SYNERGI2018 successfully provided a forum for industrials, ARI representatives and academic researchers

R2B matchmaking session listed 65 meetings in two days

SYNERGI2018 – SYnchrotron and Neutron Radiation Go Industrial: bringing together advanced research facility scientists and industrial researchers.

To reach out to new potential industrial users for European neutron centres, SINE2020’s work package “Industry Consultancy” organised the event SYNERGI2018 which took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on March 8/9, 2018 in the NEMO Science Museum. The core topic of the first Edition was Engineering Materials Science.

In order to bundle resources and increase visibility, the event was supported by other EU projects dealing with industry service at large scale facilities such as CALIPSOplus, BalticTRAM, NFFA and ACCELERATE. The event was also supported by Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), which organised the research to business (R2B) matchmaking session. These R2B meetings allowed participants from industry to discuss actual problems directly with scientists and/or industry liaison officers (ILOs) from advanced research infrastructures (ARIs).

SYNERGI2018 brought together 68 participants from large scale research facilities, universities and industry. Fourteen participants were directly affiliated with industry and thirteen external registrants with universities or research centres with strong links with industry.

The event started with a keynote session with presentations by experienced or recent ARI users from industry.

• Daigo Setoyama (Toyota Central R&D labs Inc., JP)
• Hjalmar Staf (SANDVIK AB, SE)
• Axel Müller (OHB System AG, DE)

The presentations generated lively discussions about the needs of industry and the challenges regarding the ease-of-use of ARIs by industrial researchers. The need for a direct translation of “advanced measurements and analysis” into the “engineering world” was underlined, and the need for engineering simulation tools in particular. These discussions continued during lunch and in between the presentation of the European ARI landscape and the projects behind SYNERGI2018.

In the following research to business (R2B) matchmaking session, 65 meetings between the 38 participants were scheduled. Besides general exchange regarding possibilities at ARIs, several appointments led to agreements of further cooperation in the coming year. In parallel, participants not registered for the matchmaking were able to learn more about the facilities of CERIC-ERIC during the session organised by the project ACCELERATE.

The first day closed with a networking reception and a boat trip with dinner on the famous canals of Amsterdam.

On the second day of the SYNERGI2018 meeting, four breakout groups were organised. In each breakout group about 20 participants discussed a specific area relevant to the scope of the meeting: additive manufacturing, automotive, metal industry and aerospace.

SYNERGI2018 successfully provided a forum for industrials, ARI representatives and academic researchers with strong industry cooperation to discuss the possibilities for industrial R&D to better benefit from ARIs.

Industry cases were shown both from industrial and ARI point of view. During the discussions, both during the presentation sessions and the breakout groups, it became clear that ARIs have valuable assets but the packaging needs improvement to be more appropriate for commercial access. The services should be streamlined and, where appropriate, standardised.

The R2B meetings offered a good opportunity to go into details about existing problems of the participating companies and how they could be solved by ARI techniques. Moreover, industrial researchers were also delighted to meet their counterpart in a similar sector of activity.
Several follow-up meetings either at facilities or companies were proposed afterwards to plan further cooperation.

A second issue of SYNERGI, SYNERGI2019, is under consideration and could eventually focus on advanced chemistry: pharmaceutical chemistry, catalysts, cosmetics, technical chemicals, additives, etc., which is another scientific field in which ARIs are extremely active.
Since 2016 the EU projects involved in SYNERGI2018 have developed the concept of the “European Analytical Research Infrastructures Village” (EARIV). This is a visibility and marketing tool which participates in exhibitions e.g. at large conferences with stakeholders from industry and policy makers, to raise awareness in industry about role ARIs play in industrial R&D and the new possibilities that they open.

More information can be found at www.eariv.eu