMP team will be hosting sessions on “Understanding and improving longitudinal compressive strength”. These will be taking place in Auditorium 450 on Wednesday 3rd July, 14:30-16:00, and all day on Thursday 4th July, including a keynote from Prof. Michael Wisnom at 14:00 on the Thursday.

Wednesday 3 July BCI speaker line-up:

Room BC / 09:30 – speaker: Ole THOMSEN. Title: Co-Director Bristol Composites Institute.  Talk title: Integrated testing and modelling of composite structures – a journey towards virtual testing and certification by analysis. Abstract.

Room BC / 10:15 – speaker: Meng Yi SONG. Title: Research Associate. Talk title: Application of second-order multi-scale modelling to composite components with delamination, fibre and matrix damage. Abstract.

Room I / 10:15 – speaker: Umeir KHAN. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Quantifying preform quality through defect inspection of in-factory photographs. Abstract.

Room BC / 10:30 – speaker: James KRATZ. Title: Senior Lecturer, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Characterization of micro-structural features in complex parts for use in digital technologies. Abstract.

Room 200 / 11:30 – speaker Hengli CAO. Title: Postgraduate. Talk title: Metal-epoxy-matrix carbon-fibre hybrids for functional and structural applications. Abstract.

Room I / 12:00 – speaker: Gabriel BURKE. Title: Faculty Intern, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Artificial Intelligence for Process Monitoring of Automated Fibre Placement – Real-time Defect Detection and Classification. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 14:30 – speaker: Iheoma NWUZOR. Title: Research Associate. Talk title: Integrating Fiber Overbraids in Composites for Enhanced Compressive Performance. Abstract.

Room KL / 14:45 – speaker: James UZZELL. Title: Postgraduate, Advanced Composites. Talk title: New inductive coil designs for improved efficiency in composites processing. Abstract.

Room 150 / 14:45 – speaker: Dominic PALUBISKI. Title: Senior Research Associate. Talk title: Liquid Moulding Strategies for Challenging Functional Matrices: Repair and Energy Storage Applications. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 15:30 – speaker: Ian LEE. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Cobotic manufacture of hierarchically architectured composite materials. Abstract.

Poster Presentations:

Mezzanine, 16:00 – 17:30

Maria VEYRAT CRUZ-GUZMAN. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Chemistry. Poster title: Crystallisation Kinetics of PEEK Composites using Fractional Differential Equations.

Sutharsanan NAVARATNARAJAH. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Poster title: A Curved-Crease Origami Approach to Forming Composite Structures

Thursday 4 July BCI line-up:

Club Atlantique / 09:15 – speaker: Bing ZHANG. Title: Visiting Research Fellow, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: A numerical investigation into the electrical properties of through-thickness reinforced composites. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 09:45 – speaker: Joe RIFAI. Title: Postgraduate, Advanced Composites. Talk title: The effects of stacking sequence on the compressive performance of composites. Abstract.

Club Atlantique / 10:00 – speaker: Christian STEWART. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Damage Tolerance of 3D Woven Composites. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 10:30 – speaker: Eleni GEORGIOU. Title: Postgraduate, Advanced Composites. Talk title: Enhancing the compressive performance of basalt/epoxy pultruded rods using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) as nano- reinforcement. Abstract.

Room R02 / 11:15 – speaker: Ogun YAVUZ. Title: Senior Resident. Talk title: Isothermal forming simulation of HiPerDiF PLA/Carbon fibre layer under processing conditions. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 11:30 – speaker: Nicolas DARRAS. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Investigation of the internal structure configuration of hierarchical composites and its impact on their mechanical compressive performances. Abstract.

Club Atlantique / 11:45 – speaker: Athira Anil KUMAR. Title: Graduate Teacher. Talk title: Implementation of Second-Order Homogenisation using Shell Elements for Woven Composites. Abstract.

Room 200 / 12:00 – speaker: Anatoly KOPTELOV. Title: Senior Research Associate. Talk title: A rapid Design for Manufacturing tool for injection over-moulded composite parts​. Abstract.

Room KL / 12:15 – speaker: Prof. Janice DULIEU-BARTON. Title: Professor, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Embedded flexible photonic sensors for cure monitoring and assessment of structural performance. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 14:00 – speaker: Prof. Michael WISNOM. Title: Professor of Aerospace Structures. Talk title: Compressive failure of carbon fibre composites due to instability at structural, material and constituent level. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 14:30 – speaker: Bohao ZHANG. Title: Research Associate. Talk title: The investigation of shear response of epoxy matrix under uniform compression. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 14:45 – speaker: Cameron WOODGATE. Title: Laboratory Assistant, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Probing Compressive Behaviour and Failure in Single Carbon Fibre Composites: an In-depth Analysis using in-situ Laser Raman Spectroscopy. Abstract.

