High-tech centre opens its doors to South West companies

JamesM
Authored by JamesM
Posted: Friday, May 24, 2013 - 12:21

Businesses in the South West are being invited to tour a Plymouth University research facility and see for themselves how it could benefit their manufacturing processes and enhance profitability.

An open day on composite failure analysis is being held at the Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre (PEMC) on Thursday 27 June.

Businesses will be able to see how the technology can help identify manufacturing flaws, quality issues and costly contamination issues, with the chance to meet the PEMC team, discuss specific projects and see the equipment in action.

The PEMC was transformed as part of a £1.3million three-year project and its cutting edge technology can be used in the engineering and biomedical sectors.

It was jointly funded by the University, JEOL (UK) Ltd and a £579,960 grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and has established a world class centre for materials characterisation and analysis in the city.

It houses three state-of-the-art electron microscopes and, since its launch a year ago, has been used by companies of all sizes, regional health trusts across the South West and for university research initiatives.

Dr Roy Moate, manager of the PEMC, said: “The new equipment has significantly enhanced the centre’s capability in materials analysis. We have engaged with over 60 local businesses in the last 18 months and will to continue to develop our support for regional industry during the coming years.”

Electron microscopy (EM) is a technique which enables high magnification imaging of materials, allowing users to investigate the causes and effects of failures, contamination, corrosion, defects and fatigue; develop new and improved products, processes and materials; and enhance quality control and monitoring.

For more information about PEMC, or to book a place at the open day, email emc@plymouth.ac.uk or call 01752 588522.

http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/emc

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