Last week, students from the Bristol Centre for Functional Nanomaterials got to experience the challenges of industrial problem-solving and design with scientists and engineers from Oxford Instruments plc. Staff from Oxford Instruments, manufacturer of a range of advanced nano-fabrication and analytical tools and the company behind the superconducting magnets at the Large Hadron Collider, led students through real-world design challenges affecting their day-to-day performance of their front-line products. Students had the chance to pitch their ideas for instrumentation designs that might shape their next three years of study, and the potential for successful ideas to be incorporated into Oxford Instruments' product family in the future.

The Oxford Instruments team also took the opportunity to explore potential for future collaboration with members of the BCFN academic network. These included a visit to the recently installed NanoESCA X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy facility, the only one of its kind in the UK, providing unequalled capabilities for materials analysis. The projects fall under the wider strategic partnership between the School of Physics’ three Centres for Doctoral Training and Oxford Instruments plc. announced in August 2015.

The BCFN's Industrial Training Modules offer a unique opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience of the development challenges facing staff at the UK and Europe's leading scientific companies. Simultaneously, industrial partners are able to interact with both motivated, engaged students and leading academics working at the cutting edge of Functional Nanomaterials research. Student recruitment for the 2017 intake is currently underway (click here for details); if your company would be interested in developing a relationship with the BCFN, please contact Dr Duncan Casey, BCFN Industry Fellow.