Manufacturing a better world Articles
Maintenance matters
Dr Maria Holgado from the IfM?s Centre for Industrial Sustainability (CIS) has been researching maintenance and particularly how it can make a vital contribution to a company?s long-term sustainability.
Disaster relief operations
Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and droughts: when a natural disaster strikes, relief organisations react by providing medical treatment, food, water and shelter. However, in these difficult and chaotic circumstances supply networks often prove to be insufficiently resilient.
Manufacturing a better world
IfM research is helping to contribute to global industrial sustainability - economic, environmental and societal - by addressing global "Grand Challenges".
Untangling the spaghetti: nanomanufacturing for clean water and green batteries
The IfM?s NanoManufacturing group is developing nanotechnologies to supply clean water for developing nations and build better batteries for renewable energy.
Diagnosing deadly diseases: combining biotechnology and manufacturing
Engineers and scientists from Fluids in Advanced Manufacturing and Cambridge Analytical Biotechnology groups have joined forces to develop an on-the-spot low-cost tool for the rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases.
Thought for food: improving food safety through resilient supply chains
Dr Mukesh Kumar leads research in supply chain resilience at the IfM. He describes how his work is helping to tackle one of this century's most important challenges: food safety.
Industrial sustainability: paradox or paradigm?
IfM's Centre for Industrial Sustainability is focused on increasing our understanding of how to transform industrial behaviour to develop more sustainable environments, economies and societies.
The Maker Movement vs COVID-19: How a DIY community responded to the pandemic
The availability of 3D printers, laser cutters and other digital fabrication tools has led to the rise of the Maker Movement, a growing community with a DIY approach to design and production. As the COVID-19 crisis hit the UK, these ‘makers’ sprang into action. Their response has revealed the potential for innovation among the general public — but also the limitations of an informal network and a lack of standardisation.
Connecting healthcare and manufacturing: The challenges of COVID-19
Tim Minshall, head of the IfM, looks at the many challenges of matching offers of support from the manufacturing community with the dynamic and uncertain needs of the healthcare system.
The power of repurposing: How smaller manufacturers helped the UK withstand COVID-19’s first wave
As COVID-19 battered Britain’s economy and threatened to overwhelm the NHS, many small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms regrouped, repurposed and provided the vital materials the country needed. How did they do it, and when a new crisis arises, could they do it again?
Changing how we talk — and think — about manufacturing
It’s time for a change in how we talk about manufacturing — and that means we must change how we think about it as well, writes Tim Minshall.
Manufacturing a more equitable world through informed policy-making
Jennifer Castañeda Navarrete, a Senior Policy Analyst for Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy tells us about her work and dedication to addressing the problem of women's underrepresentation in the industrial sector and industrial policy.
Driving change: in pursuit of cobalt-free batteries
Head of the IfM’s Nanomanufacturing Group, Professor Michael de Volder, sheds light on pioneering efforts to eliminate cobalt from electric vehicle batteries, offering a glimpse into a more sustainable era for electric mobility.
