CPI, an independent technology innovation centre and a founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month with Imperial College London, laying the groundwork for collaboration on a diverse range of programmes designed to drive economic growth in the UK’s manufacturing sector.
By leveraging CPI’s expertise and facilities in areas such as industrial bio-technology, materials technology, and pharmaceutical manufacturing, the two parties will work together to further translate the college’s world-leading research and inventions into impactful products and services.
The agreement highlights the ambitions of both organisations to collaborate on both defined technical projects and major strategic programmes.
In addition, they will seek opportunities to host each other’s staff with a series of training programmes and secondments.
This will accelerate the transfer of complementary scientific knowledge and technical skills between CPI and Imperial.
Imperial College London is frequently ranked within the top ten universities in the world and has a rich history of delivering paradigm-shifting research, including the discovery of penicillin and the invention of holography.
CPI can support the College with its expertise in product and process development to accelerate discoveries made on the College lab bench into commercial products and processes.
Since its inception in 2004, CPI has acted as a bridge between academia and industry, working alongside government and investors to de-risk and accelerate the translation of bright ideas into the marketplace.
It offers advanced facilities for developing next-generation products and processes through its network of National Centres, such as the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre, the National Printable Electronics Centre and the National Centre for Healthcare Photonics.
By working together with world-leading scientists and engineers from Imperial College London, CPI can readily access the latest research and apply it to industrial processes.
Professor Nick Jennings, Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise at Imperial College London, said: “This partnership with CPI will let us further diversify the routes we use to validate and develop exciting discoveries and inventions across our research portfolio.
“We are delighted to be working with colleagues at CPI sites to deliver impact from our research for the benefit of the whole UK.
“The relationship has the potential both to tackle some of the most challenging issues facing the UK’s industrial sectors, and to develop and inspire the next generation of innovators.”
Nick Johnson, CPI commercial director, said: “We are delighted to be forming a partnership with one of the most renowned academic institutions in the UK.
“This relationship will further strengthen CPI’s activities with the academic sector, helping us to deliver on our ambition to commercialise the best research in the UK and enable the UK’s manufacturing sector to thrive.”