EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Photonics

目前，特殊纤维是一项至关重要的使能技术，用于全球通信、飞机导航、监测油井威尔斯、切割钢铁和击落导弹（甚至蚊子！）。新型特种光纤已证明有潜力将光纤的影响扩展到远超出电信竞技场的领域，扩展到国防、工业加工、海洋工程、生物医学、DNA处理和天文学等多种领域。它们正在工业传感、生物医学激光传输系统、军用陀螺仪传感器以及汽车照明和控制等领域产生影响和商业进展-仅举几例-并涵盖从油井井下压力传感器到主动脉内导管的各种应用，以及可以切割和焊接钢铁的高功率激光器。光纤和光纤相关产品不仅渗透到现有市场，而且更重要的是，它们将应用空间扩展到传统技术无法实现的领域。为了实现这一潜力并进一步革新制造业，迫切需要继续创新和制造有市场价值的光纤，以维持快速发展的光纤制造业的增长。自20世纪60年代成立以来，英国在塑造光纤行业方面发挥了重要作用，南安普顿大学备受推崇的光电研究中心（ORC）处于前沿。我们的愿景是建立在丰富的专业知识和广泛的设施，已经到位，创造一个世界一流的，行业领先的中心，先进的制造工艺，为新的光子元件和材料，将推动英国公司的增长，使他们能够扩大他们的产品组合，提高竞争力，提高他们的市场渗透率和整体份额。我们将与英国和其他欧洲研究中心保持密切联系，以进一步推进纤维和相关材料技术，并扩大应用空间。预计该中心将在不断扩大和竞争激烈的先进技术和制造业领域创造就业和财富方面发挥关键作用。英国工业部门的光电产品产量为52亿欧元，相当于欧洲产量的12%和世界市场的2.3%。特别值得注意的是，光子工业部门由大多数中小企业组成，这些中小企业通常没有规模经济，也没有财力自行对基础设施进行大量投资。创新制造资助机制的使用，加上工业用户提供的约400万美元的直接和实物捐助（与EPSRC为建立IMRC所寻求的金额相似），将提供研究和开发下一代纤维材料和技术平台所需的种子资金和重点，这反过来将推动光子学相关制造业的增长。建立这样一个制造研究中心，与现有的主要高科技光子英国公司以及新兴公司和新创业公司密切合作，将对他们在各自市场的发展和获得更大渗透的能力产生实质性影响。IMRC的战略将遵循多条线，采取一系列举措，通过在创新和增值领域进一步提升，不断扩大和加强最初的研究组合。在其生命周期内，IMRC将共同努力，进一步增加用户数量和参与程度。

Currently, special fibres are a crucial enabling technology that communicates worldwide, navigates airliners, monitors oil wells, cuts steel, and shoots down missiles (and even mosquitoes!). New classes of special optical fibres have demonstrated the potential to extend the impact of optical fibres well beyond the telecommunications arena, in areas as diverse as defence, industrial processing, marine engineering, biomedicine, DNA processing and astronomy. They are making an impact and commercial inroads in fields such as industrial sensing, bio-medical laser delivery systems, military gyro sensors, as well as automotive lighting and control - to name just a few - and span applications as diverse as oil well downhole pressure sensors to intra-aortic catheters, to high power lasers that can cut and weld steel. Optical fibres and fibre-related products not only penetrate existing markets but also, more significantly, they expand the application space into areas that are impossible by conventional technologies. To fulfil this potential and further revolutionise manufacturing, there is a strong need to continue innovating and manufacturing market-worthy fibres, in order to sustain the growth in the fast expanding fibre-based manufacturing sectors.From its inception in the 1960s, the UK has played a major role in shaping the optical fibre industry, and the highly regarded Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton is at the forefront. Our vision is to build upon the rich expertise and extensive facilities that are already in place to create a world-class, industry-led Centre for advanced manufacturing processes for new photonic components and materials that will fuel the growth of UK companies, enabling them to expand their product portfolio, enhance competitiveness and increase their market penetration and overall share. We will liaise closely with UK and other European Research Centres to advance further the fibre and related material technology, as well as increase the application space. The Centre is expected to play a key role in job and wealth creation in the expanding and highly competitive advanced technology and manufacturing sector. The UK industrial sector accounts for a production volume in photonics of EUR 5.2 billion, which corresponds to 12% of the European volume, and 2.3% of the world market. Particularly notable about the photonics industrial sector is that it comprises a majority of SMEs, who typically do not have the economies of scale nor the financial resources to invest heavily in infrastructure on their own. Use of the Innovative Manufacturing funding mechanism, complemented by industrial user-provided direct and in-kind contributions of ~4M (similar in amount to that sought from EPSRC for the establishment of this IMRC) , will supply the seed funding and focus needed to research and develop the next generation fibre material and technology platforms, which in turn will fuel the growth in photonics related manufacturing. The establishment of such a manufacturing research centre, working closely with existing key high-tech photonic UK companies as well as emerging companies and new start-ups, will make a substantive difference to their ability to develop and gain larger penetration in their respective markets. The IMRC strategy will follow multiple strands taking a number of initiatives to continuously expand and strengthen the initial research portfolio by moving it further up in the innovation and value-added spectrum. During its lifetime, the IMRC will make concerted efforts to further increase the user number and level of engagement.