Two new pieces of work within the Composites world have recently been announced.

1. A project recently awarded EU funding is looking at light-weight materials for larger more cost-effective off-shore wind turbine blades. An overview of the project can be read on the Materials Knowledge Transfer Network website or the project’s own website www.eu-walid.com/

2. A new BIS funded study (commissioned through the National Composites Centre) entitled “UK Composites 2013: Status, Opportunities and Direction”, aims to look at the current status and indicative future needs of the UK composites industry. The Composites Leadership Forum anticipates completion by early summer 2013. Read more here.

On 22nd January Deb Bennetts attended the TSB briefing event held in London for the current Vessel Efficiency funding competition.

Click on the following link to download notes from the event - Vessel Efficiency TSB Event Notes 220113 .

Please note that these notes are just guidance based on presentations/discussion from the event. Applicants should read all the guidance provided on the competition website some of which is specific and some of which is generic.

The Transport KTN and Competitions Helpline (0300 321 4357 or competitions@innovateuk.org ) are also there to answer any questions. A Vessel Effficiency sub-group has also now been created.

Please also note that presentation slides and question responses from the TSB event may also appear on the competition page (not there as of 29/01/13).

Presentations from the recent TSB Funding Networking Event we hosted are available below. Please contact us if you are interested in the Vessel Efficiency competition or if you’re looking for support more generally.

Funding Presentation

Marine Innovation Service

We will be hosting a networking event for businesses interested in applying to the Technology Strategy Board’s “Vessel Efficiency” Funding Competition, or collaborating with other businesses, on Thursday 17^th January from 9.30a.m. – 1.00p.m. The event will be hosted at Cornwall College’s Camborne campus. Breakfast will be provided.

This event will provide businesses with the opportunity to share ideas in an open forum or discuss their projects confidentiality. Following the event our Knowlegde Exchange Manager, Deborah Bennetts, will attend the TSB Competition Briefing Event in London on 22nd January 2013 and will be happy to take project ideas or questions to the Competition Fund representatives.

Sign up for this event here: http://marineinnovationservice.eventbrite.co.uk/

Following on-going collaboration around the design of a new 3m dinghy specifically designed to be built in closed mould FRP processes, Alex Whatley of Falmouth Marine School’s Marine Innovation Service delivered the pattern for the dinghy to Composite Integration HQ in time for Christmas.  The boat was designed by second year engineering diploma students at the Marine School in response to a design brief set by Alex and developed with production consultation from Stephen Leonard-Williams from Composite Integration.  Pattern work and the first mould was completed at the Marine School, with matching tooling to be made by the team at Composite Integration in 2013.  The dinghy project will allow on-going refinement of resin infusion processes, testing of materials, demonstration to new clients and the collaborative delivery of training programmes by the college and the company.

The service we provide covers a variety of marine technology areas, focussed on composite materials with specific expertise in resin infusion and closed mould processes.  Until December 2013, the cost of MIS is supported by a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) investment through the Convergence programme for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, which allows the service to be provided fully-funded at the point of delivery to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cornwall, subject to eligibility.

This week we’ve got our hands on a new video produced by Insider Knowledge demonstrating the project Alex carried out with Cornish Crabbers. Thanks to Peter Thomas for his time to help us create this video.

Following the success of the presentations we gave at the Marine Industry Day 2012 we will be hosting two further events in January and February 2013:

 1)  A networking event for businesses interested in applying to the Technology Strategy Board’s “Vessel Efficiency” Funding Competition, or collaborating with other businesses, on Thursday 17^th January from 9.30a.m. – 1.00p.m. Breakfast will be provided.

This event will provide businesses with the opportunity to share ideas in an open forum or discuss their projects confidentiality. Following the event our Knowlegde Exchange Manager, Deborah Bennetts, will attend the TSB Competition Briefing Event in London on 22nd January 2013 and will be happy to take project ideas or questions to the Competition Fund representatives.

Sign up for this event here: http://marineinnovationservice.eventbrite.co.uk/

2) A half-day, fully-funded “Introduction to Composites” Workshop on Wednesday 13^th February 2012 between 9.30a.m. and 1.30p.m. Breakfast/Lunch will be provided.

This is the first of our 2013 calendar of specialist composite processing events. If you are unable to attend this event, we will be holding further workshops in April, June and August – details to follow.

Our workshop-based, practical session will introduce your business to the use of high performance resins, fabrics or processing methods in the production or repair process and is suitable for businesses which have no/ limited experience in use of composites. The event features technical demonstrations, industry case studies, access to practical expertise and opportunities for networking.

Sign up for this event here: http://misponsharden.eventbrite.co.uk/

Being the helpful lot we are, we’ve put together a handy summary of the TSB’s latest funding competition. If you’re looking for funding to support a project in the area of Vessel Efficiency then download the summary here and contact us.

This year’s Falmouth Marine School’s Industry Day, held at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, was a huge success with attendees from a wide variety of businesses from within the marine sector. A full round up of the day can be found here.

• Is your marine business looking for support with innovation and growth?
• Do you have a project idea for improving vessel efficiency?
• Could your project or technology benefit from outside investment?
• Could you bring your skills, knowledge and expertise to other vessel efficiency projects?
• Are you looking for potential collaborators within the marine industry?

If the answer to any of these questions is “YES” then why not attend our Marine Industry Day on Wednesday 5^th December at the National Maritime Museum, Falmouth to find out more about how you could access government funding* of up to £500k for a fast-track project or up to £3m for collaborative research and development.

Register for the event online (here: http://falmouthmarineschool.eventbrite.co.uk) and enjoy an afternoon of information and business networking. *Further information on the Technology Strategy Board’s Vessel Efficiency Competition will be included in our Composite Materials Processing Session which will run between 2.30 – 4.30 in the Auditorium.

If you are unable to attend but wish to hear further information on the funding opportunity then please get in touch with Deborah Bennetts on 01209 616174 or deborah.bennetts@cornwall.ac.uk