The Natural Materials Association will be holding its second event in London on Wednesday 20 April following the hugely successful first event held in Glasgow last year. This will be a joint event held in conjunction with the Wood Technology Society another IoM3 group with shared interests in the subject area.
Sponsored by a number of companies, including BBIA member WoolCool, this full day event will be held at London Metropolitan University, Old Castle Street in London in the heart of the city. It will feature speakers from companies involved in the design and manufacture of products made using natural materials. Registration and refreshments will commence at 09:30 with the event starting at 10:00. It is expected the event will continue until 16:30.
Alongside the seminar, companies and organisations will be showing a variety of products each made using sustainable materials in the exhibition area. If you or your company are interested in exhibiting then please contact us.
A pdf featuring more information can be downloaded here.
Those interested in attending can reigster for free at the event’s EventBrite page.
Speakers at the event will include:
Carmen Hijosa, Ananas Anam Ltd. Carmen has developed a new material that is made from natural fibre extracted from the waste leaves of the pineapple plant. The new material called PiñatexTM can be used as an alternative to leather and is attractive to the fashion, furniture, interiors and car industries because it is not petro-based. It is natural, sustainable and undemanding of the environment.
Chris Holland, Head of Natural Materials Group. Chris is based in The University of Sheffield in the Materials Science and Engineering Department and is head of the Natural Materials Group where he currently holds an EPSRC Early Career Fellowship. His research uses tools developed for the physical sciences to better understand Nature’s materials, from plantsaptosnailslime,butwithafocusonsilk.
Dharsahal Shah, Natural Composites Cambridge University. Darshil is a composites engineer who specialises in natural materials science and technology. Within the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge University, Darshil is working on developing engineered wood and bamboo composites, as low-embodied energy replacement materials to steel and reinforced concrete, for the construction of skyscrapers.
Alex Haw, Atmos. Alex is an architect and artist. He is founder and director of the award-winning art/architecture practice Atmos – dedicated to rethinking and improving our spatial world across the scales, from furniture to urban design.
Craig White, Founding Director White Design. Craig is a founding Director of White Design Architects, ModCell and Coobio Circular Materials with over 25 years’ experience in architectural practice in the UK and Europe and has been involved in low energy, low carbon and sustainable design since the 1980s.
Gordon Aitken, Builder and Architect. Gordon is a Self-Builder / Architectural Technician with 25 years experience, providing sustainable architectural design & detailing.
George Fereday, Senior Lecturer, Materials fabrication and manufacture, London Metropolitan University. George studied Design Products at the Royal College of Art before working at Foster+Partners architects as a Materials Researcher. During this time he worked closely with clients and industrial partners to research and develop novel materials and manufacturing processes for use on projects including the Apple Campus, Apple Stores and Bloomberg Headquarters.
John Alexander, Director of Sales Accsys, Head of Product Development. John will be speaking on ‘Accoya, science behind the material’