Businesses across Cheshire and Warrington are being invited to take advantage of a new project that puts world-class 'smart materials' expertise and facilities at their fingertips.
The support comes from the newly launched £4.4 million Greater Innovation for Smarter Materials Optimisation (GISMO) project, delivered by Lancaster University and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
'Smart materials' can be reactive to their environment and can respond to thermal, biological, chemical, mechanical, electric, and magnetic stimuli by changing shape, position, stiffness and other characteristics. These advanced properties can enable new and improved products and components, as well as adding significant value to commodity materials and products.
GISMO will help Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to improve the performance of surfaces, coatings, bulk materials and chemicals in their products and processes and to develop their capabilities in additive manufacturing - commonly known as 3D printing.
The programme provides businesses with fully funded access to the experts and a cutting-edge suite of specialist equipment in the Materials Science Institute at Lancaster University - one of the UK's highest ranked universities.
Professor Rob Short, Director of the Materials Science Institute, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this programme. GISMO provides businesses across Cheshire and Warrington with an excellent opportunity to enhance their research and development capacity by working closely with our experts at Lancaster University. And conversely, it provides my staff and I with a wonderful opportunity to work with SMEs.
"Our knowledge of the latest developments in materials and our state-of-the-art facilities can help businesses to improve the effectiveness of their products and processes, test and develop materials, find new materials and formulations, trial new processes and technologies and develop and build prototypes."
