FOM funds eight projects in High Tech Material Call

Eight projects were funded in this last call:

PreGOES, under the leadership of Prof. B.J. Kooi (University of Groningen), for research into electrical steel with an improved texture so that energy losses can be limited. Tata Steel will co-fund this project;

WearMC2, under the leadership of Dr. M.B. de Rooij (University of Twente), aimed at developing physical models at various length scales to predict surface quality during the cold-rolling of steel. Tata Steel is co-funding this project and Wupperman Staal and Bosch Transmission Technology are interested in the research outcomes;

MicroAPPs, under the leadership of Prof. Roozeboom (Eindhoven University of Technology), in which the focus is on understanding fundamental chemical reactions that are not in (thermal) equilibrium and occur in atmospheric plasmas meant to apply layers. A large consortium is contributing knowledge and funding to this project. Consortium members are TNO-Holst Centre-Solliance, ASM International, BASF, Levitech, Orbotech, Roth & Rau BV, SoLayTech and Xycarb Ceramics;

Piezo4inkjet, under the leadership of Prof. A.H.J.M. Rijnders (University of Twente), aims to gain a better understanding of how defects develop in thin piezo-electric layers. Océ is contributing to this project;

EBBBT, under the leadership of Dr. B.P.M. van Esch (Eindhoven University of Technology), for research into the extremely rapid cooling of moving steel band at temperatures far above the boiling point. The project is partly possible thanks to a contribution from Tata Steel;

MICROCORR, under the leadership of Prof. J. Sietsma (Delft University of Technology), aims to gain a better understanding of the influence of the microstructure on corrosion so that high-strength types of steel with good anti-corrosion properties can be designed without the need to use coatings. Financial and knowledge contributions are being made by Tata Steel, Philips Consumer Lifestyle and Koninklijke Nedschroef Holding BV;

Towards lead-free organometal halide perovskite solar cells for steel substrates, under the leadership of Dr. T.J. Savenije (Delft University of Technology), which focuses on new ways of developing lead-free solar cells based on perovskites. Tata Steel is making a financial and knowledge contribution to this research;

DETAIL, under the leadership of Prof. R. Akkerman (University of Twente), is focused on the development of new numerical design methods for thermoplastic composites, in which physical and process models are integrated. TPRC, Dutch Thermoplastic Components BV, Ten Cate Advanced Composites BV and AniForm Engineering BV are participating in this project.

Six HTM Calls
At the initiative of the Top Team of the top sector High Tech Systems and Materials (HTSM), FOM and STW were asked to organise six HTM calls in conjunction with M2i. Half of the total funds in the calls have been provided by private partners who act as co-applicants for the research proposals. FOM has provided funding for two of these calls, the last of which was organised in the spring and summer of this year. In this call, eight projects were funded. In 2014, FOM funded seven projects. For the coming years, the HTM calls will be organised by STW.

The projects focus on developing new scientific insights or technologies within this scope of the HTM Roadmap, one of 17 roadmaps within the top sector HTSM, which includes Materials for Sustainable Energy, Next-Generation Engineering Materials, and Functional & Metamaterials.

Contact
Victor Land, FOM Office (for questions about this High Tech Material Call), +31 30 600 12 73
Paul Schuddeboom , STW (for questions about future calls), +31 30 600 12 69
Bert van Haastrecht, M2i (for information about the HTM Roadmap and projects), +31 88 035 19 22