Data in Materials and Manufacturing

The impact and opportunities associated with digital technologies in the chemical and other process industries is an area of increasing importance for both SusChem and SPIRE. SusChem has already put the spotlight on digital technologies. Sustainable chemistry acts as an enabler for the continuous development of smarter and more sustainable electronic devices and equipment in other industries, while also being transformed and disrupted through digitalisation. This later topic was a major theme at the 2019 EU Industry Day event on 5 and 6 February where SusChem participated.

The European Commission’s EU Industry Days 2019 focused on key industrial challenges such as sustainability, digitalisation, investment and globalisation. The event demonstrated how EU industrial policy benefits European citizens and provided input for future policy making.

Martin Winter, Innovation Manager at Cefic and the lead contact for digital technologies for both SusChem and SPIRE was part of a panel discussion on ‘Data in Materials and Manufacturing’ on the second day of the event. 

There is a real opportunity to leverage the immense capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICT) to optimise processes and improve production efficiency within the chemical and process industries. Martin initially explained how data technologies including blockchain and artificial intelligence will become important for recycling and reuse of materials within the process industries to enable a more circular economy. 

3D-printed catalytic reactors

As an example of the potential impact of digital technologies in the chemical sector he described the SPIRE Horizon 2020 project ‘PRINTCR3DIT’. “This is the first EU-funded initiative on modelling the effect of 3D-printing technologies for both reactor and catalyst design in the chemical industries,” said Martin Winter. The project is part of a significant portfolio of digital technology projects managed by the SPIRE cPPP. 

He also emphasised the essential role of Public-Private-Partnerships (cPPPs) like SPIRE or Big Data Value PPP in bringing the relevant data-related innovation ecosystems together and accelerating the uptake of technologies from research into use in industry. Martin Winter presented the substantial portfolio of digital projects within SPIRE and emphasised the need for new digital skills for chemists and engineers working in the new digital era. 

Other speakers in the session highlighted the enormous opportunities that integrated data management could yield together with the barriers that are currently inhibiting their full exploitation. Interoperability was a major issue and much of the discussion centred around ontology – the formal naming and categorisation of data sets – as a key area of work to enable data transfer.

Martin Winter noted some issues in terms of value creation through advanced data analytics. In process industries better data availability, data storage, cybersecurity and advanced data analytics are becoming very important. He also called for a co-creation process to accelerate progress.

There is a need to fully leverage synergies between cPPPs. “SPIRE, Big Data Value and Cybersecurity PPPs must work together here,” he said. “If Europe is lagging behind in this area, it is very important that we avoid any possibility of duplication of work.”

KETs Impact: 3D-printing for on-demand production

The recent SusChem White paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’ included a number of success stories highlighting publicly funded innovation involving KETs and the SusChem News blog is featuring a selection of these fruitful 'SusChem inspired' initiatives.

KETs are technologies selected for their ability to address global challenges, support the development of new products, and stimulate economic growth.

Sustainable chemistry is essential to the technological advance of KETs including advanced materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, industrial biotechnology, micro and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology and photonics. SusChem's key enabling technologies provide the critical building blocks for the solutions needed to achieve a sustainable low carbon circular economy. You can find out more here.

The sixth success story in this summer series features a project that developed a successful business model based on rapid, on-demand manufacture of individual spare parts. Exploitation should significantly reduce warehouse stock and associated costs: DIRECTSPARE. Rapid manufacturing technologies, such as 3D-printing (aka Additive manufacturing), can enable fast manufacture of often-complex parts. 

3D-Printing polymer materials

Technology breakthroughs enabled the creation of new business models, investments and jobs

For Evonik DIRECTSPARE was an important project within a longer period of research, development and innovation concerning material for additive manufacturing. Without EU public funding, this project would not have taken place. This would have extended the time to market considerably, resulting in a high risk of being passed by competitors from outside the EU. 

Evonik has performed R&D on polymer materials for 3D-printing for about 20 years and is now commercially producing its first 3D-printing materials. A part of the R&D was done within the EU-Project DIRECTSPARE. A growing quantity of product types in every market and every sector of industry require large warehouses to keep stock for spare parts, with corresponding high costs and complex logistics. This emerging problem is caused by continuously decreasing product lifetime, decreasing time-to-market and increasing regulatory affairs. DIRECTSPARE aimed to find a solution using additive manufacturing (AM) technology, enabling economically viable, and on demand manufacturing of spare parts. 

