UK needs integrated materials sector to drive growth, urges report

Plea made for collaboration and to ensure strategy doesn’t end up simply gathering dust

THE AUTHORS of a national materials strategy have warned that without concerted industry leadership their attempts to accelerate innovation will fail, holding back UK growth, skills, and security.

The calls were made in January as leaders from industry, research, and government gathered in London for the launch of a strategy which could underpin growth in sectors as varied as energy, consumer products, and telecommunications.

It’s estimated that some 52,000 people in the UK work directly in materials-specific roles, contributing £4.4bn (US$5.3bn) a year to the economy. Top employers include Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, and Tata Steel. The report’s authors say there is the potential to double the number of jobs by 2035.

David Knowles, CEO of the Henry Royce Institute, said at the launch: “Without your leadership, the strategy will fail. It’s really important that you engage.”

Siloes and scaleup

The Henry Royce Institute has taken advice from more than 2,000 experts from across business, academia, research organisations, and government. The result is a plan to move beyond what it describes as the siloed efforts of the past to create an integrated materials sector that serves all the UK’s industrial growth. A key challenge will be addressing lengthy and expensive commercialisation cycles and addressing the UK’s habit of seeing the materials it develops at home being scaled up and commercialised abroad.

The strategy has not recommended the UK pursue specific technological solutions, instead picking 19 opportunities for innovation spread across six themes: energy, healthcare, infrastructure, surface technologies, electronics and sensors, and consumer products and polymers.

These include the development of novel battery chemistries and membranes, materials for industrial heat exchange, and hydrogen transportation. Success in these areas would help retain manufacturing and process industries by lowering energy costs and create new technologies and companies that bolster the economy, sustainability, and materials security.

MPI

Translation, translation, translation

Knowles said the next steps he’d like to see taken include the creation of a business case and implementation plan for the ten-year strategy; the creation of a national materials innovation leadership group to push this forward; and an assessment of the infrastructure needed for scaleup and manufacture.

“I think the institutions like chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and materials, they’ve all got to come behind this and say, ‘this is the right thing’,” Knowles said. “We need to come together as a cohesive group.

“You heard me talk today about ‘translation, translation, translation’. There are some really quick wins in this, including some great technologies that are coming through around the transition to net zero concrete.”

Knowles was referring to a process developed at the University of Cambridge that is being scaled up at the Materials Process Institute (MPI) to make zero emissions steel and cement from a single process.

He added that some companies are having to go abroad to access scaleup capabilities. “That’s maybe where we need some investment, but it should be modest. We should also look at what [existing capabilities] we have got and what can we deploy better.”

Given the UK’s poor economic situation and demands for investment in public services, Knowles acknowledged that he’s not expecting a sudden influx of state investment.

“A lot of what we’re talking about is going to be delivered by industry. So, industry have to have a major stake in that process, and they need to work together with government.”

Government can assist with some of the “blockers” to progress such as regulation and skills provision that Knowles said are stymying UK innovation in the likes of the biomedical and nuclear sectors. He added that they have a key role to play in developing the cross-cutting themes that the strategy identifies as being crucial to accelerating materials innovation.