Room 200 / 14:45 – speaker: Jack DAVIES. Title: Postgraduate, Composites Manufacture. Talk title: A Numerical Tool for Smart In-situ Sensing of Defect Features in Large-scale Infusions. Abstract.

Room BC / 15:30 – speaker: Kyungil KONG. Title: Senior Research Associate. Talk title: Hydrodynamic Stable Suspension of Recycled Carbon Fibres through Eco-friendly and Cost-effective Surface Treatment. Abstract.

Room 200 / 15:30 – speaker: Hanna BEKETOVA. Title: Research Associate. Talk title: Prepreg consolidation predictions using deep learning. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 15:30 – speaker: Aree TONGLOET. Title: Graduate Teacher, School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Talk title: Effect of hybridisation on the compressive behaviour of glass/carbon fibre hybrid composites comprising different types of carbon fibres. Abstract.

Auditorium 450 / 17:30 – speaker: Dr. Laura Rhian PICKARD. Title: Senior Research Associate. Talk title: Fuzzy overbraids for improved structural performance. Abstract.

CoSEM CDT STEM Outreach Day

Posted on by jo.rich

On the 20th May, our CoSEM CDT hosted a STEM Outreach Day for a group of 40 Sixth-Form pupils from Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School in Gloucestershire. Led by the current CDT and PhD students, there were four activities that ran throughout the day, highlighting the exciting opportunities in Composites Engineering.

The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Composites Science, Engineering and Manufacturing (CoSEM CDT) welcomed Sixth Form pupils from Katharine Lady Berkeley’s (KLB) School in Gloucestershire. The CoSEM CDT students and Aerospace PhD students led activities that showcased the work they are engaged in and gave a taster of the type of exciting research being done in the programme.

After a Welcome from Dr Jemma Rowlandson and mini-lecture on Aeronautics from CoSEM Student Matthew Lillywhite, the pupils spent the day in General Engineering laboratory for a variety of hands-on activities. One activity, created by Dr. Ben Woods, was the creation of an aeroplane wing which required pupils in small groups to make decisions to craft a wing that took into consideration aerodynamics and the lift/drag ratio.

The KLB pupils also utilised a crushing apparatus devised by the University’s NextCOMP research team. Using jelly and dried pasta, the pupils were tasked with creating a sample that could withstand the most weight. In an additional NextCOMP activity, the pupils experimented with reinforcing chocolate bars and seeing how they performed under a pendulum test.

The final activity was to create a marble run, and under guidance from Dr Jemma Rowlandson the groups competed to build and test marble runs that met certain parameters.

Jurg Laderach, Maths teacher from KLB school said: “I was so impressed by the interactions between your department and our students. This is exactly how outreach should be done! I overheard many good conversations about career options and your students were brilliant at encouraging our students to choose the path that is right for them and go with what they enjoy. Your students talked with infectious passion about what they do.”

Additional support to run the day was given by: Jo Gildersleve (NextCOMP), Dr Jemma Rowlandson, Dr Ben Woods and Matthew Lillywhite, UoB Active Outreach team, and the CDT Directors and Staff.

 

A group of Sixth Form students are being taking part in the NextCOMP Crusher activity, guided by a current CDT student.A group of Sixth Form students are being taking part in the NextCOMP Crusher activity,    guided by a current CDT student. Photo credit: James Griffith

 

 

A group of Sixth Form students engaged in the activity of creating an aeroplane wing. A group of Sixth Form students engaged in the activity of creating an aeroplane wing. Photo credit: James Griffith

 

A group of Sixth Form students testing their Marble Run.  A group of Sixth Form students testing their Marble Run. Photo credit: James Griffith

BCI PhD Student Wins SAMPE UK Competition

Posted on by jo.rich

We are proud to announce that PhD student Nicolas DARRAS has won the 2024 SAMPE UK & Ireland Student Seminar Competition, alongside Badr Moutik from University of Plymouth.

Nic’s presentation titled “Investigation on the manufacture of hierarchical composites and their mechanical compressive performances” impressed the judges and a result he will be representing SAMPE UK at the SAMPE Europe competition (part of the SAMPE Europe conference taking place in Belfast in September).

Nic said “Participating in the SAMPE Student Seminar competition was a tremendous experience, allowing me to enhance my presentation skills and shine a light on the novel research within the NextCOMP programme. As one of the UK representatives, I eagerly anticipate the SAMPE Europe conference in September, where I’m excited to showcase our innovative projects on an international stage.”

