Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group receives £18.27 million investment to power forward the region’s capabilities in advanced ceramics for transformative applications
The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) has secured £18.27 million in government funding provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund (SIPF), to put the midlands firmly on the map as a global centre for advanced ceramics.
Precision Ceramics Ltd has been a founder member of MICG since inception alongside other global businesses such as Rolls-Royce, JCB and Morgan Advanced Materials – as well as R&D institutions such as Lucideon and the Universities of Birmingham, Leicester, and Loughborough.
Steve Swallow, MD of Precision Ceramics said “This investment will enhance the capabilities of all MICG members and the region to provide cutting edge solutions to the global markets in transformative application areas such as Medical, Space, Green energy and Aerospace applications..”
Formed by some of the area’s largest businesses and universities, the MICG was launched in 2020 to deliver a world-leading approach to advanced ceramics.
The SIPF funding, combined with partner investment and the creation of new business opportunities, will together make the programme a £42.1 million project.
The funds will be used to create a world-leading industrial and academic research and development programme over the next four years, creating a cluster of new technology-based businesses in the Midlands and strengthening the supply chain in the region.
Ian Edmonds, of Rolls-Royce, the chair of MICG said: “This is great news for the Midlands.
“Advanced ceramics are often unseen but vital components of jet engines, electronics, medical devices, car batteries, other energy technologies and many more manufactured products.
“They allow products to operate at higher temperatures, in more challenging environments and can last longer than plastic or metal equivalents.
“Globally, the advanced ceramics sector is projected to be worth £143 billion by 2023, and the outcome of this funding means the Midlands is well-placed to be part of it.”
Led by UK Research and Innovation, Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) is a competitive funding scheme that takes a place-based approach to research and innovation funding, to support significant local economic growth.
“This SIPF investment will form part of a co-ordinated effort to grow the whole advanced ceramics supply chain in the Midlands, maximising the UK’s ability to compete more effectively in this global market.”
This includes opening up opportunities for the next stage of the development, an Advanced Ceramics Campus, a 130,000 square feet development, proposed for North Staffordshire – which will make the scheme an £80 million plus project in total, which will ultimately contribute towards the growth of 4,200 jobs in the region over the next decade.
“It will create many exciting opportunities in research and development across the Midlands.
“Crucially, it also opens up opportunities to attract further public and private sector funding for the Advanced Ceramics Campus.
“This facility will provide an important hub for industry, offering a centre of excellence for research and development, as well as underpinning academic research.
“It will create an environment for business and academia to share knowledge and collaborate on research and development, safeguarding existing jobs and allowing existing companies to expand, as well as providing opportunities for new start-ups.“
If funded, the campus will also have knock-on benefits across the Midlands, with innovation improving productivity and competitiveness in manufacturing, helping to ‘level up’ the region’s economy and create new efficiencies to drive down emissions.”
More details about MICG can be found at https://micg.org.uk/
The following short video by the UK Research and Innovation, shows what the future of advanced ceramics will bring to the economy:
The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG):
The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) was established in 2020 to ensure advanced ceramics help drive the competitiveness and success of Midlands advanced manufacturing by tackling key innovation challenges.
Advanced ceramics are vital to fulfil the growing need for high performance materials in ever more demanding conditions across a wide variety of manufacturing sectors.
The MICG’ research programme will combine industrial and academic expertise to create a unified process for the development and commercialisation of new and enhanced processes and products.
The wider aims of the MICG are to:
- Make the Midlands the go-to location for the global R&D and production of advanced ceramics
- Increase the competitiveness of the Midlands industrial base
- Enhance industrial ability to develop innovative ceramic technologies with speedy marketplace adoption
- Deliver a multi-sectoral approach with rapid translation of new technologies for the advantage of a whole range of industrial sectors
- Strengthen the UK advanced ceramics supply chain for the benefit of the Midlands advanced manufacturing sector.
The MICG will drive technological breakthroughs in advanced ceramic materials and their manufacturing processes, leading to the development of lower energy and cost routes for functional and structural advanced ceramics.
Its partners are clear that to continue to compete internationally there is an urgent need to constantly enhance current processes and develop future manufacturing techniques, in the area of advanced ceramics.
The partners are;
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About Precision Ceramics
Precision Ceramics is a company dedicated to engineering high performance customised ceramic solutions for the most demanding environments in an ever-widening field of cutting-edge applications and rapidly advancing technologies.
Materials
Precision Ceramics offers a wide range of advanced ceramic materials. We can help with the engineering tolerances, design for manufacture, selection of the materials and application environment questions.
