An innovative new technology to make bioplastics and other sustainable plant-based materials and a method to industrialise photosynthesis to expand the world’s food supply were the winning ideas at the Open Innovation (OI) Forum’s annual Food, Drink and FMCG pitching competition.

This term, the University has embarked on the weekly COVID-19 testing of all Cambridge students living in college accommodation. A group of IfM staff, students and alumni are handling the job.

On 21 September, the IfM-led project group Automated Licensing Payment Systems hosted a workshop with leading intellectual property (IP) experts and scholars to discuss use cases and challenges of the Bill-of-IP (BoIP) – a new concept for digital IP management.

The initial case study will explore an integrated approach to innovation for the identification, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression in young people.

The institute will contribute to the University of Cambridge’s role in the Productivity Institute, the largest economic and social research investment ever in the UK.

We are proud to announce that the IfM has received a President’s Special Award for Pandemic Service for our work in combating the coronavirus.

The team has been developing digital fabrication capabilities to support the production of face masks and face shields needed to address the COVID-19 outbreak.

The event focused on how to apply socio-economic systems thinking to address the systematic geopolitical challenges related to safely repatriating Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.

We are proud to announce that the IfM has been awarded a Green Impact Platinum Award from the University’s environmental accreditation scheme.

The new device, which is being developed in collaboration with Cambridge Design Partnership, improves upon and addresses concerns about previous ‘ventilator splitter’ designs, allowing one ventilator to be used by two patients more safely.

The new unit will help to drive a step change in universities’ contributions to delivering increased R&D and innovation in the UK.

Innovate UK has commissioned the Policy Links Unit to conduct a study to better understand challenges and opportunities for international research and innovation (R&I) collaboration in the advanced manufacturing and materials sector.

Dr Michael De Volder, who leads the IfM's Nanomanufacturing group, has been awarded funding of two million euros from the European Research Council to manufacture Li-Ion batteries with enhanced energy and power density for use in electric vehicles.

Abjjad, an Arabic social network for readers, authors, and bloggers in the Middle East, completed an intensive business diagnostic workshop with the IfM to analyse their priorities and strategies and be mentored to automate their core operations.

This research seeks to explore and evaluate the contributions digital platform organisations offer evolving food supply chains during extreme disruption with relevance given to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jack Levy, Fathima Nisha Begum Samad and David Cordova, MPhil students in Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management, received a Vice- Chancellor’s Social Impact Award for their efforts in supporting Addenbrooke’s Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using the IfM’s IP Strategy Roadmapping tool, Pratheeba Vimalnath and Graham Bell helped the winning organisations to think through their approach to their burgeoning intellectual property.

Two Wolfson College students from the Institute for Manufacturing are working with experts at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Baker Lab to help streamline testing for COVID-19.

A new project including IfM researchers Lucia Corsini and Dr James Moultrie will develop digital fabrication capabilities in Malawi to support the production of urgently needed face masks and face shields.

WE Lead Food, a programme for women driving change and sustainability in the food sector, is looking for participants for the 2020 programme, beginning in October in Cambridge.

The Academy of Medical Sciences Springboard grant is awarded to early career researchers to help launch their research careers, providing up to £100,000 over two years.

IfM researchers are working to help the hospital model patient flow, examine the hospital's oxygen supply, and better understand staffing challenges.

IfM spin-out Redbite Solutions have provided their object-tracking technology, itemit, to co-ordinate donations of PPE equipment in fight against COVID-19. The technology is ensuring that only NHS-approved items are forwarded on to the NHS. 

After its scheduled meeting was curtailed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the forum brought together over 50 participants from 20 member companies using virtual collaborative tools.

If you are an engineering or manufacturing company, read the ways you can get involved with tackling the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dr Jag Srai attended a meeting at Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, looking at state-level policy interventions to encourage the development of agri-tech and digital platform technologies for agri-business in Punjab.

IfM ECS recently hosted the ‘Advancing Communities towards low-Carbon Energy Smart Systems’, or ACCESS, project partners in Cambridge to discuss the latest developments of the pilot studies taking place in communities across Europe.

Industry trailblazers Andrea Thompson (BAE Systems), Andrea Hough (ATEC Engineering Solutions) and Donna Edwards (Made Smarter) say manufacturing SMEs can inspire a generation and close the gender gap.

Dr Diana Khripko recently spoke at E-World Energy and Water in Essen on digital transformation in the energy industry, highlighting IfM tools and approaches which can support organisation at different steps of the digital journey.

A recent pilot study, led by Dr Yuta Hirose in Japan as part of the IfM's STIM Consortium, saw a new application of roadmapping to support technology venture concept design and strategy visualisation. 

IfM researchers are leading a pioneering project to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in the food sector. A series of 'MAKEathon' events is drawing on the hackathon model to address food industry challenges.

A recent meeting of the Open Innovation Forum brought together companies from across the food sector to consider the potential impact of AI and Big Data. Watch the highlights in this short video.

DASHLog project started on June 2017 and ended recently on December 2019, and it was funded by YH Global Supply Chain Co., Ltd. DASHLog focused on improving warehousing and logistics operations, being the main objective to develop a system capable of detecting and understanding the operating environments and to switch on the most suitable mode to work with under the identified situation.