Vital Spacecraft Safety Project Goes to the UK

This new six million pounds centre project includes a top team of researchers working with aerospace organisations such as NASA.

The aim is to improve the vital, protective outer tiles on the US Space Shuttle that stop it bursting into flames on re-entry.

UK supports innovation

The Imperial College Structural Ceramic Centre (ICSCC) in London aims to improve the strength and durability of structural ceramics, made of inorganic materials such as oxides, carbides and nitrides, to meet industrial demand for materials that can withstand extreme environments.

The project aims at developing the next generation of reusable spacecraft that require new materials for aircraft tiles that can withstand the freezing conditions of space and the scorching heat of take-off and re-entry.

Another focus of the ICSCC will be on improving composite layers of ceramics for body and vehicle armour for troops and security personnel that can absorb and deflect explosive high-impact shells.

The ICSCC will be working with industrial manufacturers on new equipment able to withstand scorching temperatures without melting during experiments.

This is a fantastic opportunity not just for Imperial College but for the UK’s structural ceramics community to make a big international impact

Professor Bill Lee

Head of the Department of Materials

Imperial College London

Cleaner and greener energy alternatives will also be explored, with potential applications in power generation including pebble-bed nuclear reactors.

New technology

This new form of technology encases uranium dioxide in ceramic pebbles that heat water to create steam and generate electricity.

Welcoming the EPSRC award, Professor Bill Lee, Head of the Department of Materials and the Director of the centre, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity not just for Imperial College but for the UK’s structural ceramics community to make a big international impact.

“These materials underpin many key areas of the UK economy, from energy generation to healthcare, and I look forward to working with industry and academia on leading-edge projects which will establish this facility as a world-class leader.”

The funding will support the construction of state-of-the-art laboratory facilities at Imperial’s campus in London.

Part of the development process will include the design and construction of new instruments capable of measuring properties in ceramics, such as strength and toughness.

New academic positions will also be created between Imperial’s departments of materials and mechanical engineering.

Each academic position will be supported by a research team made up of a postdoctoral researcher and two PhD students.

The centre will also employ a technical manager and full-time technician plus three PhD students at other UK universities.

This is the fourth year that science and innovation awards have been distributed by the EPSRC in association with the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Scottish Funding Council and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council is the UK’s main agency for funding research in its title’s areas. It invests about 740m pounds a year in research and postgraduate training.

These materials underpin many key areas of the UK economy, from energy generation to healthcare

Professor Bill Lee

Head of the Department of Materials

Imperial College London

The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science.

The EPSRC works alongside other research councils with responsibility for other areas of research.

The ICSCC is funded over a five-year period by a science and innovation award from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and it is a joint project between Imperial College London’s Department of Materials and Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Rated as the world’s fifth best university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement university rankings, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts more than 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.