Wise words and waggishness… August 2026

“The relationship between an industrial company and a university isn’t a one-to-one. It’s usually groups of researchers or commercial people with groups of researchers and commercial people. I wonder whether we can connect them in a slightly different way, to help them share experience and learn and grow, rather than just starting off with ‘they’ve got to buy this R&D’.”

Marty Reid, director of innovation at the University of Bristol, talking about how the default relationship model for universities and industry – contract-led and transactional – misses the point.

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“A lot of our venture capital system was set up for software historically. A biotech company, a semiconductor company, need larger amounts of money early, which is a harder bet to place if you’re in venture capital. That funding at proof-of-concept or pre-growth stage is where we and peer institutions are seeing a real gap at the moment.”

Marty Reid, director of innovation at the University of Bristol, in our article, How to build a spinout culture.

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“NASA is exploring how AI can work alongside additive manufacturing to rapidly prototype structures that are optimised to handle the stresses of launch.”

Dale Wyllie, senior payload systems engineer, UK Space Agency in our briefing paper From lab to fab: how AI is closing the gap between materials discovery and manufacture.

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“Materials are very complex because there are so many options when you are mixing layers of carbon fibre, glass fibre and ceramics and you can have a wide variety of individual fibre length and width. There are millions of possible combination choices, you just don’t have time to test every one.”

Bassam El Said, senior lecturer in Digital Design and Manufacture of Composites at the Bristol Composites Institute, on AI and its role in speeding materials discovery.

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“The biggest challenge will be certification, we need a regulatory environment that moves at the pace of technology. Airbus is currently working with regulators to establish the first standards for implementing AI onboard. To make this vision a reality, regulators must upskill alongside industry to identify gaps and implement evidence-based solutions.”

Pooja Narayan, fast track lead for artificial intelligence at Airbus, in our briefing paper From lab to fab: how AI is closing the gap between materials discovery and manufacture.

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“We’re on the cusp of some exciting developments in discovering metamaterials that perform better and are more environmentally friendly. The government is supportive and so we are expecting Innovate UK to get behind some interesting initiatives…”

Professor David Knowles, CEO, Henry Royce Institute, talking about how AI is advancing the field, and helping researchers and start-ups translating basic materials chemistry knowledge into manufacturing materials and applications.

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“Thermal management in semiconductors is calling loudest. As chips get more powerful and more densely packed, heat dissipation becomes the limiting factor.”

Lawrence Lundy-Bryan, partner, Cloudberry VC, talking about opportunities in materials development for semiconductor industry and the growing role of AI in making things possible.

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“A poster child always helps but it’ll come down to the fundamental performance vs cost equation. VCs will be attracted where there is a compelling value proposition, solving urgent problems in a large, growing market – and where innovators can get to scale in as capital-light a way as possible.”

Stephen Price, investment partner, Clean Growth Fund, on investment concerns in advanced materials start-up market, in our briefing paper From lab to fab: how AI is closing the gap between materials discovery and manufacture.

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“The area where I see people making the biggest inroads is the efficiency of the power unit that compound semiconductors can enable. This is where silicon can be improved on for efficiency and cooling. Rather than using water and fans to take away all that heat.”

Professor Martin Kuball, head of the Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability at the University of Bristol and chair in Emerging Technologies, Royal Academy of Engineering, on what is most likely to be AI’s main early success in developing new materials.

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“Nanometre precision is incredibly difficult, and the yield challenges are where AI can help most.”

Emre Ozer, senior director of processor development, Pragmatic Semiconductor, on where AI can make a big impact, in our briefing paper From lab to fab: how AI is closing the gap between materials discovery and manufacture.