WMG and Tata Steel conclude pioneering R&D agreement
STRONGER links between the Warwick Manufacturing Group and Tata Steel are set to position the UK at the forefront of the international iron and steel research agenda.
The two entities have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see them collaborate in the fields of science, technology and education.
The embodiment of the agreement will be the new £20m industry and government-funded international centre for Advanced Steels Research, which is being built at Warwick. This new world class centre will provide a unique national resource, and will complement Tata Steel’s long term investment in its own move to facilities based at the University of Warwick.
The new centre will see 300 of the brightest engineers and scientists working within a dynamic research and development environment. It will be led by Professor Sridhar Seetharaman, Tata Steel chair in Low Carbon Materials at WMG.
It combines his research with that of two further Tata Steel chairs at WMG – Professor Claire Davis, chair for research into thermo-mechanical processing, and Professor Barbara Shollock, chair in advanced characterisation and coatings.
Karl Koehler, chief executive of Tata Steel’s European operations, said: “This development will allow us to work with world-class scientists and researchers to create new steels for customers who are shaping the low-carbon technologies of tomorrow.
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, chairman WMG, added: “With Tata Steel we are creating a national focus that will help ensure that the UK steel industry has the knowledge, technology and skills in place to be able to compete in the huge international steel market.”
The Advanced Steels Research Centre will also be accessible to wide range of other leading UK and international academics and will collaborate with the national network of Catapult Centres. Through collaborative research, academics and industry experts will be working with Tata Steel on strategic research programmes which will help transform UK steel production, and includes research into emerging and breakthrough technologies. Research will focus on enabling new generation value-added products for major steel application sectors including automotive, construction, energy & power, engineering and lifting & excavating.
