Aarhus University has opened an interdisciplinary centre for materials research, iMAT. At the new centre, in close collaboration with industry, researchers will develop new materials within energy, construction, environmental technology and much more.
Humanity is facing huge challenges such as sustainable energy, climate change, water quality and food supply. The solutions to these challenges rely heavily on breakthroughs within materials research. The new Aarhus University Centre for Integrated Materials Research will integrate and bolster activities within materials science across the fields of chemistry, engineering, physics, nanoscience and geology.
“The cross-disciplinary approach to materials research offers completely new experimental opportunities for us, and this may pave the way to realising more theoretical modelling in practical manufacture,” says Professor Henrik Myhre Jensen.
Professor Myhre Jensen is responsible for the centre’s engineering science activities and is highly specialised in theoretical and numerical modelling of the mechanical and functional properties of materials.
“We can calculate the properties of new materials very accurately. We look at the geometry of the material structure and identify how it should look to perform a specific task,” says Henrik Myhre Jensen.
In this way, researchers can model the strength of materials, their deformation under load, and their response to fracture. This could be vital for the development of new composite materials and the practical application of knowledge in an industrial context.
“If we want to develop new materials, for example for the aerospace industry, it goes without saying that we need to be able to identify very precisely what happens if a wing breaks, and how long it takes from the first crack to final fracture,” he continues.
Engineering-science materials research covers geomaterials, biomaterials, metals, polymers, composites and ceramics.
Aarhus University has opened an interdisciplinary centre for materials research, iMAT. At the new centre, in close collaboration with industry, researchers will develop new materials within energy, construction, environmental technology and much more.
Humanity is facing huge challenges such as sustainable energy, climate change, water quality and food supply. The solutions to these challenges rely heavily on breakthroughs within materials research. The new Aarhus University Centre for Integrated Materials Research will integrate and bolster activities within materials science across the fields of chemistry, engineering, physics, nanoscience and geology.
“The cross-disciplinary approach to materials research offers completely new experimental opportunities for us, and this may pave the way to realising more theoretical modelling in practical manufacture,” says Professor Henrik Myhre Jensen.
Professor Myhre Jensen is responsible for the centre’s engineering science activities and is highly specialised in theoretical and numerical modelling of the mechanical and functional properties of materials.
“We can calculate the properties of new materials very accurately. We look at the geometry of the material structure and identify how it should look to perform a specific task,” says Henrik Myhre Jensen.
In this way, researchers can model the strength of materials, their deformation under load, and their response to fracture. This could be vital for the development of new composite materials and the practical application of knowledge in an industrial context.
“If we want to develop new materials, for example for the aerospace industry, it goes without saying that we need to be able to identify very precisely what happens if a wing breaks, and how long it takes from the first crack to final fracture,” he continues.
Engineering-science materials research covers geomaterials, biomaterials, metals, polymers, composites and ceramics.
FACTS
The Aarhus University Centre Centre for Integrated Materials Research, iMAT, is led by Professor Bo Brummerstedt Iversen, Department of Chemistry.
The multidisciplinary work at the centre involves the participation of the following departments and centres at Aarhus University:
