The latest scientific and technological advances in material science unveiled at The Future of Materials Summit.
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – The inaugural Future of Materials Summit has begun at the European Convention Centre in Luxembourg. The Summit brings together global policy and business leaders to show how new materials becoming available now will shape the future.
On Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th November, The Future of Materials Summit showed how new materials will shape the fourth industrial revolution and the way people work, travel and live their lives. From programmable matter to smart polymers and nanotubes, the application of new materials could unlock new avenues for traditional industries to take off.
Materials play a defining role in our society and always have. We have new and exciting products on the market now which put humanity on the brink of a new golden age of materials.
The Summit gathered major players from across the aerospace, energy, construction, automotive, healthcare, and consumer goods sectors to gaze into the future and explore the most recent advances in material science. Speakers include Hyperloop Transportation Technologies CEO Dirk Ahlborn, Formula One designer and engineer Mike Gascoyne and The Economist Science Editor Geoffrey Carr to name a few.
On the first day, speakers explored how we face huge environmental challenges and how we must re-invent and re-imagine life as we know it in order to find solutions. The three main sessions focused on: materials that have changed the world, clean materials, and best practices for new materials’ development.
Over the last 50 years, no new basic materials have been discovered or invented by humans, while the natural reserves of many important materials are rapidly being exhausted. We have reached certain limits in the usage of traditional materials and the solution could rest not on the discovery of “wonder materials” but on the creation of so-called “nanoaugmented materials” (NAM).
NAM are achieved by adding universal nanoadditives into industrial materials during their production process and are critical for improving European industry competitiveness and product innovation. NAM and its production technologies are not a picture from a distant future, but already a part of our real life: according to the EU Commission R&D Department, they already account for an estimate of 70% of all new product innovation.
Tomorrow´s winning companies will emerge from disruptive ideas that are focused on improving lives and solving societal problems. What do the next 60 years hold for materials science? What should companies, policymakers, manufacturers and environmentalists be thinking about today in order to prepare for the materials of tomorrow? Will new materials play a role in turning fantasy into reality?
The Future of Materials Summit took place in Luxembourg, which is rapidly becoming the premier European hub in the development of new materials. Hosting The Future of Materials Summit is one more step further in encouraging eco-friendly technological innovations.
