Surface World January 2019 Surface World January 2019 | Page 26

IMF: THE INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS FINISHING The IMF lobbys the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee On a cold, wet and miserable day in late November both the President-elect, Professor Karl Ryder, and the Chairman of the Science Committee, Trevor Crichton, attended the annual luncheon in the House of Lords of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, of which the IMF is an Associate Member. About 100 people attended, including academics, industrialists, politicians, members of scientific organisations and individual members. By attending PSC meetings and functions, we are able to raise the IMF’s profile and promote the surface engineering industry in general, as well as help shepherd Government in its policies regarding industrial and investment strategies. 24 the importance of the surface engineering industry to the UK’s economy! This importance was stressed during our conversations. The guest speaker was Sir Mark Walport, Chief Executive of UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). UKRI funds about 70% of all R&D carried out in the UK and was launched on 1st April 2018. It comprises 7 old research councils, InnovateUK (ex-Technology Strategy Board) and a new body, Research England and it is mainly funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy (BEIS), although some strategic funding is obtained from other sources, such as overseas aid. In his address, Walport said that it is now Government policy to increase the level of R&D investment from its current 1.7% of GDP to 2.4% by 2027 and to increase this to 3% at some unspecified time in the future. Whilst this is an applaudable objective, it is noteworthy that whilst the UK would be ahead of the global average (2.3% of GDP), it would still be below the levels enjoyed by some other countries, such as the USA (2.79%), Germany (2.88%), Denmark (3.01%), Japan (3.28%), Republic of Korea (4.23%) and Israel (4.27%). Government is concerned about education and we took the opportunity to explain to other guests and politicians, that the IMF runs the only dedicated surface coatings course in the UK, using both tutored and distance learning teaching methods. Research funding by UK Government was a consequence of the First World War, after which, in 1918, the Haldane Report made recommendations that government should be evidence driven and that it should listen to businesses, industry and academics. Perhaps some may comment that it has taken over 100 years and we are still not following these principles! However, since UKRI started, it is endeavouring to follow the principles set out by Haldane. Although the UK’s economy is primarily based on the service sector, with 80% of GDP, surface engineering facilitates the manufacture of 50% of the UK’s GDP that is derived from manufacturing – and this represents the remaining 20% of our GDP. On top of this, without the ability to modify surfaces, much of the service sector could not operate in its present format, as it is reliant, in part, on electronics and medical equipment and parts, all of which are, in turn, reliant on surface engineering technologies…. Nevertheless, it remains quite worrying how few people appreciate Furthermore, with Brexit on the horizon, Walport said that the UK will need an industrial strategy that is based on research and innovation and this should include research and innovation activities in both the manufacturing and service industries, so the whole of the UK’s economy is served. Part of this strategy has been the creation of the Industry Strategy Challenge Fund and the first recipient of this funding has been the Faraday battery challenge, which has identified the need for developments in electrochemistry. This sector, of course, sits extremely well in the lap of surface JANUARY 2019 engineering and the IMF is encouraging and it is one aspect of the UK’s future economy that we need to be a major part of, so we are trying to work with our memberships to help develop relevant novel systems. UKRI has also identified other future challenges, such as manufacturing and future materials, healthcare and early diagnoses, energy, space, construction and quantum technologies, all of which the surface engineering industry will need to play a significant role. Despite UKRI having a broad interest base, it is still seeking new opportunities to help develop the UK’s economy and is keen to receive suggestions from any interested parties. The UKRI is also planning to set up industrial clusters of partners who have similar ideas and potential developments, but are in need of investment to develop their expertise in developing and commercialising new technologies that will benefit the UK’s economy. However, Walport stressed that these clusters should be of similar minded companies in the same locality, as some previous attempts at setting up clusters had failed due their partners being geographically remote from each other. Since the West Midlands is the cradle of surface engineering and it is still home to many companies associated with such technologies, maybe a surface engineering cluster could be set up here? As part of the PSC’s recognition of the IMF, we have been invited to submit possible topics for discussion by them. We are currently considering the following suggestions: a) The dependency of the UK’s economy on surface engineering; b) The importance of SMEs in the UK, and: c) The future sustainability of materials and remanufacturing. If anyone has any suggestions of broad topics, please let me know. Telephone: [phone] Email: [email protected] Visit: www.materialsfinishing.org read online: www.surfaceworld.com