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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/T21257/01
Title: EngineeringArt: a network dedicated to exploring the art and science of materials
Principal Investigator: Miodownik, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
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Department: Mechanical Engineering
Organisation: Kings College London
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 17 November 2004 Ends: 16 November 2006 Value (£): 41,530
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Design Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Manufacturing
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Summary on Grant Application Form
The twentieth century witnessed a materials revolution in which new materials such as glass, new alloys, plastics and composites played a central role in transforming architecture, product design, urban design, fashion, transport technology, communication technology, medicine and the visual and performing arts. However there was also an increased specialisation of materials practitioners, to the point where now the scientists, technologists and industrialists (the science community) involved in the development of new materials, move in both academic and social circles widely separated from designers, architects, media, crafts people and artists (the arts community). This may not be desirable for a number of reasons.Firstly, the cultural users of materials are not playing their full role in determining the focus of publicly funded materials research (at the moment it is the military and industrial sectors that collaborate most closely with science departments).Secondly, the cultural sector has a long history of posing interesting problems which benefit the arts and push science forward, for example the development of new organic dyes and pigments in the nineteenth century. A contemporary example could be the need in the digital media community for materials that transform their properties in response to digital stimuli so that virtual touch and haptic feedback can become a (virtual) reality. Such new materials could also have impact on architecture, jewelry, product design, the special effects industry as well as art.Thirdly, materials have an immense cultural significance and the introduction of new materials by an isolated science community holds the prospect of a further deepening of the rift between scientists and society. e.g nanomaterials.
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