How was the breakthrough innovation achieved? 

The project consortium consisted of technology providers, engineering companies, equipment producers, material producers, manufacturers, users, management consultants and academia. The DIRECTSPARE project has delivered several business models that allow SMEs to provide local services. Possibilities and challenges for obtaining cost reduction on stocks and warehousing have been identified. The project also learned that to obtain waste reduction and environmental benefits, a life cycle analysis approach needs to be used. One demonstrator part indeed proved that quality improvement, based on use information, can be achieved resulting in lower costs and better margins.

The objective of the DIRECTSPARE business model was for manufacturers to rapidly produce only those spare parts that are required, at a location close to the equipment that needs to be repaired. And also to improve the quality of the spare parts along the way.

The project analysed seven demonstrator parts. The functional and material requirements and the cost model of the original part were taken as the point of departure or baseline. The project team analysed the possibilities to manufacture similar parts using AM. The design, engineering aspects, material selection, production methods, quality issues and business economics of all of these parts were taken into consideration. 

Impact

The project delivered several breakthrough innovations on materials, engineering, process management and quality management. Three viable business models were developed. DIRECTSPARE created a significant networking platform for further development of new 3D-printing powders at Evonik. In February 2018 a production plant for polyamide 12 (PA 12) high performance powders, mainly for the additive manufacturing market became operational in Marl, Germany. The PA 12 material is used in automotive and lightweight design as well as in oil and gas pipelines. In addition to current applications in the automotive sector, Evonik is also very well positioned for the future production of hybrid and electric vehicles. Furthermore, the material is used in the medical sector and in 3D-printing. The investment in a new polyamide production plant secured and created around 10 new jobs.

More information
DIRECTSPARE – ‘Strengthening the industries’ competitive position by the development of a logistical and technological system for “high performance spare parts” that is based on on-demand production’ (FP7 GA 213424)

Read the SusChem White Paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’

Introducing Anne Chloe Devic

Cefic Research and Innovation has recently recruited two new Innovation Managers who will be heavily involved with SusChem activities over the next few years. Some members of the SusChem community will have met Anne Chloe Devic and Henk Pool prior to their secondment to Cefic and as they took up their duties for SusChem over the past few months. All stakeholders will have the opportunity to meet them at the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event.

In this and a subsequent article we introduce both managers and ask them about what they are expecting to achieve for Sustainable Chemistry in Europe during their time with the platform. Today we talk to Anne Chloe Devic.

Career highlights
Following two years of “Classes Preparatoires” in France, Anne Chloe got a Master’s degree in Chemistry and Chemical engineering specialising in Polymers from the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie in Montpellier, France. She then started a professional ‘tour of Europe’ with a job at ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) in the UK working as a research engineer in acrylic composites. Anne Chloe then moved to France where she managed a laboratory and process support team for the production of alkoxylates for surfactants before moving to a plant producing PMMA cast sheets where she was deputy site manager looking after quality, SHE and process. Her next country was Belgium and, still with ICI, she managed a team looking after all scale-up activities for their Polyurethane business which was subsequently purchased by Huntsman. She continued her tour of Europe with a move to Spain in 2002 were she worked as technology advisor in research and innovation for materials at Repsol based in Madrid. In that job, Anne Chloe got involved with the SusChem Spain board and the materials working group of SusChem Europe. She also got the chance to sit on the IRIAG (Industry Research and Innovation Advisory Group) and the partnership board of the SPIRE association – experiences that means she has absolutely the right profile for the job of Innovation Manager at CEFIC!

In her free time Anne Chloe is a keen sportswoman, enjoys travelling every year to visit her family in India, and she has a special interest in innovation in politics – for example new governance systems.

