February 2004

Reloaded – Went Off With a Bang

Networking, linking users and sources of technology, disseminating research results, debating priorities, alerting to opportunities, matching project partners – yes it was all happening at PowdermatriX Reloaded at the Heritage Motor Centre.

One hundred delegates met at this excellent venue on February 24th for our annual review meeting. Industrialists met with around twenty five academics from twelve UK universities to hear presentations on a wide variety of topics; the PowdermatriX research projects and CASE studentships, the development of sectoral roadmaps, the new SPARK awards for problem solving and the technology offers sourced from Russia and around the world.

A year on from the PowdermatriX launch the meeting encapsulated the activities and services that have been developed by the partnership. With the initial phase under our belt, we have a large community of industry and academia which shares an interest in powder processing. A set of strategic research projects is under way and a variety of services offered to member companies to help them add value to their businesses through the application of technology.

An active poster session enabled delegates to express their opinions and suggestions on a variety of subjects ranging from project proposals and research results to the new SPARK awards. Nearly forty posters were on display. Half presented material resulting from PowdermatriX activities and the other half came from outside sources.

One particular group of posters presented the sectoral technology roadmaps which have been developed by the PowdermatriX team. The posters were the culmination of six months work by the Technology Translators, based on interviews with member companies and reviews of the literature. Several high level themes common to all sectors emerged but the process drilled down to establish a small number of key development areas for each sector. These findings were presented for validation by the delegates. The road maps, which are continuously developing as new information emerges will be used by the Research Committee to set priorities for future research topics.

"I found the PowdermatriX Reloaded meeting fascinating. Powdermatrix certainly seems to be engaged with industry and a pro-active Faraday Partnership" - Kevin Cooke, Teer Coatings.

PRESS CONTACT: Catherine West-Robinson, Marketing Co-ordinator
Tel: 01782 764344   Fax: 01782 412331   Email: catherine.west-robinson@ceram.com