News and Events
The Next Big Thing
The new AMRC Composite Centre extension of 6,387m2 total area is underway to be completed by April 2012. The new building is located next to the Factory of the Future at AMRC with Boeing, enabling full design, assembly and structural testing of composites and complex hybrid components/systems that require manufacturing expertise in both advanced composite and metallic structures. The extension follows the success of the current Composite Centre activities, securing 180 jobs in the region and additional £3.5M in private funding.
Composites At Sheffield, the joint partnership between AMRC Composite Centre and Composite Systems Innovation Centre currently have a team of 55 researchers and engineers onboard, working with over 80 industrial and government partners onboard around 50 currently active projects.
June 2011
Professor Victor Giurgiutiu from the University of South Carolina, USA, is visiting with us during the month of June 2011 under the RAEng Distinguished Visiting Professor Fellowship scheme. Prof. Giurgiutiu received his BSc(Eng) in aeronautics and his PhD in aeronautical structures from Imperial College, London, UK in 1972 and 1977, respectively. He is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Laboratory for Adaptive Materials and Smart Structures at the University of South Carolina. His research interests span active materials, smart structures, structural health monitoring, mechatronics, and other multi-physics applications. Prof. Giurgiutiu has published several books and book chapters and many journal articles and conference papers. He is Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) and of ASME. He serves as Associate Editor to several international journals (Aeronautical Journal of RAeS; Structural Health Monitoring – An International Journal). He was recognized as Structural Health Monitoring Person of the Year 2003. His Textbook Structural Health Monitoring with Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors (V. Giurgiutiu, Elsevier Academic Press, 760 pages, ISBN 978-0120887606, 2008) is widely used across the globe.
Visit his LAMSS website at LAMSS
June 2011
The Knowledge Transfer Partnership project on developing a new biodegradable compound, funded by TSB and CPD Plc in Hull, has been graded as 'A: Outstanding' by TSB led independent review process.
The project was led by CSI Centre's academic team consisting of Dr Alma Hodzic (Supervisor), Dr Simon Hayes, Dr Patrick Fairclough and Dr Pete Bailey, and CPD team - Mr Shaun Chatterton (Chair) and Mr Steve Marginson (Industrial Supervisor). The patent has recently been lodged with UK Patent Office and the full commercialisation is taking place.
Composites At Sheffield @ Composites Engineering Show, NEC Birmingham, 9-10 Nov 2011
Composites At Sheffield, the joint partnership between Composite Centre at AMRC with Boeing, and Composite Systems Innovation Centre, will make another joint appearance at the next composite manufacturing show: Composites Engineering Show 2011 at NEC Birmingham, 9-10 November. Engineers, Researchers and Academics from both institutes will represent the recent developments in composites research and manufacturing during the show, in the boot 437. Visit the link below for more information about the event.
AMRC and CSIC at Composites Engineering Show 2011 in Birmingham
May 2011
Dr Fabrizio Scarpa, Reader in Smart Materials from Bristol University and a member of ACCIS, presented an invited talk to CSI centre on 24th May in Tapestry Room, Firth Court, The University of Sheffield. The seminar outlined all recent developments in the field of auxetic materials stretching from bulk sandwich applications in aerospace, to the more recent nano-structures with references to both experimental and modelling issues. The presentation can be downloaded from the link.
May 2011
The University of Sheffield's Engineering Gateway published an article 'University composites centres go from strength to strength' in the most recent issue. The article reports on the recent activities of Composites At Sheffield, including the international conference at Cambridge, DFC11SI5, and the joint appearance at the manufacturing shows across UK. The article link is available below.
University composites centres go from strength to strength
April 2011
The jointly organised conference, Deformation and Fracture of Composites 11 and Structural Integrity 5, held at Queens' College Cambridge was a great success, with a wide variety of speakers on a range of highly interesting subjects.
April 2011
CSI Centre and Cambridge University have organised a joint conference in the field of composite materials, Deformation and Fracture of Composites(Celebrating 20 years) and Structural Integrity 5, DFC11/SI5: DFC11/S15 website
The Conference will be held in Queens´ College, Cambridge with the welcome reception at 7pm on 12th April 2011. The College, situated along the picturesque "Backs" on the River Cam, was founded in 1448 and offers the very best of conference facilities of any of Cambridge´s most conducive of historic Colleges. The Meeting will take place at the Fitzpatrick Hall. The Conference Dinner to mark the retirement of Dr Peter Beaumont, Cambridge "Don", will be held in The Old Hall, dined in by Fellows and students for over 500 years.
March 2011
A group from the CSIC attended the Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre Showcase event. The CSI Centre is a part of IRC Polymer Network through Polymer Centre at Sheffield. The Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre joins the Universities of Bradford, Durham, Leeds and Sheffield.
March 2011
The move of the CSIC into its new home in the Bio-Incubator building has begun with the installation of the autoclave. The floor of the building was specially strengthened to take the weight, and the autoclave was craned in through the side of the building.
February 2011
Dr Bronwyn Fox, Associate Professor from Deakin University in Australia, along with Professor Andrew Walker from Manchester's Northwest Composites Centre, visited Composites At Sheffield, including both CSIC and AMRC, to present on the most recent development at Deakin - an impressive investment by Australian Government of $46M into a new carbon fibre research centre. A number of areas were found to be in common with our research and manufacturing centres and the platform for collaboration has been initiated.
January - April 2011
CSIC is moving its premises and researchers to a new building to form a separate multidisciplinary research centre. Our address will be The Sheffield Bioincubator, http://www.shef.ac.uk/bioincubator/
November 2010
CSI Centre and NAMRC Composite Centre established a long-term plan for future collaboration in the field of research in composites design and manufacturing. Academics and researchers from CSIC will work at NAMRC CC to establish the bridge for PhD students and long-term research projects.
December 2010
CSIC has co-organised an AMSTAC workshop, IMechE Aerospace Division, Environmental Challenges in Aerospace.
Kroto Research Centre, 8th December 2010, please visit the website:
http://events.imeche.org/EventView.aspx?EventID=944
October 2010
The first issue of 'Composites in Manufacturing' wrote an article about CSI Centre, the online pages 28-29 under 'Novel Materials':
The article features the recent developments at CSI Centre on the projects related to SMART and LEAD themes, namely new hybrid and self-ameliorating composites.
Read the article
September 2010
Professor Frank Jones will spend 7 months at CSIRO in Melbourne, Australia,working on advanced self-healing polymer structures as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow.