What is your view on Sustainable Chemistry?
Sustainability in developing chemistry solutions for societal challenges is not only about assessing and reducing the environmental impact of a process or a product. It is also about developing in parallel an added value for the customer. Sustainability is also about the life of a chemical product which needs to further reduce its different footprints in its use and its ability to be recycled. Sustainability of chemicals is also about positive impact on people’s health and well-being. For example, I see 3D printable prosthetics as the solution and best example of sustainable chemistry for easy access of these devices to a much larger number of disabled people – more than we could ever dream off just 10 years ago. Here there is triple sustainability: it is about the renewable biopolymer used for 3D printing, it is the lower price enabling increasing access, and the added value by enabling full adaptation to the individual human body.

What challenges do you foresee?
We will not win the battle for competitiveness, which is crucial for the European Chemical industry, if we don’t offer Sustainable Chemicals which have significantly enhanced properties compared to existing products. The market needs to see sustainability and added value together, which is a very big technological challenge for the years to come. The answer will be the use of eco-design of materials. However the methodology of eco-design needs to be standardised and systematised in all research and innovation organizations.

Another challenge is to get the messages through to the public that sustainability is not only about use of alternative feedstocks for products, like biomass for “bio-products”. It is also about, for example, using CO₂ and by-products from effluents to convert to useful products.

How do you see your new role contributing to your view on Sustainable Chemistry?
My new role will hopefully enable companies that we (CEFIC) represent to do more Research and Innovation, helping the Horizon 2020 programme and other instruments to better respond to the industrial challenges we face and to find the right multi-disciplinary collaborations across countries, academics and companies that will enable customers and society in general to have a better life, in a more reasonable world run under a sharing and more resource, energy and CO₂ efficient economy - the circular economy.

What do you hope to achieve by the end of your three years at Cefic?
I hope I will have contributed, together with my colleagues in the innovation team at CEFIC, to spread the innovation challenges messages of the chemical industry, as an intermediate and coordinator, so that the public, the companies, the Research and Technology Organisations, and the European Institutions have a better understanding of how Innovation in sustainable chemicals and materials can be placed in the right context in terms of policy and technology. And how they can be potential game changers for Europe. To be more precise I hope that the achievement will be: Compared to three years before, we can seeing more involvement in collaborative projects with a measurable impact and more innovative products close to the market from the European chemical industry.

What areas are you looking to collaborate with others and how do you prefer to be contacted?
I will be dealing with the area of Sustainable Materials and I am looking to gather experts from industry and research organisations in order to draw together the research and innovation challenges of the future – specifically Materials in the Circular Economy and Energy Union issues. We will also establish and confirm the current priorities within the review of the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA). I can be contacted for any proposed contribution you may have.

I am also coordinating the SusChem National Technology Platforms (NTPs) and will be looking to increase the number of NTPs - any organisation interested I setting up a new NTP can contact me - and how we can improve the existing network of 13 countries, exchanging real value between the European and national platforms.

You can contact Anne Chloe by email.

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: ICT and #DigitiseEU

This year’s SusChem stakeholder event takes place on 16 June in Brussels. One of the major areas for discussion at the stakeholder event will be advances and issues in information and communication technologies (ICT) in the process industries. Martin Winter, Cefic Innovation Manager responsible for this SusChem priority area, outlines some of the issues up for debate and where your input is sought.

ICT for process was one of the five priority areas for innovation identified at our successful 2015 Stakeholder event. The recent European Commission communication on ‘Digitising European Industry – Reaping the full benefits of a Digital Single Market’ highlighted the role of the SusChem supported PPPs - Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and energy Efficiency (SPIRE) and Bio-Based Industries (BBI) - to help industry seize the new opportunities offered by ICT enabled innovation.

On 10 March SusChem organised a workshop involving around 20 ICT experts from companies and academia to discuss ‘Digitisation’ on the European level and to build the base for future funding calls, projects and collaborations.

SusChem, Process ICT and #DigitiseEU

From new forms of production to innovative business models the process industry is about to experience a revolution enabled by digital technologies.  Digitisation is expected to have a high impact on modernising Europe's production capabilities and can boost European process industries in the race for global competitiveness and sustainability.

The European chemical industry is a strong contributor to the roots of the European economy. Digitisation is already present in all aspects of the sector’s activities as it is essential from logistics, product and process design, planning, plant operations and plant safety to marketing/sales and customer integration.

