The Materials Processing Institute has received a £4.2m investment as part of a groundbreaking programme, new CEO Terry Walsh has announced.

The Teesside-based Institute is a key member of the Foundation Industries Sustainability Consortium tasked with delivering the UK Research and Innovation funded EconoMISER initiative to scale-up sustainable technologies.

Mr Walsh, who took over as Institute CEO this week, said: “This support will fund investment in cutting-edge equipment and facilities enhancing research capabilities in areas which include alloy development, hot metal processing, furnace modelling techniques, concrete and cement decarbonisation, and the testing of energy sources for refractories.”

The Institute will create a new and fully equipped Cement and Concrete Research Centre, as well as investing in predictive artificial intelligence technologies to support alloy development, new instrumentation to validate furnace modelling together with refractories testing equipment.

Phase 2 of EconoMISER represents a substantial commitment to decarbonising foundation industries such as metals, ceramics, glass, chemicals, paper and cement.

FISC includes other prominent research and technology centres including the Henry Royce Institute, Glass Futures, Centre for Process Innovation and Lucideon.

Mr Walsh added: “I’m thrilled to join the Materials Processing Institute at such a pivotal moment.

“This investment is a testament to our commitment to driving innovation and positions the Institute at the forefront of scaling-up technologies that will accelerate industrial decarbonisation.

Most recently, he was Managing Director at Ferro Duo GmbH, a German chemical manufacturing business, and previously held prominent roles at Venator Materials, INEOS, and ICI.