The UK Metamaterials Commercialisation Roadmap, developed by the Metamaterials Strategy Action Group, outlines key actions to accelerate innovation and industrial adoption over the next decade. The University of Birmingham co-leads the UK Metamaterials Network, an initiative funded by the EPSRC, which connects over 1,300 members from academia, industry, research organisations, and government.
Professor Rachel O'Reilly MBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Birmingham, stated that the roadmap is an important milestone for the UK's metamaterials community. She highlighted the need for coordinated investment in skills, manufacturing, and commercialisation to fully realise the benefits of metamaterials, building on the UK's world-leading research impact. She added, "By connecting the University of Birmingham's scientific excellence with industrial ambition, the roadmap provides a pathway to create new technologies, strengthen national capability and unlock economic opportunities across a wide range of sectors."
Metamaterials are engineered structures offering properties beyond conventional materials, enabling capabilities in controlling light, sound, energy efficiency, and sensing. Potential applications span sectors including augmented reality, biosensing, wireless power transfer, solar energy, and waste heat recovery, supporting industries like energy, sustainability, aerospace, defence, healthcare, and information technologies.
Dr Claire Dancer, a co-lead of the UK Metamaterials Network from the University of Birmingham, emphasised that the roadmap positions the UK at the forefront of this transformative technology, aiming for global leadership in commercialising metamaterials research. She noted that realising this ambition depends on coordinated community action.
The roadmap warns that maintaining the UK's research advantage requires a coordinated national approach, with risks of losing ground internationally without investment in manufacturing capability and commercial scale-up. The shared national mission is to accelerate commercialisation and industrial adoption while sustaining the research base.
The Metamaterials Strategy Action Group, co-sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and the Ministry of Defence, includes representatives from Dstl, EPSRC, Innovate UK, Innovate UK Business Connect, the Institute of Physics, the UK Metamaterials Network, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and the National Physical Laboratory.
