As 2025 draws to a close, Royce has been profiled at several key events on the materials science calendar, as well as hosting insightful conferences for some our major projects.
In the outreach space, October saw the Royce team exhibit at New Scientist Live in London. Our team of volunteers talked with the visitors about the work of the Institute, the wonders of materials science, and how our work underpins everything in our daily lives!
In early November, Royce hosted writer and curator Inua Ellams to read his poem Sculpted Forms – a personal and powerful response to the Embedded Exhibition displayed at the Hub in the Autumn. The performance drew a very engaged audience and was followed by a Q&A session. Both activities have been a promising new avenue of engagement for Royce – a merger of art and science to convey the importance of Royce’s work and mission.
Industry Links
University of Sheffield Technology Platform Lead Dr Robert Deffley spoke at the Advanced Engineering Show, where he presented on the National Materials Innovation Strategy, as well as on Royce Advanced Metals Processing capability and progress in Digitalisation.
The Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS) were present at Sustainable Industry Live in Manchester, giving attendees insight into how they can use data-driven methodologies to help businesses reduce their environmental footprint and move towards a truly sustainable future.
Royce was pleased to host the Third Royce Hydrogen Conference at Cranfield University, celebrating success in translational solutions for materials challenges in hydrogen applications focussed on research funded through the Royce Industrial Collaboration Programme (ICP), the Royce Hydrogen Accelerator (RHA), as well as Royce capabilities.
Royce CEO Prof David Knowles also spoke at IOM3’s Materials, Minerals & Mining for People, Places, Planet (M3P3). He outlined key developments for the National Materials Innovation Strategy for the coming year, including the National Framework for Materials 4.0, Royce Metamaterials ICP and the National Materials Innovation Programme (NMIP).
Technical Community
NTPMI’s inaugural Growth UK Symposium took place, with valuable insights from RTPs across over 20 Institutions involved in Thin Film Growth and Deposition. The event saw expertise sessions, industry talks, countryside walks and thought-provoking discussions around career progression, as well as the launch of the Growth UK community platform.
Royce Technician Commitment Committee Co-Chair Robert Deffley and NTPMI Chair Polly Greensmith attended the Technician Commitment Signatory Event, where they collected a Signatory Impact award. Earlier this year, Royce achieved reaccreditation under the Technician Commitment scheme, signalling its continued commitment to technical staff development and research infrastructure quality.
Defence
In late November, the Defence Materials Centre of Excellence (DMEx) celebrated two years of operation with a 2-day technical symposium in Bristol. The agenda brought together many of the 250 researchers engaged across the programme, covering all five domains (Air, Land, Maritime, Space and Effectors), and presenting the breadth of technical work delivered so far. The important event was held against the backdrop of the Strategic Defence Review and the Defence Industrial Strategy.
Materials for Healthcare
The same week, Prof David Knowles led a cohort from Royce to attend the UK-India Bioprinting and Engineering Biology Summit (BioSculpt 2025), held at IISc Bengaluru under the UK-India Technology Security Initiative. This event coincided with the official signing of a Letter of Intent between Royce and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for a major new agreement to collaborate on cutting-edge research in 3D bioprinting, biofabrication and materials science.
Find out more about Events at Royce here.
