Fri, 18 November, 2022
Representatives from TWI Industrial Member companies turned out in force recently to attend the inaugural TWI Core Research Programme (CRP) Symposium Panel Meeting & Exhibition, held at TWI’s headquarters in Cambridge, UK on 8 November 2022. Around 100 delegates gathered to explore and discuss the technological and industrial aspects of this world-leading, research and development (R&D) led programme, which is delivered through a rolling programme of around 40 projects at any given time.
TWI’s unique CRP is available solely to Industrial Members. It enables participating companies to address significant challenges, in collaboration with TWI, that have been identified as of critical interest to future operations, in terms of specific technology areas and/or industry sectors.
The CRP Symposium Panel Meeting & Exhibition, which was opened by Aamir Khan, Chief Executive of TWI, included a series of project elevator pitches and follow-on interactive panel discussions. Presentations were given by Simon Webster, Chair of the TWI Research Board and Ian Froment, Section Manager for Industrial Member Services at TWI. Keynote speeches were also received from Abderrazak Traidia, Science Specialist, Aramco Overseas Company UK, and William Wistance, Principal Specialist - Supply Chain Assurance Services, Lloyd's Register EMEA.
William Wistance, Principal Specialist - Supply Chain Assurance Services, Lloyd's Register EMEA.
An accompanying exhibition showcased CRP reports currently being peer reviewed prior to publication, and posters from CRP-funded National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) PhD students, the work of selected TWI Innovation Centres, the publicly funded collaborative proposals support provided by TWI’s Technology Innovation Management team, and much more. TWI’s Technology Fellows and experts held 1:1 sessions with Industrial Members to review their emerging technology needs, and there was also a tour of TWI’s engineering laboratories.
The CRP Symposium Panel Meeting & Exhibition culminated in an awards ceremony at which Capucine Carpentier, Consultant and non-destructive testing expert at TWI, won The Welding Institute Richard Weck Award for her work leading the CRP project Influencing Parameters for the Ultrasonic Inspection of Austenitic Welds, and Man Chi-Cheung, PhD student with Brunel University London and NSIRC, won Best CRP Student Poster for her work on the Composite-to-Metals Joining for Naval Vessels project.
Speaking of the event, Prof Tat-Hean Gan, Director of Membership and Innovation, and joint Programme Director for the CRP at TWI, said “Participation in the Core Research Programme is a key benefit of Industrial Membership, so this guided our intention for the Symposium, which was to establish an annual event for representatives from Industrial Member companies that is purely focused on the CRP. The format provides a dedicated environment for Industrial Members to come together with TWI’s Technical staff, and CRP Research Board and Technical Committee Members, to experience the depth and breadth of what the programme has to offer, and gain a better understanding of how and where its different R&D outputs could be applied to advantage in their businesses.”
Paul Woollin, Research Director and joint Programme Director for the CRP at TWI, said “We were delighted to see so many Members involved in discussions with TWI staff, so that we could report on the research we are undertaking for them, and plan out our future activities together to continue to deliver world-leading research.”
Simon Webster, Chair of the CRP Research Board, added “I really enjoyed our CRP Symposium. It was great to see our Members fully engaged with TWI’s experts, discussing the challenges ahead and future projects. For me this was a great example of TWI's research strategy in action.”
The following day, 9 November 2022, Members of the CRP Research Board and the Technical Committees attended their Annual Meetings, also at TWI Cambridge. During the meetings, they looked at the current and future strategy for the CRP, progress against the TWI Technology Roadmap, achievements to date and priorities for 2023 and beyond.
Save the date! Next year’s TWI Core Research Programme (CRP) Symposium Panel Meeting & Exhibition will be held in-person on 7 December 2023. Research Board and Technical Committee meetings will take place the day after on 8 December.
Photograph top of page shows Abderrazak Traidia, Science Specialist, Aramco Overseas Company UK.
Find out more about TWI’s Core Research Programme.