Background

Established in February 2006, the Northwest Composites Centre received a £2.1 million grant from the Northwest Science Fund, administered by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).The Northwest Composites Centre was formed by collaboration between the following Universities:

• Bolton
  
• Lancaster
  
• Liverpool
  
• Glyndwr
  
• Manchester

High strength composites have gained great acceptance in areas where their lightweight and exceptional strength outweigh cost issues, for example in the aerospace sector. Now, improvements in materials and labour-intensive manufacturing processes mean composites can be used economically in a growing number of applications and industries.

The Northwest Composites Centre’s mission is to:

• Undertake applied research leading to the development of new, cost effective, low energy, low cycle time composite processing routes for making real components and demonstrators
• Establish the effect of these production routes on composite structure and performance and thereby optimise their fitness for purpose
• Act as a regional centre of expertise supporting, evaluating and introducing innovation in composite manufacture and design