Abstract
The third UK–China Particle Technology Forum was held at the University of Birmingham on 3–6 July. The forum is a non-profit event series run every two years in rotation between UK and China. The series was initiated in 2006 to facilitate and foster collaborations between the UK and China communities in particle science and technology. Addressing challenges in the manufacturing, handling and processing of particulate materials, the forum aims to enhance communications between academic institutions and industrial companies of the two countries; and to establish a platform to foster new and substantial collaborations to identify and address common challenges in particle technology. The first two Forums were held in Leeds, UK in 2007 and in Guiyang, China in 2009, respectively.
The third forum received more than 150 abstracts and attracted more than 130 participants to a programme of five plenary lectures, 11 keynote lectures, 84 cutting edge oral presentations and a number of poster presentations. Two special sessions were included in the programme. The first comprised presentations on Emerging Particle Technology, covering modelling and characterisation techniques and the application of particle technology in emerging fields; the second reviewed Collaborative Funding Opportunities from numerous sources including EU programmes. The forum also placed great emphases on networking, facilitated by social events and the ability to mix widely during breaks. The meeting was made possible by financial support received from EPSRC, Royal Academy of Engineering, Birmingham Science City, Proctor and Gamble, AstraZeneca, Unilever and Freeman Technology.
Coverage was broad, ranging from powder handling and characterisation, to particulate engineering (e.g. functionalisation for band gap engineering or drug delivery), modelling, compaction, synthesis and fluidisation. The disciplines represented spanned combustion and chemical engineering, and pharmaceuticals in addition to ceramic and metal powder specialists. Plenary and keynote addresses included:
David Parker, University of Birmingham, on positron emission particle tracking
Jonathan Seville, University of Warwick, ‘What's most interesting in particle technology?
Kevin Roberts, University of Leeds, ‘From crystal engineering to engineering crystallography: towards the design of high value particles’
Yanlin Song, CAS Institute of Chemistry,on fabrication and application of nanoparticles
Kevin Kendall, University of Birmingham, on Nanosight measurement of virus numbers and aggregates
Aibing Yu, University of New South Wales, on coupled problems in the simulation and modelling of particulate systems.
Delegates at Freeman Technology's stand
Jonathan Seville reviewed what's new and interesting in powder technology
Kevin Kendall presenting his keynote on the Nanosight instrument
