The Centre for Innovation will be set up at the Institute’s headquarters at the University of Manchester and Tata Steel will invest £10 million over four years.
The new centre aims to link up on advanced materials with the broader UK innovation eco-system involving multiple universities, catapult centres and the National Health Service. The research programme will benefit from the participation of leading academics and technologists through the Henry Royce Institute’s partner network.
Tata Steel has a growing business in composites, graphene, and medical materials. The collaboration with the Henry Royce Institute will focus on medical materials, 2D materials, and second-life materials with an emphasis on reuse and recycling.
TV Narendran, CEO & managing director of Tata Steel, said: “The establishment of the Centre for Innovation in the UK represents a strategic move for Tata Steel towards harnessing the global technology and innovation ecosystem. The Centre at Royce will enable us to work with world-class scientists and a rich partner network to create sustainable, breakthrough, market-ready applications for the benefit of both the company and the community."
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, president and vice-chancellor of The University of Manchester, said: “We are really pleased that Tata Steel is establishing this Centre for Innovation here in Manchester, truly leveraging our world-class expertise in advanced materials. Importantly, this excellent Centre will combine the capability of the University of Manchester’s leading materials researchers with the commercial expertise of Tata Steel and is set to deliver a very productive innovation-based relationship for both the University and the company.”
The Henry Royce Institute is the UK’s national centre for research and innovation for advanced materials.