In addition, smart materials developed by the chemical industry enable new and higher performing  ICT developments in printable-, wearable-, nano-electronics or 3D printing techniques and also allow more sustainable manufacture of new electronic devices avoiding material losses and waste generation.

To remain competitive, future factories will need well-integrated ICT systems as production increasingly uses digital innovations such as data capture, planning and control, modelling and simulation, cloud computing and big data analysis enabled by high performance computers and data connections. Data analytics will allow enterprises to convert data into knowledge, and effectively contribute to more efficient and safer processes with less environmental impact by more efficient management of resources, water and energy.

Focus for chemicals

With a focus on the manufacturing environment, important categories for further development for the chemical industry include:

• Modelling, Simulation and Forecasting: Integration of modelling of single processes into production routes with modelling extended to all levels of automation, including scheduling and management systems as well as on-line decision making processes.
• Real Time Data Availability: Development of hard- and soft-sensors for continuous processes that are reliable, fast, accurate and contact-less for use in intelligent self-optimising measurement systems along the whole production route and fully integrated in the plant automation environment.
• Transformation of ‘Big Data’ into Lean Information: Identifying universal solutions for handling large amounts of data, methods to improve their reliability, techniques to assign them to product performance and explaining their practical meaning to all relevant applications.
• Intelligent Self-learning Systems: Building models based on data and results, which continue to learn and broaden the scope of the models, based on closed loop performance monitoring.
• Condition Based Advanced Maintenance: Developing tools and methods based on models, sensors, diagnosis and data analysis to allow remote control of equipment, prediction and prevention of failures, identification of trends and avoidance of efficiency losses and unwanted stoppages.
• Product Quality Monitoring: Implementing integrated quality control factory-wide systems to monitor the evolution of quality across the production route by calling on information technology to better link process operations and plant logistics to give production flexibility.
• Resource and Energy/ Lifecycle analysis (LCA): Enabling monitoring of environmental targets (energy / water use, CO₂-emissions etc.) in all control systems as an additional set of constraints to optimise the overall sustainable performance.
• Data Privacy: Developing advanced security solutions to prevent misuse of stored data and protect plant control systems or cloud-stored data from malicious attack.
• Human-Machine Interface: Developing intuitive and user friendly interfaces for (plant)-managers, operators etc., information and their interpretation have to be available at all times in all locations.

Digital potential

However, digitisation has even greater potential to improve the European chemical industry. By using the full potential of high speed connectivity, the internet of things, cloud computing and cyber-physical systems in and for manufacturing, Europe can create new high-skilled jobs, reduce its consumption of resources and energy, increase its production capacity and continue to create the innovative products which a changing society needs.

SusChem inspired initiatives such as SPIRE are helping to make digitisation of European industries a reality. Close cooperation and alignment in the definition phases of the funding calls available under Horizon 2020 across all PPPs and all levels of stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure that all the needs of the process industries are fully considered.

Stakeholder discussions

A highly interactive debate is expected at the Stakeholder event on 16 June and your questions and expectations on the outcomes for the panel debates, in particular on ICT and process issues, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is now open. This dedicated registration website includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels - the venue for the event.

You are invited to submit your questions and comments and also your expectations for outcomes as part of the registration process. You can submit your questions and comments when you register and there will also be a link for question submission sent with the registration confirmation email.

Meet the Manager – Martin Winter

Martin is a chemist by education and received his PhD on a nanomaterial science topic in 1998 from the Max Planck Society before leaving for postdoctoral study at the Scripps Research Institute in the U.S. He joined Clariant in 1999 managing several innovation projects as Research and Development group leader and focusing on innovation and growth of new businesses. This included setting up external innovation activities through venture capital mechanisms. In addition a marketing and sales responsibility for one of Clariant’s start-up businesses brought him to Asia/Japan for a two year assignment. Since June 2015 Martin has been seconded from Clariant to Cefic in Brussels as an Innovation Manager responsible for driving the innovation agenda for the Chemical Industry.

His main area of responsibility is networking with the industry regarding their research and innovation priorities and connecting them with the European Commission’s funding instruments under Horizon 2020, for example, as the chemical sector’s representative in the SPIRE PPP. His main focus is on ICT, chemical process technologies and catalyst topics.

