It is worth noting that Robert and the team have not only built an organisation that combines the networks of the existing Faraday Partnerships in the Materials area, but also added a design “node” and added a number of new members – they are now at over 4000. Much of the day was taken up with ensuing that the members of the different nodes – as the specific interest groups that have evolved from the Faradays are called – know as much as possible about one another’s activities. The first few lectures were different – and really eye opening!!
First on was Sebastian Conran talking about design and how materials selection is a critical part of any design. I have seen Sebastian give earlier versions of the talk and it still impressed me. He uses examples from different markets to illustrate the various factors that WE use to unconsciously select products. His “design equation” is, for me, a remarkable and important insight into how the design and materials communities can work together.
Next on was Mike Ashby. Mike has been explaining how materials selection is rationalised for many years now and his impact has been enormous. I have already written about Granta Design, the company he helped found, and this time he focused on the Eco-Selector function of the software. This enables a quantitative analysis of the energy and carbon content of a material so that selection can be made on environmental load as well as performance grounds.
The Materials KTN shares Materials UK’s commitment to the sustainable use of materials and the integration of design so it was good to see these two talks get the prominence they deserve. It was really nice to see Sebastian and Mike, who had never met before, swapping cards immediately afterwards and looking to learn more of their respective ideas and activities. Now that’s what I call knowledge transfer!!!
David