Tim Wybrow, SAMPE UKIC Chairman, said, “I am really impressed with all the student researchers this year. We have decided as a committee that as a congratulations and thank you for their efforts, each participant will be offered a complimentary one-year membership to the organisation.”

CIMComp Hub Storytelling Workshop Review

Posted on by jo.rich

by Umeir Khan

Creating a compelling and impactful story can be challenging. Fortunately, there are tools at hand to engage our audiences and craft a message that is pitch-perfect.

Following on from the success of prior workshops coordinated by the CIMComp Researcher’s Network, early April saw a fantastic turnout from current PhDs/EngD students for the “Storytelling for Engagement” activity, hosted at the University of Nottingham’s campus, and delivered by material scientist / professional storyteller – Dr Anna Ploszajski.

Many items of consideration were brought up: the type of audience you are presenting to, understanding their motivations and playing with the narrative hooks that drive the dramatic tension in a story. Unsurprisingly, a lot of parallels can be found in our favourite films, the ‘what if?’ that starts the journey for a protagonist to the ‘what if’ that sparks our own research.

Overall, it was a splendid event which helped demystify the route to effective research communication and impact. Highly recommended!

CerTest Independent Advisory Board and Industrial Steering Group Meeting, 17 April 2024 in Southampton

Posted on by jo.rich

On April 17th 2024, the CerTest team met with the Independent Advisory Board (IAB) and the Industrial Steering Group (ISG) for a fantastic day of presenting the project’s research goals and achievements along with in-depth discussions about CerTest methodologies and next steps, including what comes after CerTest . Presentations and posters were made by CerTest researchers and PhD students covering the work going into each of the project’s four research challenges, as well as the interactions and joint activities.

The CerTest team presented a complete vision for the project, and for the first time a holistic depiction of what the CerTest methodology for performance validation and ultimately certification will encompass, and how it is different from the current building block approach. Essentially, a road map towards certification by analysis or digital certification was outlined. The presentations were very well received by the representatives from the IAB and ISG including cross sector industry stakeholder and the funder EPSRC. The day was topped off with an evening dinner reception that concluded a very enjoyable day for all.

A seated audience looking at a presentation screen A seated audience looking at a presentation screen

Industrial Doctorate Centre in Composites Manufacture: Showcase 2023

Posted on by jo.rich

The Industrial Doctorate Centre welcomed over 40 guests to the annual Showcase event, on the 19th September 2023, held at the Watershed in Bristol. The event was followed by a gala dinner at Bristol Harbour Hotel.

The Industrial Doctorate Centre in Composites Manufacture has now reached its 10th year, and over this time, 31 students have graduated with an EngD in Composites Manufacture. The day before the event we welcomed five new students to the IDC, bringing the total number of students currently enrolled to 20. The new students were excited to attend the Showcase along with existing IDC students, alumni, academic and industrial supervisors, and joined by a group specially invited  VIP guests, with strong connections to the UK composites sector. It was a great opportunity for students to present their research work to a wider audience and network within the industry.

The day consisted of 3 oral presentations sessions and a quick-fire poster session all chaired by the IDC alumni. The presentations from our students ranged from topics in advanced manufacturing techniques, new approaches to testing wind turbine blades, process simulation and effect of cryogenic exposure on composites. A focus of the showcase was sustainability, this was brought in to context in a fantastic keynote speech from Dr Ffion Rodes. One of the ambitions for the IDC is for our students to create their own spinouts and companies. Dr Tomasz Garstka a PhD alumni from Bristol Composites Institute has done just that creating his company LMAT. Tomasz gave an excellent keynote presentation  on how he turned his academic research into a commercial tool for composite tooling.

 

The Showcase ended with a very lively panel discussion, chaired by Professor Mike Hinton of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. The panel comprised  Dr Anna Scott Magma Global; Dr Petar Zivkovic Airbus; Dr Peter Giddings NCC; Dr Faye Smith, Avalon Consultancy; Professor Paul Hogg, Royal Holloway University of London; Janet Mitchell, MC2Consultants.

The panel were asked to discuss how can industrially-based doctoral research help unlock the potential of composites in achieving a Net Zero? The topics discussed included: Understanding better how digital technologies can help accelerate our learning; start thinking of composites as an enabler to protect our way of life by integrating sustainability at the design stage, creating a template for LCA that can be used in all projects; extended in-service life of composites and life extension programmes; smarter testing to reduce waste and move to virtual tests for certification; take steps to eliminate trial and error approaches in manufacturing; move away from the driven by rate approach.

The event was a great success with engaging discussions throughout the day carrying on into the evening at the reception and the gala dinner.

Professor Janice Barton, Director of the IDC was delighted with the day and said “It was fantastic to see our students present their work with confidence and realising they are making a significant difference to their sponsoring companies and to wider society”.