He likes to spend his free time with his family and is also an enthusiastic skydiver.

EFFRA Launches Public Consultation on FoF PPP Work Programme

The European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) has just launched a public consultation on the ‘Factories of the Future’ (FoF) PPP work programme for 2018 through to 2020. The FoF consultation document contains a wide range of potential call topics that will be of interest to the SusChem community from manufacturing complex and multi-material components to additive manufacturing (3D printing), material and resource efficiency in manufacturing, energy efficiency, new processes, digitisationresouir and circular economy issues.

The public consultation is part of EFFRA’s preparations for strategic discussions with the European Commission concerning the final ‘Factories of the Future’ work programme under Horizon 2020.

The consultation is a unique opportunity to provide your input to this important research and innovation programme. The deadline for consultation feedback is 4 May 2016 (17:00 CET).

EFFRA is looking for input from representatives of industry, research and innovation, and academia to provide their views on priorities for the work programme that will shape the ‘Factories of the Future’ research and innovation call topics in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

EFFRA will use the input received to compile a roadmap document that complements the current ‘Factories of the Future 2020’ roadmap. The new document will be entitled 'Factories 4.0 and Beyond' and will be delivered to the European Commission to provide a key contribution to preparations for the work programme.

How to get involved

The consultation feedback form can be completed online through the EFFRA Innovation Portal. The feedback form does not have to be completed in one sitting and participants may save and return to it as often as they need until the close of the consultation on Wednesday 4 May.

To access the response form you must be registered and logged into the EFFRA Innovation Portal. Instructions on how to participate are available here.

You can access the consultation response form here when logged onto the portal. The consultation document itself is available without logging on here.

For more information, or if you have specific questions on the consultation, please contact Chris DeCubber at EFFRA.

Sustainable Chemistry, Smart Industry and #Digital4EU

Today (24 February) the #Digital4EU stakeholder forum is taking place in Brussels. This one-day event organised by the European Commission includes four main workshops including one on Smart Industry. Sustainable chemistry has a major role to play in supporting the digital agenda in Europe.

ICT and digital innovation is an important technology area for the chemical industry. For decades the chemical industry has made extensive use of ICT systems throughout its value chain, from logistics, to modelling, design, control, monitoring and repair. In addition, the chemical industry is a key provider of materials and technologies that form the basis for many ICT and digital solutions.

Smart Chemical Processes
Within the total chemical industry value chain from product design to delivery to the customer, ICT plays a key role. ICT is key to a successful, efficient and competitive industry.

As chemical products, process and plants become ever more complex and resource usage and performance requirements become tougher, ICT can deliver a large portion of the innovation needed to keep the European chemical industry competitive on the global stage.

Process Control is a critical factor for sustainability in the production process. Advanced process methods allow production units to run at optimal operating points under appropriate constraints. Monitoring is a related area of importance for the process industry where improved digital modelling can contribute to increased plant availability, reduced costs and improved product quality.

Modelling for innovation is also a key topic. ICT-enabled innovation can significantly reduce (20-40%) time lines for product and process developments and save costs. Overall ICT technologies can enable increased resource efficiency, will enable new process and product capabilities, and strengthen the chemical industry and European competitiveness.

Smart Materials for smart industry
Sustainable chemistry is all about developing ‘Smart materials’ – materials that will enable the development of important ICT such as nanoelectronics and haptic devices. Sustainable chemistry also provides the specialty polymers and other materials that will be required for new 3D printing technologies to produce components with demanding specifications.

Sustainable chemistry is looking to develop polymers that enable nano-structured self-organisation for use as templates to support advanced nano-lithography or other nanoelectronic fabrication techniques for the fast prototyping and production of complex electronic devices. Such advanced fabrication techniques can reduce development time for microelectronic devices and boost the capability and competitiveness of the European ICT sector.

Polymers and polymer-based ink formulations are also essential for printed fabrication techniques, such as roll-to-roll lithography that allow mass production of low-cost microelectronic circuits for a wide range of applications including RFID tags, flexible displays and OLED lighting.

Future chemical developments include improved conductive polymers, piezoelectric and electro-active polymers that can inspire new and emerging end-use applications including wearable electronics.

