In our first Lunch & Learn session at Hethel Engineering Centre, we welcome Darshil Shah from the University of Cambridge, who will share all the latest opportunities and projects for businesses in the region to get involved with, including:

Centre for Natural Material Innovation - https://www.cnmi.org.uk/

The CNMI is a multi-disciplinary research centre hosted by the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. It brings together people and research in plant sciences, biochemistry, chemistry, fluid dynamics, engineering, and architecture in a ground-breaking manner. Through innovative research and experimentation, we aim to understand, develop and design with plant-based materials as alternatives to conventional high embodied carbon materials such as concrete, steel, and glass and carbon fibre reinforced plastics. Our target sectors include the built environment sector (from engineered timber schools to bamboo skyscrapers), the transportation sector (biocomposites for automotive, marine and aerospace), renewable energy sector (biocomposite wind turbine blades and timber wind turbine towers), consumer goods sector (from biodegradable camera cases to high-performance biocomposite sporting equipment), amongst others.

FLOWER project - https://flower-project.eu/?lang=en

FLOWER (Flax composites, LOW weight, End of life and Recycling) aims to develop novel, low-cost, light-weight, non-woven and woven flax fibre reinforcements for the local composites industry. Biodegradable and bio-based thermoplastics will also be explored to ensure end-of-life sustainability. The outcomes from this project will enable achieving the aspiration of transforming natural fibre composites as cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, light-weight and viable alternatives to glass fibre composites for the automotive, marine, and point-of-sales advertising sectors.

As deliverables of the project, structural components of a flying boat (hydrofoil), which will make its maiden journey across the English Channel, automotive roof panels, and point-of-sales advertising display boards will be made with the developed flax composite material technologies.

FLOWER is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the framework of the INTERREG VA France (Manche) / England cross-border cooperation program. FLOWER has a total budget of €4 717 674.56 (including €3 179 427.16 European Union (ERDF – Interreg FCE) co-financing) and will run for 56 months, up to September 2022.

Upcoming Undergraduate Opportunities - https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/brand-new-design-tripos-brings-arts-and-science-together-in-one-degree

We would welcome to partner and collaborate with you in offering research projects on real-world problems to research students at the University. Projects can range from a full year for final-year Master’s students in Engineering, Materials Science and Architecture (no monetary funding necessary), to short 4-12 weeks undergraduate projects over the summer (for which funding is necessary). There is also a possibility for students to take up projects for a PhD.

The department has also announced a new course based on interdisciplinary design, which is taught through project-based learning. We intend to invite industry to offer short design projects during the term to undergraduate students. The Design Tripos is a brand-new Cambridge degree - the first undergraduate course ‘designed from scratch’ at the University for a number of years – that will merge arts and science to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. For the first time, the Design Tripos brings together architecture, engineering and materials science in a single degree. Blending technical content with design freedom, the course will offer a different kind of creativity, and a new approach to tackling societal and environmental issues, including poverty and climate action. Using practices of design and our understanding of how they influence people, economies and the natural world, the four-year Master of Design (MDes) degree will be structured around hands-on, problem-based learning projects. Studio work and practical skills, including drawing, writing, coding, and fabricating, will complement taught courses in the humanities, social and natural sciences, and mathematics - bringing historical, cultural, ecological and economic context.