UK and USA: Innovation in Global Composites Markets

Key Features

UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £1.7 million to develop innovative technologies for global composites markets with US partners.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £1.7 million

Opens: 29th May 2019

Closes: 21st Aug 2019

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

Under the UK Research and Innovation Funding for International Collaboration (FIC) the UK and USA are running a joint grant funding competition.

Innovate UK and IACMI have developed a portfolio of composite manufacturing technology priority areas. These are relevant to the UK and the USA. IACMI has selected a number of existing projects that reflect this portfolio. UK organisations are invited to apply to collaborate with these projects.

Scope

Your project must show:

  • a clear game-changing and/or disruptive innovative idea leading to new products, processes or services
  • a strong and deliverable business plan that addresses market potential and needs
  • a team, business arrangement or working structure with the necessary skills and experience to run the project successfully and complete on time
  • awareness of the main risks the project will face (including contractor or equipment failure) with realistic management, mitigation and impact minimisation plans for each
  • sound, practical financial plans and timelines
  • good value for money
  • a clear, evidence based plan to deliver economic impact, return on investment (ROI) and growth through commercialisation, as soon as possible after project completion
  • considerable potential to positively impact both the UK and the US economy
  • the benefit to participants from the 2 countries working together

Themes

  1. SMC Reinforced by Recycled or Textile Carbon Fibres (IACMI reference number 6.23)
  2. Development of Non-destructive Evaluation/Non-destructive Testing (NDE/NDT) Tools for High-Volume, High-Speed Inspection of CFRP Structures in Automotive Manufacturing (3.13)
  3. Development of Automotive Grade Carbon Fibre Composite Performance Standards to Reduce Costs and Drive Mainstream, High Volume Vehicle Production with CFRP (6.21)
  4. Low Cost Pultruded Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Composites for Spar Caps (4.7)
  5. Tailored Fibre Placement for Complex Preforms (5.7)
  6. Closing the Loop on Automotive Carbon Fibre Prepreg Manufacturing Scrap (6.20)
  7. NanoStitch® Format and Function Optimisation for Multifunctional Composites (5.8)
  8. Hybrid Injection Moulding (Injection Overmoulding) for Structural Components (3.1.4.1)
  9. Prepregging with Textile Carbon Fibres (6.19)

Eligibility

To lead a project UK applicants must be one of the following, and involve the other as collaborator:

  • a UK business of any size
  • a UK research and technology organisation (RTO) or UK university

You must collaborate with a US project team. UK applicants must contact the Knowledge Transfer Network to be put in touch with a US project team.

The lead and at least one other organisation must claim funding. Collaborations must contain a minimum of one UK business of any size and one academic organisation or RTO. Beyond these rules there is no limit on additional collaborators.

For UK partners, subcontracting is allowed for up to 20% of the UK total project costs.

Each partner must carry out the majority of their funded work within the country from which they receive funding. That is the UK for UK Research and Innovation FIC funding and the USA for IACMI funding.

Funding Costs

For UK applicants we have allocated up to £1.7 million to fund innovation projects in this competition. This is matched by an equivalent US contribution from IACMI to fund the US project partners.

UK-led projects can have total eligible project costs of up to £1 million with a maximum grant of £300,000 to be shared between the UK applicants.

Projects must start by January 2020 and can last up to 18 months.

For industrial research projects, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 70% if you are a micro or small business
  • up to 60% if you are a medium-sized business
  • up to 50% if you are a large business

For experimental development projects which are nearer to market, you could get funding for your eligible project costs of:

  • up to 45% if you are a micro or small business
  • up to 35% if you are a medium-sized business
  • up to 25% if you are a large business

The research organisations in your consortium can share up to 50% of the total eligible project costs. If your consortium contains more than one research organisation, this maximum will be shared between them.

Exclusions

Innovate UK will not fund projects that:

  • have entirely non-civilian applications
  • do not include eligible partners from both the UK and the USA
  • seek to develop solutions that cannot be deployed in composites manufacturing