Additive manufacturing aka 3D printing
3D printing will change the way society manufactures and its development heralds an era of mass-customisation. 3D printing or Additive Manufacturing produces a three-dimensional object from an electronic data set through an additive process making material layers in successive steps under computer control – truly digital manufacturing.

The global market for materials and services for 3D printing (excluding printer equipment) was estimated to be US$ 1.8 billion in 2013 and is projected to grow to US$ 10.8 billion by 2018.

The ability to produce small lot sizes and highly specialised added value products makes 3D printing technology a key technology for the next generation of industry: Industry 4.0. Innovation and pre-industrialisation, competitive small series production, improved time-to-market, custom made parts for personalised products, manufacturing of complex structures and geometries are all drivers for the development of additive manufacturing technologies. 3D printing also contributes to lower energy and resource use.

Polymers with appropriate end-use performances and adapted to specific 3D printing technologies are needed along with suitable metallic or ceramic materials. The European chemical industry already delivers many of these materials, but research is needed to widen the range of materials and mechanical properties of polymers available for 3D printing. Development of new electrically and thermally conductive materials will provide new opportunities for the development of additive manufacturing. Solutions to improve the surface finish of manufactured parts are also required.

Sustainable chemistry is key
Additive manufacturing is a key technology for fostering the European innovation and manufacturing industries. And its full development requires key inputs from sustainable chemistry.

Digital technologies, such as 3D printing technologies, can reduce the gap between innovation and manufacturing, stimulate the renewal of European manufacturing industry and boost industrial research and design opportunities too.

Sixth European Innovation Summit: Passion and 3D Printing

Sixth European Innovation Summit ran from 17 to 20 November and SusChem, Cefic and other sustainable chemistry stakeholders were heavily involved with the event. In total 40 Members of the European Parliament, led by the K4I Forum Chair Lambert van Nistelrooij and Vice-Chair Jerzy Buzek, attended the event and 900 registered participants took part in the 30 conference sessions that featured some 150 speakers gathered under the patronage of the President of the European Parliament.

 ‘A Mandate for Innovation in Europe’ was the topic of this year’s summit summarising a common ambition of making innovation the top strategic priority in the new institutional cycle. The continuing inability of Europe to successfully bring great ideas to the market remained the key issue raised by the summit participants. Better regulation, change in the educational system, risk acceptance and management were discussed as the key steps, necessary for Europe to move forward.

A particular focus was put on the importance of a strong engagement of the member states on the innovation front.  There was a broad agreement on the need to clearly assess the potential impact EU legislation has on innovation across all sectors.

Advanced manufacturing
On Tuesday morning The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) organised a breakfast debate on "Advanced Manufacturing for a new European Industrial Renaissance." The debate was hosted by Christian Ehler, MEP. Much of the discussion was focused on the ongoing European Commission budget negotiations and the threats to Horizon 2020 funding that could – according to Ehler - lead to a € 10 billion reduction in funds.

Rudolf Strohmeier (above), Deputy Director-General at DG Research and Innovation, European Commission described the proposed budget cuts rather bluntly as “Intellectually incoherent” and joined Ehler’s call for industry and other stakeholders to raise their voices to preserve research and innovation funding.

He stated that the programme itself had got off to a good start in particular praising the success of the new PPP initiatives such as SPIRE. But he said the Commission needed to better understand what is hampering innovation in Europe: what inhibits private investments in Research and Innovation and he called on stakeholders to talk to the Commission about their experience.

Gernot Klotz, Executive Director (above), Cefic talked about the new processes that chemistry could bring to enable a circular economy in particular via the SPIRE and BioBased Industries initiatives. He described Project Phoenix a proposed flagship project of common European interest led by the chemical industry that would work to bring breakthrough innovation to use CO2 to make chemicals and fuels for Europe.

Obstacles to innovation
The debate was continued at the first plenary session on Tuesday that was hosted by Neena Gill, MEP and moderated by Gernot Klotz.

Amongst the speakers Vicky Ford (above), MEP stated that “We must be positive – we can do it” and saw the key as sectors working together for innovation. But she saw a skills shortage as an issue.

