Advanced Ceramics are vital to the success of the Midlands’ advanced manufacturing industries.  The MICG has come together to ensure the pooling of its resources result in the Midlands becoming a coordinated and efficient global leader in advanced ceramics research and development.  We anticipate all corners of the Midlands benefiting from the progression we will collectively make in solving problems together.

The majority of the activity undertaken by MICG partners will happen in existing facilities, either in universities, business premises or at Lucideon.  However there is a highlighted gap regarding the space required for the development and commercialisation of these new technologies that some members of the MICG are also working to solve.

With Lucideon leading the project, there is an ambition to create a dedicated campus, the Advanced Ceramics Campus, where testing, pilot lines and business space come together to provide a fertile centre of excellence for the commercialisation of advanced ceramics technologies.

Components of this ambition are, a National Advanced Sintering Centre (NASC) the Advanced Materials Research Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (AMRICC) and business space for advanced ceramics businesses.   The business case for the project was initially developed as an anchor component of the Ceramics Park.

• NASC
• AMRICC
• MICG Research
• Business space

Plans for this dedicated advanced ceramics campus are at an advanced stage with several sites within North Staffordshire under consideration and initial designs, costs and operating models developed.

The economic benefits of such a centre will be significant and initial projections expect the new facilities to anchor the growth in advanced ceramics across the Midlands, generating over 3,000 jobs and £170m in annual GVA over the next decade.

• Total investment of £35m
• 11,000 sqm of floorspace developed
• 3,000 net additional jobs by 2030
• £170m annual GVA increase
• Growing an advanced ceramics cluster and supply chain in the Midlands

The delivery of an Advanced Ceramics campus will require significant investment and members are working closely with private partners, and local and national government to move this forward.