Dr. Unthank and Professor Perry have many research collaborations with Industrial Partners from across the UK and Europe.
The team at Northumbria have recently completed a two-year research project with Lear Corporation in the development of new and improved of polyurethane foams for automotive seating.
The end user for Lear seating technology include the Nissan European automotive manufacturing plant at Sunderland and well as Jaguar Land Rover. This project developed both new insight and test methods for existing PU foam technologies as well as new polymer formulations for controlling and enhancing comfort in automotive seating.
The team at Northumbria have co-created, with inks company Multichem, a new type of permanent ink, which passes strict environmental and child safety regulations.
This has resulted increased order for Multichem, which now produces 20% more ink each month than it did before this collaborative research project. This is an excellent example of Academic-Industrial collaboration to develop new commercial technologies.
The team at Northumbria have developed kilo scale acrylic latex synthesis capabilities in response to a project requirement to create designer aqueous latex emulsion capable of supporting micro-organisms.
This project has resulted a number of new collaborative grants and research collaborations in the field of sustainable coatings.
Northumbria have recently extended teaching and learning in this field to support regional industry through the creation of an Applied Polymer Chemistry – Continued Professional Development Course.
The course was first rolled out in 2019-2020 and has already demonstrated popularity with North East businesses, resulting in good uptake and feedback.
