Over 150 companies collaborate with us in research programmes; the Bradford Industry Group (BIG), deriving from the Polymer Centre of Industrial Collaboration, is the wider gathering (normally twice per annum) of interested companies, who come to hear of technical progress, overviews of research areas and industrial presentations, and to discuss strategic issues for our sector.
The aim of the Bradford Industry Group is
1. To encourage development of industry in our sectors, by
• Bringing interested companies and organisations together;
• Sharing our polymer-related IRC science and technology progress;
• Providing a forum for discussion on strategic/ business matters.
2. To expand the industrial involvement of our Bradford laboratory and the wider Polymer IRC, developing leading edge, high academic quality programmes of relevance to industry.
BIG meetings have been sponsored by Victrex and Make it in Plastics; PPE events by Thermo Fisher, Wittmann Battenfeld and eBeam.
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BIG was re-formed in a meeting on 29 February 2012.
An example meeting (November 2012):
10:30 Welcome, Introduction & Lab Overview Professor Phil Coates
10:50 Tech 1: Resource Efficiency: Upcycling to Make Thermal and Acoustic Foams Dr Amir Khan
11:05 Tech 2: Resource Efficiency: Increasing Recycled HDPE in Milk Bottles Dr Ashwin Moorthy (Nampak), Dr Leigh Mulvaney-Johnson & Dr Adrian Kelly
11:30 Tech 3: Fibre Orientation of Short and Long Glass Fibre Reinforced Injection Moulded Composites Bushra Parveen & Autodesk Moldflow
11:45 Tech 4 - Industry Slot: Innovations in Bioresorbable Polymers for Orthopaedic Fixation and Repair Dr David Farrar (Smith & Nephew)
12:15 Lunch and Networking + Lab views inc. new Clean Room facilities
13:30 Tech 5 - KTP Slot: Minimally Invasive Surgical Devices, a KTP Experience Giles Meakin (Surgical Innovations)
13:50 KTP Funding Opportunities Asif Majid
Business & Strategy / BIG Operation Professor Phil Coates to lead discussion Including:
Polymer IRC activities
New Chem. Eng. developments and Masters courses
TSB opportunities
METRC opportunities
COGENT SSC – potential training opportunities
China developments
News
Our most recent separate meeting [i.e. not as part of the PPE series] was July 2015, in cooperation with Make it in Plastics.