Research and Business

Facilities for Business

• Advanced Materials Engineering
• Business Experts Directory
• News and Events

Advanced Materials Engineering

Advanced Materials Engineering is the Centre of choice for external bodies in the development of smart materials for high added-value products aimed primarily at health and wellbeing - medical devices, biomedical products, and 'resource efficient' speciality materials and products.

Located in the world-class Polymer Interdisciplinary Research Centre at Bradford, AME builds on existing Polymer IRC research and knowledge transfer strengths, and extends the RKT team and leading edge facilities and is lead by Professor Phil Coates, FREng who is also the Director of the Polymer IRC; The centre also incorporate Infection Control and Biophysics.

The Advanced Materials Engineering (AME) Centre focuses extensive 'smart materials' expertise associated with the Polymer IRC and beyond, into the growth areas of medical and biomedical products and advanced materials for other high added value applications, and the developing area of sustainable materials. 

AME provides a centre of research and knowledge transfer excellence for the development of advanced polymer materials for high added value products, targeted particularly for medical and biomedical products, and sustainable materials technology ('resource efficiency'), for overall impact in human health and wellbeing.  Typical medical/ biomedical products include bioresorbable or non-resorbable orthopaedic components for joint repair or replacement, stents for vascular repair, spinal braces, structured films for wound dressing, precision tubing, medical devices and components, and medical packaging.  Novel materials or composites, including bioresorbable and non-resorbable shape memory materials are also important high-added value products.  These may eventually include active pharmaceutical ingredients.  Sustainable material products include novel acoustic materials made from recycled polymers, and smart incorporation of recyclates into conventional products for lower carbon footprint.  

As well as being a Centre in its own right focused on smart and sustainable materials, particularly in the priority healthcare technologies sector, AME has important symbiotic relationships and joint grants or contracts with a number of other University RKT Centres, notably Polymer Micro & Nano Technology, Pharmaceutical Engineering, and Visual Computing.

The Centre has leading edge facilities in :

• At-process spectroscopy
• Atomic force microscopy including tissue capability
• precision rheo-optics powerful computer modelling enhancements
• top level extrusion and injection facilities