Vladimir Sucha (below third from right), Director-General, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre thought that we needed to break things down and understand the building blocks of innovation. In fact a general misunderstanding of innovation was one of our biggest bottle necks to progress.

Joanna Dupont-Inglis (on left above), Director of Industrial Biotechnology at Europabio described initiatives to build a European bioeconomy a development that would “require bold political moves, clarity of long-term strategy as well as legal certainty and stable conditions.”

Klaus Hoffmann, President of Dow Corning Europe (second right above) agreed with the need for stability. He thought that conditions are important. “Make it easy for me to say yes to invest,” he said. An attractive environment that was predictable and flexible was important.

Horizon 2020: First impressions
The budget discussion was revisited in this final session Tuesday morning. Rudolf Strohmeier called for a wider participation for experts – in particular for industry - to evaluate call responses in Horizon 2020. He also said there was a need for “concrete examples of use of structural funds in combination with Horizon 2020 funds – how it is done

And concluded with a warning that if the European Council get the budget they are proposing then the net effect will be to return European research and innovation back to the level of FP6.

Andreas Förster (above), Director, Dechema said his members thought that Horizon 2020 was working well, in particular in the cross sectorial and value chains initiatives such as SPIRE and BBI working well and more could be done in this area.

He thought that more explanations of calls with higher technology readiness level (TRL) would be good especially for academics who rarely operated at this level. He also thought wider adoption of two-stage assessment process would be useful in reducing workload and standardisation is an issue.

Innovation for energy
Prof. Jerzy Buzek, MEP introduced the debate on energy stated that an upgraded European energy community with new technology for low emission fossil fuels as well as renewable sources.

David Salisbury, President of GERG (the European Gas Research Group) said that we need to think differently about the future. Must avoid ruling out the options keep things open. He observed that existing European gas networks deliver much more energy than the electric grids: “[Europe] must use the existing networks better and smarter,” he said.

Gernot Klotz (above, with Jerzy Buzek) talked about the chemical industry’s contribution to innovation in energy as a major users of energy and also a supplier of materials for energy use and production. There was a need for a strategic continuum for energy technology development, he said.

He also described the three areas of the proposed Phoenix project that all impacted on energy: using CO2 to make chemicals; use of CO2 chemistry for large-scale chemical storage of energy; and the longer-term ‘artificial photosynthesis’ conversion of CO2 into chemicals and fuels.

3D highlights
One of the highlight of the event for many people was a visit to the Cefic SusChem stand and our 3D Printing machines in the Exhibition Space on the third floor gallery of the Parliament in Brussels. The Cefic team is pictured below.

K4I President Lambert van Nistelrooij made a particular reference to the SusChem exhibit in the closing press conference stressing the “need for” and the new materials needed for 3D printing. “We need to not only build new industries, but also rejuvenate traditional and existing industries,” he said. He was also scanned for a ‘mini-me’ figurine (see below).

He had been impressed with the 3D Printing demonstration and saw “a real change coming [in manufacturing] and it was imperative that the EU remains at the core of advanced manufacturing.”

The scanning and 3D printing of figurines was a very popular feature with a number of MEPs being scanned (below) and reproduced in plastic.

Also at the press conference Gernot Klotz emphasised the need for clear stability of policies for innovation. Trust is important in attracting innovation. He also said there was a need for structured research and development advice in all European Institutions and he hoped that the recent abandonment of the Chief Scientific Advisor role at the European Commission was not a sign of a future trend to disregard scientific advice in policy-making.

Passion for innovation
At the opening ceremony on the evening of 17 November Commissioners Carlos Moedas (Research, Innovation & Science), Corina Cretu (Regional Policy), Phil Hogan (Agricultural and Rural Development) and Günther Oettinger (Digital Economy & Society) had made their first public appearance.

Observers described Commissioner Moedas’ speech as “impassioned” and showed a very clear understanding of the issues. Here is an excerpt:

"Over the next five years, I know the new Commission will be tireless in its efforts to create the right conditions for European innovation to flourish.

 Research, science and innovation are not just the sum of a Commissioner's portfolio. They are not just the domain of multinational corporations or elite academic institutions.

They touch every tiny aspect of our lives. From the way we heat our homes, to the way we run our businesses. From the way we heal our bodies, to the way we construct our buildings.

