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Kent Technology Day
International news
Oxford Materials wins distributorship CAD/ChemTM in the UK
rights for
The CAD/ChemTM Custom Formulation System developed by Al Ware Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, was first introduced into the US Market at the end of 1991. It now boasts an impressive US customer list, that includes The Glidden Paint Co., NASA Lewis Research Center, SC Johnson Wax, The Lord Corporation and Goodyear Tyre $ Rubber Co., among others. Applications cover topics such as adhesives, biotechnolo~, composites, rubber, chemicals, food, glass, paints and coatings, paper, pharmaceuticals, process monitoring and optimization. What is the secret of its success? Based on neural net technology, CAD/Chem is a unique formulation modelling and optimization software tool that recognizes the cause-and-effect
relationships inherent in large amounts of often complex data. Through ‘training’ from user-supplied data, CAD/ Chem learns how to best formulate your products from the experience you show it. Then it can be consulted to allow ‘what if exploration of novel formulations. Even more powerfully, its automatic optimization means that CAD/ Chem can predict the best formulation to meet end-user s~i~cations such as function and cost, that includes ‘desirability’ weightings. CADiChem does not require the user to be a statistical expert. Driven through an intuitive Graphical User Interface, its advantages over traditional statistics include its ability to cope with incomplete or inconsistent data; multivariate opt~~ation; automated non-linear
Kent Technology Day
testing and metallurgy. Further events are planned, both locally and based at other DRA sites, as part of an extensive publicity and marketing campaign aimed at encouraging UK industry to benefit from working with the Structural Materials Centre as well as other parts of the DRA. The Structural Materials Centre (SMC) is the first of the DRA’s DualUse Technology Centres. Based upon world-class materials research and technical services, the aims of the SMC include:
Representatives of some 50 small and media-sled Kent companies attended a Technology Day hosted by the Defence Research Agency (DRA) at their Fort Halstead site on Thursday 3 November 1994. Organized together with the Kent Technology Transfer Centre (KTTC), the day focused on the DRA’s newly formed Structural Materials Centre and provided the local indust~alists with the opport~ity to discover at first-hand how they can access its unique technology base. In addition to presentations by senior DRA staff, the programme included speakers from the DTI’s Innovation Unit, the Kent European Information Centre and KTTC, who provided information on a range of schemes aimed at supporting research and technology initiatives by small and medium-sized enterprises. A series of practical demonstrations of the SMC’s capabilities at Fort Halstead was also held. These included non-destructive evaluation, polymer composite fabrication, analysis and failure investigations, mechanical 026%3069/95/010055-04
5 Elsevier
Science
l
l
l
l
Ltd
To achieve greater leverage from defence research and to contribute to wealth creation To maintain for its customers a leading-edge awareness of relevant technologies world~de To provide a critical mass, crossfertilization and combinations of expertise that individual companies cannot maintain internally To produce a flow of technical staff to and from industry and academia that provides cost-effective knowledge, skills and technology transfer Materials
& Design
modelling; and 3-D graphics that help you visualize these relationships. New formulation design can be an expensive process. Implementing CAD/ Chem to formulate and optimize products can effect a faster response to market needs, thereby reducing costs and gaining a vital competitive advantage. CADiChem is now available in the UK through Oxford Materials Ltd (a company dedicated to facilitating the technology transfer of computational materials modelling into industry) and is ported on UNIX workstations from Sun, HP, IBM or DEC. CADfChem is now also available on IBM-PCs running Microsoft WindowsTM. For FREE demonstration diskettes of CAD/Chem and further information, contact Sophia Zurek at Oxford Materials Ltd, Chestnut Farm, Tarvin Road, Frodsham, Cheshire WA6 6XN. Tel: 01928 735679. Fax: 01928 73532.
