Tue, 26 March, 2019
TWI and Swansea University jointly won the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) call for a collaborative Regional Centre in Wales (RCW) under the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) funding programme.
B4I is a government initiative that opens up STFC’s national–level scientific research facility to industry for proposed short and long-term R&D projects that will ultimately boost company productivity. An example could be optimising a component manufacturing process by in-situ sample analysis using STFC’s advanced techniques (beamlines). This data can then be used to create or feed into software simulations using STFC’s high-performance computing systems (HPCs) and expertise to increase digital simulation reliability, speed of data acquisition, reduce lead times and lower overall R&D.
TWI Technology Centre (Wales) are industry experts in the development and application of state-of-the-art non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, while Swansea University have advanced capability in imaging and characterisation of materials, at multiple length-scales and modalities (ultrasonics, X-Ray microCT, electron microscopy, microanalysis techniques). Together, these facilities represent a critical mass of characterisation capability and expertise unparalleled in the region. Where R&D technologies are out of scope, they will be addressed using STFC’s national-level facilities and expertise (i.e. Neutron /muon stress-analysis and imaging, HPC, big data analytics, visualisation and cognitive technologies).
Regional Centre Wales (RCW) is an industry-led collaborative centre between TWI and Swansea University, focussed on guiding Welsh companies through the B4I programme. RCW will fully support the company’s B4I application, providing guidance and funded access to the RCW’s (TWI Wales and Swansea University) local state-of-the-art resources to conduct experiments that prove a need to uptake a more advanced facility. This exercise promotes knowledge exchange that will subsequently increase the skills-base, inspiring competitiveness through future R&D activity, meanwhile strengthening the company’s B4I application. Where required, RCW will fully support the analyses of data, and perform impact tracking throughout the process, to both ensure that the results can be implemented, and to monitor the gradual impact of the R&D project on the company, feeding into the learning.
For more information on the Bridging for Innovators (B4I) Regional Centre Wales (RCW), please contact:
Phone: 01639873163
Email: stfc-rcwales@twi.co.uk
