Facilitated by The Henry Royce Institute – the UK’s national institute for advanced materials – with the support of ScotChem, Perspective Economics, and Urban Foresight, it represents the first phase of a major national effort to speed up materials development cycles and unlock untapped potential in the UK to extend its leadership in material innovation.
According to the Strategy’s contributors, its work is essential if the UK is to meet its net zero commitments, as well as tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time, from finding new healthcare solutions and enhancing national security and resilience, to improving transport and infrastructure.
This is due to the fact that materials innovation touches almost every strategically important sector in the UK, powering the advancements urgently required for our modern world.
Projections undertaken as part of the strategy also suggest that an active commitment to materials innovation could double the number of materials-specific job roles by 2035, up from 52,000 people nationwide currently, and adding £4.4bn in GVA to the UK economy. Each materials-related job unlocks at least 12 additional jobs within materials innovation businesses.
Indeed, materials innovation is fuelling growth across the UK, unlocking opportunities for businesses of all sizes: of the 2,700 companies active in materials innovation in the UK, 70 per cent are registered outside of London and the South East, and 90 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Steered by a dedicated Materials Innovation Leadership Group, the strategy consulted over 2,000 experts in materials science, engineering, innovation, policy and industry, identifying six diverse areas of opportunity for materials to make a transformative impact and unlock economic growth:
- Energy solutions: efficient and sustainable energy generation, storage, transmission and use to meet net zero, the idea of “rising to the net zero challenge.”
- Future healthcare: delivering beyond biocompatibility for active medical solutions.
- Structural innovations: strengthening the UK’s infrastructure, built environment and transport systems.
- Advanced surface technologies: enhancing product functionality, performance, and lifetime.
- Next generation electronics, telecommunications and sensors: driving the future of high-performance connectivity and computing.
- Consumer products, packaging and specialist polymers: paving the way for a greener tomorrow.
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As the first ever cross-sector strategy for materials innovation, it articulates the need for a more collaborative effort to ensure the UK remains a leading location for materials innovation, and to amplify the benefits of materials innovation activities that have traditionally been siloed across sectors.
The strategy identified two major cross-cutting areas spanning the entire materials sector that require common approaches and methodologies to develop them over the next decade: the digital revolution (Materials 4.0) and sustainability.
Prioritising these, the Group said, could see the industry leap ahead if the materials community works together to develop collective solutions – such as a materials informatics framework (which incorporates AI and machine learning), life-cycle stimulation, and modelling.
The strategy will be implemented immediately via steering groups, with the Materials Innovation Leadership Group overseeing its delivery. These will focus on the key opportunities and cross-cutting themes identified in the strategy to bind the community together and focus efforts on the largest opportunities for impact.
In a statement, Professor David Knowles, CEO of the Henry Royce Institute, said: “Advanced materials hold the key to finding and delivering solutions to some of the most pressing national and global challenges of today and directly contribute billions to our national economy.
“But, to unlock the full value of materials we must break down traditional long-standing silos within the industry. This strategy has kickstarted that process, setting the UK on the path to becoming the global leader in materials innovation.”
