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News Release from: Faraday Plastics
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 03 December 2003
New team to help bridge the plastics gap
A new team of technology translators will help develop the UK's strengths and capabilities in plastics innovation.
Faraday Plastics has formed a new team of technology translators - the individuals who will help develop the UK's strengths and capabilities in plastics innovation Among other duties, the Faraday Plastics technology translation team will help to bridge the gap between the academic and business worlds of the UK plastics industry
Nick Brooks has been joined by Jan Czerski, Sally Beken, John Colbert and Umar Daraz.
Faraday Plastics continues to be led by Richard Simpson with administrative and marketing support provided by Carole Kovacs, Julia Bestall and Richard Walton.
The various members of the new Faraday Plastics team have extensive experience in plastics academe and industry matters and each have been given specific responsibilities and subsectors within the overall project.
And, as part of the new focus for Faraday Plastics, the relationship with one of its key partners, MERL of Hertford, has been significantly strengthened by the secondment of Nickie Dale for one day a week part time basis.
Rod Martin, MERL Chief Executive, says: "Nickie's responsibilities within MERL of major research proposal preparation can now be fully integrated with the activities of the Faraday and will complement my own role on the Faraday Research and Training Board.
We can also benefit from the feedback from the Faraday community in structuring our activities to meet the needs of industry".
Richard Simpson, Faraday Plastics Director notes: "We are very pleased to be so far ahead in our recruitment tasks at Faraday Plastics and to have attracted such excellent candidates to the positions.
The technology translator job is a demanding and creative one.
It challenges our people to motivate the industry to create innovation for itself and in the marketplace.
I am very confident that our new Faraday Plastics team has the mettle to make this happen".
Within the new team, Sally Beken's prime tasks will be to champion plastics innovation in the medical sector and to manage the Faraday Plastics range of seminars.
John Colbert will look after energy issues and plastics processing matters.
Jan Czerski will lead issues of industrial engagement and the newly launched Faraday Plastics industry affiliate scheme.
Nickie Dale will champion the Faraday Plastics work in recycling.
And Umar Daraz will champion plastics innovation in the automotive sector as well as training issues, regional development and the academic affiliate scheme.
The approval of the new Faraday Plastics business plan - and funding for the next three years - gives companies in the UK plastics sector until spring 2006 to be able to continue to attract plastics technology development funding.
Lord Sainsbury, Government Minister for Science and Innovation recently paid tribute to the work of Faraday Plastics saying that it had: "already helped add some coherence to the disparate and fragmented activities that are taking place in this sector.
Faraday Plastics has helped facilitate better collaboration between different universities.
And it has helped stimulate new products and processes, new patents, and new startup companies".
As part of its resurgence, Faraday Plastics has a new, independent and high profile chairman in Professor Tony Ledwith, former Chairman of the EPSRC.
Faraday Plastics has also selected a number of priority areas for the next three years.
These are: energy; recycling and sustainability; nano and smart materials; healthcare; and automotive applications.
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