The
computational science expertise of STFC Daresbury Laboratory is to play
a key part in enabling global giant Unilever to research and develop
innovative new products for their customers.
The aggregation of surfactant molecules into micelles is an important process in product formulation
STFC
scientists will be using their world-class capabilities in modelling
and simulation to develop new software tools that will speed up the
development of new and more efficient products across Unilever’s
personal care range.
The research, with Unilever’s R&D
team at Port Sunlight will use the Laboratory’s supercomputers to try
to develop special software tools that can predict how the different
ingredients will interact with each other. It is hoped that this work
will make it possible for product modellers to run simulations in a
more timely fashion and increase their understanding of how different
ingredients can be mixed and processed efficiently. If successful, this
breakthrough will enable Unilever to improve products for consumers
using environmentally friendly manufacturing methods.
The
collaboration has been made possible by the Knowledge Centre for
Materials Chemistry (KCMC), a national centre of expertise that aims to
drive industrial growth for the UK chemistry-using industries through
the coordination, development and exploitation of leading edge
materials chemistry research.
Unilever spokesperson Dominic
Tildesley said: “Product formulation is at the heart of our business
and we are delighted to be working with one of the best computational
modelling centres in the world to innovate more quickly and efficiently
for our consumers.”
Dr Richard Blake, Director of
Computational Science and Engineering at STFC Daresbury Laboratory
added: “We are delighted to be working with Unilever. STFC Daresbury
Laboratory is well-known for its world-class computational science
expertise in modelling and simulation. The personal care products we
all use every day, such as shampoo and toothpaste, are actually very
high-tech and are made up of a number of complex, structured materials.
The chemical industry is one of the UK’s largest manufacturing sectors
and it is vital for companies like Unilever to invest in research and
development to be able to innovate and grow. We hope that the results
of this research will pave the way for further advances in materials
chemistry which will benefit consumers, the environment and the wider
economy.”
John Conti Ramsden, Director of the KCMC said: “This
project is a great illustration of the growing importance of modelling
and simulation to product and process innovation in formulated products
- and how the combination of modelling, with advances in
experimentation, will enable new possibilities for product design.”
Notes for editors
- The research work will start immediately and last for approximately one year.
- The
supercomputers that will be used for the work with Unilever include the
Laboratory’s IBM Blue Gene Systems, IBM Cell Blade, Sun and SGI systems.
- Unilever currently spends over €1bn a year on research and development across its food, personal and home care products.
- The
safety of current and future products is the highest priority for
Unilever and Daresbury Laboratory. There are European Union regulations
and laws in individual countries which outline what materials and
chemicals are approved for use in manufacturing. Unilever also apply
their own high corporate standards that require approval from their own
safety specialists before they place any product on the market. The
research work at Daresbury Laboratory will work within these
boundaries.
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Contacts
About Unilever Port Sunlight, UK
Unilever
R&D Port Sunlight is the major R&D centre for the company's
home and personal care brands. Over 700 scientists work to combine
understanding in areas such a material, physical, biological, and
process sciences with the best consumer insight to give innovative
products for the world’s supermarket shelves.
The global
brands our scientists contribute to include Dove, Sunsilk, Lynx / Axe,
Signal, Cif, Persil / Omo and Domestos. Each year this work results in
over 100 patent filings and approximately 140 peer-reviewed papers and
conference presentations. We achieve much of our success by working
across a network of Unilever R&D centres. Scientists at R&D
Port Sunlight work daily with Unilever colleagues around the world.
About the Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC)
The Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (link opens in a new window)
is a virtual centre of expertise providing multi-disciplinary research
and innovative knowledge transfer based on world class capabilities in
applied materials chemistry.
We provide a single point of
contact for companies of all sizes to access a substantial range of
facilities and expertise in applied materials chemistry at four leading
academic institutions at Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester Universities
and the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury.
We
offer proactive help in the formulation and delivery of collaborative
R&D projects; fast track project initiation with dedicated project
scientists in our partner institutions; excellent project management
and knowledge transfer expertise.
Initial funding of £8
million from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) is
matched by £7 million of academic commitment and resources by the
academic partner institutions. This investment will provide the
Northwest with an internationally renowned capability in materials
chemistry and is set to leverage further industry and international
grant income in excess of £15 million over the next five years.
About STFC
Page last updated: 10 December 2009
by Karen Coles