Current areas of work include ferrous and non-ferrous metals, composites, bonding and adhesive technology, corrosion, chemical and microstructural analysis, polymers, paints, stealth technologies, smart materials, materials characterization, failure analysis, nondestructive analysis, surface engineering and the use of materials in the marine environment. With the formation of the SMC in April 1994, 400 DRA mate~als staff have come together into a single unit, making the SMC one of the biggest materials research and technology groups in Europe. Strong links with industry and academica bring additional, complementary expertise to the advice and service offered to its customers. A long tradition of commercial impartiality and history of technology transfer guarantees industry a first-class service including independent advice, information on new materials and processes, short-term secondment of experts, technical services, contract research and access to the extensive SMC facilities. Volume
16 Number
1 1995
55
Oxford Materials wins distributorship CAD/ChemTM in the UK
rights for
The CAD/ChemTM Custom Formulation System developed by Al Ware Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, was first introduced into the US Market at the end of 1991. It now boasts an impressive US customer list, that includes The Glidden Paint Co., NASA Lewis Research Center, SC Johnson Wax, The Lord Corporation and Goodyear Tyre $ Rubber Co., among others. Applications cover topics such as adhesives, biotechnolo~, composites, rubber, chemicals, food, glass, paints and coatings, paper, pharmaceuticals, process monitoring and optimization. What is the secret of its success? Based on neural net technology, CAD/Chem is a unique formulation modelling and optimization software tool that recognizes the cause-and-effect
relationships inherent in large amounts of often complex data. Through ‘training’ from user-supplied data, CAD/ Chem learns how to best formulate your products from the experience you show it. Then it can be consulted to allow ‘what if exploration of novel formulations. Even more powerfully, its automatic optimization means that CAD/ Chem can predict the best formulation to meet end-user s~i~cations such as function and cost, that includes ‘desirability’ weightings. CADiChem does not require the user to be a statistical expert. Driven through an intuitive Graphical User Interface, its advantages over traditional statistics include its ability to cope with incomplete or inconsistent data; multivariate opt~~ation; automated non-linear
Kent Technology Day
testing and metallurgy. Further events are planned, both locally and based at other DRA sites, as part of an extensive publicity and marketing campaign aimed at encouraging UK industry to benefit from working with the Structural Materials Centre as well as other parts of the DRA. The Structural Materials Centre (SMC) is the first of the DRA’s DualUse Technology Centres. Based upon world-class materials research and technical services, the aims of the SMC include:
Representatives of some 50 small and media-sled Kent companies attended a Technology Day hosted by the Defence Research Agency (DRA) at their Fort Halstead site on Thursday 3 November 1994. Organized together with the Kent Technology Transfer Centre (KTTC), the day focused on the DRA’s newly formed Structural Materials Centre and provided the local indust~alists with the opport~ity to discover at first-hand how they can access its unique technology base. In addition to presentations by senior DRA staff, the programme included speakers from the DTI’s Innovation Unit, the Kent European Information Centre and KTTC, who provided information on a range of schemes aimed at supporting research and technology initiatives by small and medium-sized enterprises. A series of practical demonstrations of the SMC’s capabilities at Fort Halstead was also held. These included non-destructive evaluation, polymer composite fabrication, analysis and failure investigations, mechanical 026%3069/95/010055-04
5 Elsevier
Science
l
l
l
l
Ltd
To achieve greater leverage from defence research and to contribute to wealth creation To maintain for its customers a leading-edge awareness of relevant technologies world~de To provide a critical mass, crossfertilization and combinations of expertise that individual companies cannot maintain internally To produce a flow of technical staff to and from industry and academia that provides cost-effective knowledge, skills and technology transfer Materials
& Design
modelling; and 3-D graphics that help you visualize these relationships. New formulation design can be an expensive process. Implementing CAD/ Chem to formulate and optimize products can effect a faster response to market needs, thereby reducing costs and gaining a vital competitive advantage. CADiChem is now available in the UK through Oxford Materials Ltd (a company dedicated to facilitating the technology transfer of computational materials modelling into industry) and is ported on UNIX workstations from Sun, HP, IBM or DEC. CADfChem is now also available on IBM-PCs running Microsoft WindowsTM. For FREE demonstration diskettes of CAD/Chem and further information, contact Sophia Zurek at Oxford Materials Ltd, Chestnut Farm, Tarvin Road, Frodsham, Cheshire WA6 6XN. Tel: 01928 735679. Fax: 01928 73532.
Current areas of work include ferrous and non-ferrous metals, composites, bonding and adhesive technology, corrosion, chemical and microstructural analysis, polymers, paints, stealth technologies, smart materials, materials characterization, failure analysis, nondestructive analysis, surface engineering and the use of materials in the marine environment. With the formation of the SMC in April 1994, 400 DRA mate~als staff have come together into a single unit, making the SMC one of the biggest materials research and technology groups in Europe. Strong links with industry and academica bring additional, complementary expertise to the advice and service offered to its customers. A long tradition of commercial impartiality and history of technology transfer guarantees industry a first-class service including independent advice, information on new materials and processes, short-term secondment of experts, technical services, contract research and access to the extensive SMC facilities. Volume
16 Number
1 1995
55