New £1m hi-tech engineering centre

The University of Leicester has announced the launch today of a new £1m hi-tech engineering centre that will work with industry to drive innovation in materials technology.

Vice-chancellor Professor Sir Robert Burgess will open The Engineering Materials Integration Centre (MaTIC ) on Tuesday 2 November in the University of Leicester's Stirling/Gowan Engineering Building. The event will be attended by academic and industry representatives.

The aim of MaTIC is to provide expertise and know-how of advanced technology that can be used to solve complex engineering and scientific problems.

The centre is bristling with technologies that help industry to work with academics to tackle the materials challenges of the future, according to the head of the new Centre Professor Sarah Hainsworth.

She said: "The purpose for the centre is underpinned by industry's critical need to develop new materials and processes. The materials that are being developed are the next generation of materials that will help to make more efficient aero- and automotive engines. The new materials contribute to decreasing CO2 emissions and improving the environmental impact of transport - this will help society to meet targets for minimising impact on climate change.

"The new centre will also engage in forensic work which has an impact on the way in which violent crime is understood and interpreted."

Professor Hainsworth explained materials played an important role in, for example, driving new innovations in approaches to reducing environmental emissions and improving energy efficiency.

She added: "In order to better understand new materials, new analytical and experimental techniques are required to drive new knowledge. However, it is the integration of our analytical and experimental techniques that is key and that allows us to have better insight into materials processing or materials implementation - be that by casting or chemical reactions.

"The integration is important not only for new materials but also in areas such as geology where the new techniques allow microfossils to be examined in new ways that give exciting information about their 3D structure. We are delighted to have created this new materials technology integration centre and particularly look forward to working with industry in solving materials challenges for the future."