Promoting Open Innovation
Academia and industry successfully came together at the 2015 edition of EDANA’s Nonwovens Innovation Academy (NIA) where researchers were encouraged to aim high and actively seek out partnerships.
The conference took place at University of Leeds in the UK, home of the Nonwovens Research Group – one of Europe’s largest academic teams specialising in nonwovens science and technology, and also NIRI, its commercial arm. A tour of the extensive pilot manufacturing facilities, laboratories and related departments for inter-disciplinary research and development was conducted before the conference presentations commenced.
Dr Stephen Russell, Director of the Nonwovens Research Group, said that although the number of universities and institutes specialising in nonwovens is relatively small, very effective mechanisms for collaborating with industry have already been established, particularly in the USA and some parts of Europe.
“Generally, there is a more realistic approach to collaboration between universities and companies, based on a good understanding of each other’s needs in terms of intellectual property, confidentiality and so on,” he said. “University academics in some countries, including the UK, are strongly encouraged by their respective governments to maximise the real world ‘impact’ of their research, which in this industry means actively engaging in the commercialisation process.
The ‘golden age’ of the corporate research lab ended many years ago and it’s noticeable that more companies in our industry have launched formal Open Innovation initiatives to help drive new technology to their door, regardless of where in the world the ideas are generated. The “not invented here syndrome” is on its way out, and collaborations extend way beyond nation or state boundaries.”
His observations were reinforced by keynote speaker Dr Bryan Haynes, Director of Global Nonwovens Research and Engineering at Kimberly-Clark.
“Many R&D programmes never make it to commercialisation,” he said. “In fact, the success rate is around ten per cent, and a big gamble is in scaling up from pilot production, because equipment costs money. A company’s management also needs to accept that scaling up may take some time and there could be numerous set-backs before success. But it’s not enough to focus on just incremental change – transformational technologies are necessary and involve big bets.
“There are more emerging technologies that can benefit from industry participation via Open Innovation. The global R&D spend is approximately $1.2 trillion and this is a way to access that knowledge. The key is to be open and not be afraid to work with outside parties. There are more risks involved in companies not working together and the desire to win should be greater than the fear or losing.”
Haynes noted that there is currently a shift in global R&D expenditure, with China on course to surpass the USA in this respect by 2022, and that ‘more for less’ is the common theme for most R&D organisations, with certain exceptions in high tech sectors.
“Academia is searching for its role in the future R&D landscape and industry is becoming more open to external partnerships,” he stressed.
Simulation
One key area of focus at the event was on modelling and simulation techniques which are now extremely powerful tools which will continue to be critical for building a robust understanding of nonwoven processes and products. They provide important insights about underlying mechanisms that cannot be efficiently addressed by laboratory experiments alone.
Carbon fibre recycling was also another big area of focus at NIA 2015, reflecting the considerable efforts that are underway across Europe aimed at closing the loop for carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) products, particularly in the aerospace and automotive sectors. This is in addition to dealing with post-industrial scrap.
The flexibility of nonwoven processes means that with relatively minor process modifications, recycled carbon fibre can be converted back in to fabrics via carding, airlay or wetlaid production routes for use in semi-structural components or surface veils in composites, or in other applications such as heating and cooling elements.
With large quantities of carbon fibre consumed by the aerospace and transport industries, combined with regulatory pressures, there are major opportunities for nonwoven products containing recycled carbon.
“The 2015 edition of the NIA delivered an outstanding opportunity for individuals to meet and exchange ideas and information,” said Marines Lagemaat, Scientific Affairs Director, EDANA. “With its mix of students, researchers and representatives from the industry, this event continues to promote the understanding and knowledge of nonwovens science and technology, leading to new processes and applications.”
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