SFM 2016

Sustainable Functional Materials (SFM) 2016

On Tuesday 5 April, the Department co-hosted a two day conference with The University of Surrey to address the scientific and technological demands of maintaining a sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically viable Functional Materials and Device industry.

Held at the Spa Complex in Scarborough, this inaugural symposium designed to address the scientific and technological demands of maintaining a sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically viable Functional Materials and Device industry. It will deal with a wide range of topics including thermoelectrics; fuels cells; solar cells and dielectrics. It is designed to be of interest to industrialists, solid state physicists, solid state chemists and materials scientists interested in functional materials. It also aims to gain the perspective of industry concerning the critical sustainability and substitution issues that they perceive as paramount in the next 5-10 years.

Keynote speakers for this event;

Professor. Clive Randall, Pennsylvania State University, USA
Prof Paula Vilarinho, University of Aveiro, Portugal
Professor. Andy Bell, University of Leeds
Jon Booth, Johnson Matthey
Prof Derek Sinclair, University of Sheffield
Dr. Emmanuel Guilmeau, CrisMat
Dr. Simon Hall, University of Bristol
Professor. Richard Murphy, University of Surrey

Outreach

A-level Chemistry students from Scarborough Sixth Form College were also in attendance, taking part in a pre-conference presentation and workshop; a discussion on metal modification and a hands-on practical, testing the strength of chocolate. The students were able to speak with academics, learn about Materials Science higher education courses and potential careers.

"We were challenged to measure a range of chocolate including white, dark, and fruit and nut in order to determine which was toughest – and yes we were allowed to eat it too!" - Jess Giddins / A-Level Chemistry Student