Transforming Materials for the Future
"Transforming the materials agenda for a sustainable planet" was the title of the recent Whitechapel Lecture, presented by Founder and Industry Committee Member, Prof Mark Jolly CEng, CEnv, FIMMM, FICME.
Mark started his career in the industry, working on the development of one of the first casting simulation systems, Solstar, which aimed to simulate the freezing of the metal in casting to help predict (and avoid) shrinkage and misruns. More latterly, and after time at the University of Birmingham, he joined Cranfield University as Professor of Sustainable Manufacturing and then Director of the Manufacturing and Materials Theme. He led the successful TransFIRe project which was a UKRI-funded (ISCF TFI challenge) programme investigating how the foundations industries – cement, metals, ceramics and glass, paper and chemicals – can develop innovative solutions to reduce energy and resource use the results and outcomes of which form the basis for this lecture.
In the lecture he tackles such topics as the circular economy for materials, industrial symbiosis, resource use and dematerialisation as well as equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to ensure industry can attract, support and retain the best skills for future competitiveness.
As Mark says, “This really is a massive topic and I hope I will stimulate some discussion and take some of the challenging issues beyond the research and academic communities.”
Written by Dr Pam Murrell, Chair of the Industry Committee