TWI Innovation and Research event creates new partnerships

Over 70 attendees came together for the first TWI Innovation and Research: Project Pitching, Partner Matching and Brokerage event.

The online workshop, which was attended by representatives from companies including Baker Hughes, Molecular Plasma Group, Hilti Corporation, Uniper, Westinghouse Electric, Spirit AeroSystems and Nquiring Minds Ltd, focused on green transition and net zero, including green and clean manufacturing, renewable energy, and hydrogen and carbon capture.

The attendees were provided with a range of information and insights including those related to different aspects of Horizon Europe, including the types of new technologies the programme is seeking to fund; what it takes for a company or organisation to get involved in developing a project with the potential to attract public funding; and how TWI, its Innovation Centres and TWI Innovation Network partners can help companies realise their technology ambitions and engage in collaborative innovation through project consortiums.

Speakers at the event included TWI’s Technology Innovation Management (TIM) Team Manager, Laurence Robinson, EU Programmes and Partnerships Manager, IBM Research Europe – Ireland, Gal Weiss, TWI’s Senior Innovation Project Leader, Victoria Adesanya, and Head of R&D at Ørsted, Jens Gengenbach,

There were also a series of pitches related to new technology areas under investigation from TWI’s Innovation Centres and TWI’s Asset Integrity Management team, with new concepts being shared including carbon dioxide capture from industrial gases, tandem perovskite-based photovoltaic systems, and construction waste recovery technologies for circular construction.

The event finished with a 30-minute virtual networking session that allowed the delegates to enter into conversations with one another, the speakers, and representatives from TWI and the Innovation Centres.

Speaking on the event, which was the first in a new series of events on the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe funding programme for novel technology projects, Tat-Hean Gan, TWI’s Director of Innovation and Skills said, “This workshop was designed to bring together UK and European SMEs, larger companies and RTOs, and TWI Industrial Members who feel their business could benefit in some way from being involved in publicly funded, collaborative R&D projects. Whether that’s finding a suitable partner to work with who is looking at a similar technology area, sourcing funding for new product development or meeting new contacts that could help innovate supply chain processes.”

He added, “With the first deadlines for submitting projects seeking Horizon Europe funding coming up in September this year, now is the optimum time for interested parties to get involved.”

Roger Brandwood, Technical Lead – Low Emission Plant at Uniper who attended the workshop said: “The event was well organised and well attended, with people from across the R&D community. It provided a great opportunity to hear what is happening and to learn more about the opportunities for collaboration.”



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