The advanced materials market is estimated to be worth around $100bn by 2024, with a 22% growth in metamaterials to $1.4bn predicted by 2022. To exploit this opportunity in the UK, internationally competitive experts are required to bridge the disciplines of physics and engineering and to address global research challenges, as highlighted in the Materials and Manufacturing paper from the Innovate UK’s Advanced Materials Leadership Council. Its Materials for Communications and Electronics paper recognises the strengths of UK-based research in nanophotonics, 2D nanostructures, and plasmonics, but highlights that in metamaterials “the UK is lagging the USA and South East Asia”.

Together with the National Physics Laboratory, we will bring together a diverse group of scientists and industrial partners in the Southwest of England to develop pathways into addressing industry’s challenges.

There will be a short series of talks from industrial and academic speakers to set the scene and provide background information. Participants will then work together in groups to develop the questions into well-defined scientific work packages and outline potential methods for solving them.

The proposed outcome of the workshop is a selection of project concepts that could be developed into proposals and co-funded by NPL, an SME and a governmental funding scheme (e.g. InnovateUK, EPSRC) to further strengthen HEI and local economy in the Southwest of England as a driver in materials research and applications.

Who should attend

Academic staff, postdocs, students, and industrial representatives