Advanced materials are key enabling technologies with high impact overt the development of all major industrial sectors. Development and implementation of materials under extreme environments open new opportunities in many high tech areas of technology, including automotive and aerospace, energy generation and storage, electronics, biomedical, chemical and photochemical, metallurgy and machining tools and equipment. Usually such systems must support in the same time high temperatures and pressures, high corrosion conditions, high erosion and mechanical stresses, without affecting their performances in use. Reaching the intrinsic limits of materials performance remains therefore a goal for scientists and engineers, requiring a much deeper understanding of the atomic and molecular origins on how the extreme environments affect the underlying physical and chemical processes that occur in the bulk and surfaces of different material systems. To come closer and closer to this needs, new methods for modelling, synthesis, processing and characterization of innovative materials systems with optimal performance in extreme conditions.
The primary objective of the SUPERMAT project is to use the twinning instrument to create a virtual center to boost IMNR position in Bucharest-Ilfov region and Romania by increasing the knowledge and technology degree of innovation potential for sustainable advanced materials operating under extreme conditions. The need of such innovative class of materials is strongly required to enhance the competitiveness of regional and national SMEs and large companies in the priority machinery and equipment sector.
The SUPERMAT virtual center developed by seven Research Centers from France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, UK and Romania with expertise and reputation in advanced materials and processing technologies has been created to foster the progress in these fields. The major application directions will be driven by the needs of industry provided by the SUPERMAT Industrial Board. Expected results include elaboration of innovative technology based on thermodynamic prediction methods enabling sustainable synthesis of novel system and validation in pilot scale conditions, reducing or even fully replacing critical raw materials) in extreme environments applications, complex integrated open access database for materials design from synthesis to processing and applications used, sspecific curricula and a unique international massive on-line open course on materials under extreme environments will be implemented.
SUPERMAT will impact directly over the following areas identified in the Bucharest-Ilfov RIS3: Mechatronics, Machinery and equipment, Automotive, Energy and intelligent energetic systems by:
- Foster the creation of new innovative SMEs (including start-up and spin-off) and jobs for high qualified people and young graduates: 1 spin-off to be created by IMNR researchers (in course)
- Develop one new curricula for PhD students to improve their access on the strategic market of machinery and equipment
- New courses for long-life training of industrial employees.
At international level SUPERMAT will impact over the competitiveness, product quality and use of high qualified employees from key industrial sectors such as the aerospace sector, the automotive industry, manufacturing sector and the energy production sectors, contributing to more than 40% of the EU GDP.
