The UK Trade and Investment minister visited the IfM to meet and greet some of the companies which have taken part in his department’s Take it to the World scheme.

Lord Davies of Abersoch, Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Business, was in Cambridge to reward some of the Eastern region’s export heroes.

The UK Trade and Investment minister visited the IfM to meet and greet some of the companies which have taken part in his department’s Take it to the World scheme. He was met by Professor Mike Gregory, the head of the IfM, who was able to give the minister a tour of the institute as well as an overview of our role in the creation of new ideas and approaches to modern industrial practice.

During his visit he saw the Distributed Information and Automation Laboratory (DIAL) and discovered how hi-tech information systems and automated identification technologies, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID), can be combined with advanced production and asset management systems to create and deploy smart products.

He then toured the IfM's Centre for Industrial Photonics, headed by Dr Bill O’Neill. The centre looks at applications for industrial laser technologies in manufacturing enterprises. He saw how a new high-powered scanning electron microscope is being used to develop radically new micro and nano manufacturing capabilities.

He also took time to meet with PhD student Dai Morgan who is investigating industrial sustainability. Dai described how the IfM was facilitating an international effort to create a greener, more sustainable industrial system by working with companies to share best practice.

Finally he met with representatives of 8 local companies, including Cambridge Temperature Concepts, Cambridge Consultants, Ardex, Audio Visual, David Horn Communications, Optical Metrology Services, PPI Engineering and the Cambridge Satchel Company.