Nothing has greater power to bring about economic prosperity. Nothing will enable us to contribute more to an increasingly interconnected, global society. Nothing has greater power to secure our place on the world stage, as a continent that leads: that eats, sleeps and breathes excellence.

Nothing has more power than research, science and innovation to change lives, to change the status quo, to wake us up, to disrupt! To unleash an outpouring of transformative energy."

You can read the full text of his speech here.

More about K4I
Knowledge4Innovation is an open, independent, non-profit platform with a wide variety of stakeholders including small and large companies, universities and research centres, regions and cities, trade organisations and think tanks. As such, it is the leading Brussels based innovation platform operating within the environment of the EU Institutions. K4I members are from the private, academic and public sectors and include large networks such as EUREKA, COST, Cefic, ECPA and EFPIA as well as universities, regional development organisations, cities, think tanks and small enterprises.

Chemistry and 3D Printing

Chemical research for the development of 3D printing materials covers a huge range of opportunities including synthesis and discovery of new or mixed material compositions that are amenable to printing techniques, new methods of printing to increase speed while simultaneously reaching higher resolutions, and materials that can provide component properties (such as strength) that are on a par with components produced by conventional methods.

Chemists use 3D printing
Chemists have used 3D printing to manufacture customised lab ware and reaction systems; others are working on a 3D printer that, instead of objects, is able to print molecules. An exciting potential long-term application is printing your own medicine using chemical inks.

What kind of ‘ink’ is used in 3D printing?
3D printers can use metallic powders, polymers, resins, sand, organic materials (for example cells, but also chocolate!), and mixtures amongst many others.

Chemists provide new materials for 3D printing
Chemists developing materials to be used in 3D printing need to take into account variety, composition, strength, and finishing procedures in order to increase the versatility of the technology. Currently, the variety of materials is limited to the ability of the materials to be powder-based or have low enough viscosities to be extruded from the printing head. Many manufacturers require proprietary materials to be used in their 3D printers or risk forfeiting the warranty. This scenario has limited the material pool, and thus, for 3D printing to continue to grow, the quantity and diversity of materials must increase.

Polymers with the right end-use performances and adapted to the specific 3D printing technologies are needed together with suitable metallic or ceramic materials. The chemical industry can deliver these materials - often working on novel derivatives of existing polymer formulations – and the area is a priority topic within the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).

Want to know more?
Visit the Cefic-SusChem booth in the exhibition space at the 6th European Innovation Summit organised by Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) on 17 – 19 November 2014. Or contact the SusChem secretariat.

3-D printing: Additive Manufacturing

It’s the piece of cool technology at the top of every self-confessed geek’s wish list: a 3D printer. Who would not want the possibility to print a range of gadgets on a whim?

But for manufacturing 3D printing innovation could lead to a disruptive change in the way we make things. It could be the key to true mass-customisation as well as truly sustainable manufacturing.

And Cefic - SusChem will be demonstrating the potential for 3-D printing at its booth in the exhibition space at the 6th European Innovation Summit on 17 – 19 November 2014 at the European Parliament.

What is 3D printing?
3D printing (aka Additive Manufacturing) is based on making a three-dimensional object from an electronic data set through an additive process of adding layers of material in successive steps under computer control.

Additive manufacturing is a key technology for fostering European innovation and manufacturing industry – effectively reducing the gap between innovation and manufacturing.

The first 3D printers were developed 30 years ago, but the area experienced rapid growth from 1990 when plastic extrusion technology was commercialized using fused deposition modeling and thermoplastics with high melting point for rapid prototyping and small series production. 3D-printing allowed production of products in small quantities at relatively low cost.

3D printing has a vast array of applications from use in the medical and dental industries and in biotechnology (human tissue replacement), architecture, industrial design, and the aerospace and automotive industries. Consumer applications now include fashion and jewelry products. The global market for materials and services for 3-D printing (not including the printers themselves) is predicted to grow to US$ 10.8 billion by 2018.

Future 3D printing applications will require improved quality in, for example, the surface finish of components. This means that the range of available materials suited for additive manufacturing needs to be extended to cover a full portfolio of consumer products.