Net zero manufacturing and materials

SaMI is a hub for research and innovation in net zero manufacturing and materials.

We are an open access facility supporting steel, metals and the wider industries in Wales transition to net zero manufacturing and materials. This is through a combination of the right kit that our team adapts and the team’s expertise in devising ways to make these adaptations.

Our highly skilled team of  academic and industrial experts have years of experience in steel and metals. Their knowledge is extensive. But their expertise is more than the sum of this accumulated industry and academic knowledge. 

Bespoke adaptations 

SaMI’s uniqueness lies in the team’s ability to innovate how equipment can be used and modified. We’re looking at solving problems in new ways. In our labs, the team conceive ways to adapt existing machinery, making small changes to tweak how equipment operates and really focusing in on an issue. We tap down, looking at something in a specific, unique and new way that it hasn’t been looked at before.

We have standard pieces of equipment in our facility, however that doesn’t restrict us from taking on bespoke requests for research. If we can adapt pieces of kit, then we do.

Bespoke solutions

The kind of innovative research we are focusing on in SaMI is solution-based. Our research identifies and solves the problems industry have. We focus on delivering research that is then applied by industry. We want to give industry something that will impact and improve their business. We’re providing solutions that can be used here and now.  As well as for the future around net zero manufacturing and materials.

We have the adaptable environment, the people and the kit. We research design, test, simulate and analyse alternative processes that really help deliver practical solutions for industry. Decarbonisation targets pose a real challenge for industry. We’re using our research expertise, working together with industry, identifying the issues, and delivering those real practical solutions.

Industry decarbonisation

As an on-demand bespoke facility we are developing collaborative research with industry in net zero manufacturing and materials. That includes steel, its supply chain, and end-users such as automotive, energy and construction companies. But it also includes industry more broadly.

We have a regional strength in iron and steelmaking in south Wales, as well as in manufacturing. We are working with this regional network as part of a group called SWITCH. Together we are helping tackle the challenge of net zero manufacturing and materials and industrial decarbonisation.

Industry network

The teams coming together as SWITCH have a strong legacy collaborating with industry to deliver innovation. There is an element of being in this together. And by working together we’re developing products and helping decarbonise the process that makes them.

We have the multidisciplinary experts and we have the facility. We are identifying and developing the innovative, practical solutions that industry need.

Contact us to discuss collaborative research opportunities.

Contributor Cat Wilkins

October 2021