The Centre for Material’s work with industry, research and courses underpin innovation in material engineering, development, reuse and component longevity. Applications for material design, characterisation and testing are pervasive, and can be found in nearly every sector, from AI and robotics to energy, aerospace, defence and the circular economy.
Real-world impact
Our students, academics and technicians couple the latest thinking in material science with state-of-the-art equipment to find material solutions to the world’s sustainability challenges. Ranging from how to transport, store and use hydrogen as a fuel, how to deliver faster processing speeds and lower power consumption, and how to create biodegradable medical equipment, to name just a few.
Our work spans discovering functional materials such as ceramics, metallics, intermetallic and self-healing polymers (vitrimers), to composite manufacture and testing for space and automotive industries, to developing nanomaterials for drug delivery. By understanding the material science, conducting advanced characterisation and material testing, we work to make, break and improve not just the end material for its specific application, but the process of creating it: to make it faster, cheaper and greener.
“The turbine coatings lab in Cranfield has led very directly to new coating technologies being applied to our civil airline engines in recent years. And so that's an example of something being almost fast-tracked through university research and into the engine.”
Ash Owen, Chief Engineer for Civil Technology and Future Programmes, Rolls-Royce
