The University of Warwick has been awarded £14.5m for WMG to bring together researchers to work with industry in an Advanced Steel Research Centre. WMG at the University of Warwick will work with Tata Steel to take forward this crucial national collaboration which will help transform UK steel production, and includes research into emerging and breakthrough technologies.

The Centre has been constructed and equipped as part of a £14.5m award from EPSRC.

Research, which will be led by Professor Claire Davis and Professor Barbara Shollock, will combine the disciplines of materials, physics, chemistry, mechanical and chemical engineering, manufacturing, mathematics, statistics and computer science to address hypothesis driven fundamental questions, enabling new generation value-added products for major steel application sectors including automotive, construction, energy & power, engineering and lifting & excavating. It will bring together Tata Steel sponsored activity across UK universities but will also be accessible to wide range of other leading UK and international academics and will collaborate with the national network of Catapult Centres.

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, Chairman of WMG said:

Global demand for steel continues to be high with record production in 2013. This Advanced Steel Research Hub provides an internationally leading close collaboration between researchers and industry. It creates a national focus that will help ensure that the UK steel industry has the knowledge, technology and skills in place to be a highly efficient, competitive, value-added steel manufacturer able to capitalize on that huge international steel market”

Dr Debashish Bhattacharjee, Tata Steel's Group Director of Research and Development said:

The Advanced Steel Research Hub at Warwick will provide a new and unique innovative research centre to enable the further transformation of the UK steel industry into one that creates tailored, functional materials for customers in high-value sectors."

These innovations are needed for the UK to further develop world-leading capabilities in the global steel market, supplying advanced steel products to highly demanding and competitive industries such as automotive.”

The University of Warwick, where Tata Steel has created three Professorial Chairs, is an ideal partner for collaborative research and has built up a critical mass of steel research excellence."

We look forward to working with the University of Warwick and our other key academic partners to bring about transformative change in areas such as liquid iron production, energy usage, waste utilisation, advanced casting technologies and innovative coating methods."

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Policy
University of Warwick
Tel UK: 024 76523708 office 07767 655860 mobile
Tel Overseas: +44 (0)24 76523708 office
+44 (0)7767 655860 mobile/cell
Email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR71 25th March 2015