Popular technical workshop on carbon fibre – great interest in collaboration

ESS was represented by Nikolaos Tsapatsaris, who talked about applications of high-strength, lightweight materials on choppers used to interrupt neutron beams. Nikolaos is looking for Swedish partners for long-term collaboration on developing the next generation of neutron choppers, which are very complex in terms of materials. There is great demand for this type of niche product, and several facilities are waiting in line if a functional solution with a long life can be developed.

Fredrik Engelmark, Business Developer at Big Science Sweden and ILO for CERN, was moderator at the workshop.

“Carbon fibre-based materials is an exciting technological field,” he explains. “What is fascinating is the immense exposure and loading that materials must tolerate. The technical requirements are extremely high. It’s not surprising there was so much interest in this workshop, both from research facilities that want to get in contact with skilled Swedish companies, and from the companies that want up-to-date information about research facilities’ needs.” 

Good meeting places for making contacts

One of the participants, Jenny Ståhlbom, Sales & Marketing Manager at Finepart Sweden AB, wanted to learn about the upcoming needs of the facilities, and feels that technical workshops are good meeting places for making contacts.

“The entire area of advanced high-tech where ESS and CERN are positioned is extremely interesting,” she says. “Their procurements can be big and cover many areas of technology, so there are few Swedish companies that, working alone, can meet all the requirements. I think that building networks and collaborating with other companies is a good way forward, so meeting places are important. At a workshop like this we can make contacts, both with other companies and with the research facilities.”

Documentation

For presentations and videos: www.bigsciencesweden.se/calendar/presentations