MATPROFUTURE · New Material Processing Technologies for Sustainable Future

New Material Processing Technologies for Sustainable Future

Development of new energy efficient, environment friendly and cost effective material processing technologies for manufacturing of high value products is of considerable importance to sustained economic recovery and growth of Europe and around the globe. Supported by the EC FP7 Marie Curie IRSES (International Research Staff Exchange Scheme) funding, the MatProFuture (New Material Processing Technologies for Sustainable Future, project no: 318968) project assembles 4 EU and 6 Chinese leading universities and aims to establish new research links and to develop new materials processing technologies through extensive research staff exchange and knowledge transfer activities between participating institutions in Europe and China. The MatProFuture project partners are • University of Nottingham (UNOTT, UK, Project Coordinator) • University of Palermo (UNIPA, Italy) • University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU, Germany) • University of Sheffield (USHEF, UK) • Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST, China) • Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT, China) • Northwestern Polytechnic University (NWPU, China) • Shanghai JiaoTong University (SJTU, China) • South China University of Technology (SCUT, China) • Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT, China) The overall objectives of the MatProFuture project were to 1) carry out collaborative research and joint activities in the field of new material processing technologies for stimulated creativity and innovative solutions and identified areas for industrial application; 2) exchange experienced staff and talented young researchers at various levels for transfer of knowledge and skills through various forms of activities including organisation of seminars/workshops, summer schools and high profile conferences; 3) disseminate high quality research and to establish long-term collaboration through joint research programmes and collaborative projects with a wider participation of research communities, SMEs and OEMs from different industrial sectors. Since the inception of the MatProFuture project, 113 experienced (ER) and early-stage (ESR) researchers have participated in 299 man-months research staff exchange and secondments between MatProFuture partner institutions. The completed staff exchange and secondment activities are a direct result of collective effort by and active participation of researchers from all MatProFuture project partners. Significant progresses have been made in training of early-stage researchers, generation and dissemination of research outcomes in five focused research areas: new sheet forming processes, precision forging, integrated joining and forming, novel spinning and new hydroforming processes. During the MatProFuture project, 2 MatProFuture special sessions were organised in the 16th International Conference on Sheet Metal, SheMet2015, held in Erlangen, Germany, March 2015 and the 4th International Conference on New Forming Technology (ICNFT2015), held in Glasgow, UK, August 2015. 6 MatProFuture summer schools and research seminars were organised. The MatProFuture staff secondment and dissemination activities have played an important role in strengthening existing research projects of participating institutions and developing new research activities and projects. To the end of MatProFuture project, a total 45 journal papers have been published and 12 presentations have been given in international conferences. Further 10 journal papers have been submitted under consideration for publication and 7 papers have been submitted to international conferences. These successful collaboration and dissemination activities have had a positive impact for MatProFuture project partners to continue their established links and to develop an excellent platform for long-term collaboration in the emerging field of new and high value materials processing and forming technologies.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union