Mission

• To provide a leading research platform and framework for collaboration in a consortium of university and company parties in the area of advanced surface engineering, in particular thin films and materials science; with a focus on nanotechnology for surfaces and interfaces for tools, components, contacts and sensors. This will occur by consolidating and expanding on the core research and development capabilities of the participating parties partners and by protecting and enlarging the intellectual property base of Swedish companies in key industrial sectors. The framework will be targeted to meet both the current demands and future needs of industry, improving on Sweden’s competitive advantage in the process, mechanical and electronics industries.
• To offer knowledge-based design of functional materials on the nanoscale to provide unique and improved surface properties. Our primary areas of interest lie in M-A-X-based ceramic materials, including refractories and wide-band gap materials. Advancements in this area will lead to material improvements in mechanical strength, multifunctional, electrical properties, sensor functionality, biocompatibility, and improved environmental compatibility, with commensurate industrial opportunities.
• To create high performance surfaces by exploring new concepts for thin film processing, designing interfaces and surfaces on the nanometer and sub-nm levels, and expanding understanding of their properties and application
• To provide a framework for enhanced cooperation between the participating organizations based on the connections currently and successfully established between the partners. The framework will be flexible and dynamic to cater for a variety of projects, from solving short-term industrial problems through to longer-term development projects, with the appropriate expertise brought into each project involved as required.
• To develop mechanisms for technology transfer of inventions generated from this framework, via the management of intellectual property rights for technologies transferred to existing Swedish companies, or via the creation of spin-off companies to manufacture and market new products. Hence, we shall generate a framework to interact in the broader economic, environmental, and social context in which these activities and products should function.
• To train future generations of leading engineers, researchers, and industrialists.
• To educate companies further down the value chain into the how these improvements are of benefit to them, and therefore to Sweden’s competitiveness in the marketplace overall. In particular, there will be a specific focus on the mechanical, and electronics industries, and extending Sweden’s dominant position in the marketing of machine tool tribological coatings into the much larger market of mechanical components.