Brunel to host metal engineering centre

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre is aimed at making a significant contribution to the metals industry, which is worth £17bn a year to the UK economy.

Prof Zhongyun Fan will lead the Liquid Metals Engineering (LiME) Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre.

‘The UK metal industry employs 400,000 people, with more than 29,000 metals-based enterprises around the country,’ he said. ‘Much of the UK economy is built on metals and many of our key manufacturing industries depend on a supply of high-performance metallic materials that enable them to compete internationally.’

Fan added that the centre will aim to safeguard the role of the metals industry by developing manufacturing technologies that cut carbon emissions, reduce energy and save millions of tonnes of natural resources without jeopardising efficient metal production.

‘We have a specific vision for the future of solidification science, materials processing technologies and a sustainable metallurgical industry,’ he said. ‘Our vision for the future metallurgical industry is full metal recirculation through advanced technologies for reuse, remanufacture and recycling of secondary metals.’