Photocentric: Peterborough firm chosen to lead on Innovate UK bid to hit UK’s 2050 carbon neutral goal

By Paul Grinnell
Published 20th Apr 2022, 16:00 BST
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An innovative Peterborough company is at the cutting edge of the UK’s fight to become a carbon neutral economy by 2050.

The triple Queen’s Award winning 3D printing specialists Photocentric, which has production hubs in Oxney Road and Titan Drive, has been chosen by the government agency Innovate UK to lead a pioneering project that could transform mass manufacturing.

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The focus is on finding ways to use new materials that provide eco-friendly benefits in large scale production and that also drive the creation of jobs.

Photocentric, which employs 200 people, will use some of its 3D printing processes to enable Silicon Carbibe to be used in mass manufacturing.

Photocentric managing director Paul Holt presents Princess Anne with a gold horse last year that was made using processes that could transform manufacturing as the company leads on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target. EMN-210920-142643009Photocentric managing director Paul Holt presents Princess Anne with a gold horse last year that was made using processes that could transform manufacturing as the company leads on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target. EMN-210920-142643009
Photocentric managing director Paul Holt presents Princess Anne with a gold horse last year that was made using processes that could transform manufacturing as the company leads on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target. EMN-210920-142643009

Qualities such as a resistance to extreme temperatures as well as being a good conductor of heat, make Silicon Carbide ideal for a variety of manufacturing uses. Yet its extreme hardness make it one of the most challenging materials to use.

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Photocentric managing director Paul Holt said: “The project uses some of the 3D printing technology we invented to create useful products from Silicon Carbide - one of the hardest and most resilient substances on the planet.

“It is remarkably cheap and under-used because it’s very difficult to make into useful objects.

”But we can do it simply and low cost by printing it.”

Production processess at 3D printing experts Photocentric which has been chosen to lead on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target.Production processess at 3D printing experts Photocentric which has been chosen to lead on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target.
Production processess at 3D printing experts Photocentric which has been chosen to lead on an Innovate UK project to help the UK hit its 2050 carbon neutral target.

A project spokesman said: “This will place the UK at the forefront of using novel materials that provide energy saving benefits, create more jobs and provide technological benefits over Asian imported products.”

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