Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme

15
1.3
Feasibility study for an Estonian Materials Technology Programme
1. Introduction
What is Materials Technology
Materials technology is by nature an enabling and interdisciplinary field of technology. It provides significant
added value to different fields of industry enabling renewal and increased productivity of existing industrial
fields as well as development of new business areas based on high added value products and services. Materials
technology is also strongly interlinked with the development of the other strategic key technologies, information
and communications technology and biotechnology, also named in the Estonian innovation strategy.
Metal
Machinery
Materials technology is an interdisciplinary cross-industry cutting enabling field
ICT
Electronics
Construction
Wood
Bio, medical,
Well-being
Emerging Technologies
Materials technology, Information and Communications technology, Biotechnology
New Applications and Commercialization
Effective utilization of emerging technologies, business development
Benefits to society and environment
Chemicals
Energy
Environment, Health and Safety
Safe and sustainable development, Responsible implementation of new technologies
The field of materials science and technology has become extremely large and diverse during the last few
decades. The new concepts gaining ground require novel interdisciplinary approaches which combine knowledge
from many different fields of science and develop new methods in order to understand and create new
business opportunities.
Due to its interdisciplinary nature, it is difficult to define materials science and technology precisely. Key factors
in the definition are the micro- and nanostructure of the material. Other important elements include the composition
of the material, its fabrication and processing, as well as its properties and performance. These factors
are closely interlinked and changing one of them always affects some of the others. The purpose of materials
science is to understand and control these factors and interactions between them and ultimately apply this
knowledge.
The focus of traditional materials science has long been different construction materials, e.g. metals, coatings,
ceramics, plastics and composite structures. During the last few decades a vast number of new advanced
materials and applications with extensively tailored material properties have gained ground. Examples include
nanoparticles and nanostructured materials, supramolecular materials, bioactive and biocompatible materials,
optically active materials and magnetic materials. In the future, it will become possible to manufacture a wide
variety of intelligent materials that can, for instance, react to changes in the environment, be responsive and
communicative.
There are several different approaches for classifying the field of materials science and technology. A suitable
classification methodology was developed for the purposes of this study. In this approach, we identified the
key Estonian industry sectors from the viewpoint of materials technology and linked these with the classification
of materials, as well as different processing and manufacturing methods.
In the analysis, it is crucial to understand the whole value chain linking the properties and composition of the
materials, fabrication and manufacturing methods to applications of materials technology and their markets.
In addition to the national competence strongholds, the analysis has to identify parts of the value chain. This
information is essential for defining the focus areas and structure of the national research and development
programme.
To conclude, the study looks mostly at materials technology from the industry point of view. World-wide materials
technology trends have also been mapped based on industry sectors. One additional industry has been
added in addition to the traditional ones: high-tech industry in the technology transfer section. With this addition
we address the new opportunities that materials technology could enable.
Food