Iconiq Innovation is an enterprise with businesses based in Dublin, Barcelona and Market Harborough, UK, with an expanding team of staff spread across Europe. Iconiq provides business consultancy services covering the entire innovation spectrum from conception through to commercialisation supported through securing R&D funding and helping deliver and maximise the outcomes of projects.
Our interviewee from Iconiq is Stephen Ryley, Project Manager specialised in the delivery and commercial exploitation of a range of private and EC funded projects. With more than 25 years of experience and a PhD in polymer chemistry, he will respond to our questions with a wide view of REVOLUTION.
Good morning, Steve. Thanks for your time to this interview. Our first question is: Attending to the advancement of the project, what do you think will be the next steps after the project implementation?
“Good morning, Andrea. I am glad to respond to your questions. From my point of view, the project will overall develop the technologies to TRL 6 (technology demonstrated in relevant environment) so there will still be some work to do to further develop a number of the technologies and take them to market.
To highlight a few:
For the automotive components we have chosen to demonstrate the technologies on a few representative parts but it will be necessary post project to roll this out to a wider range of components and vehicles to achieve significant environmental impacts and whole vehicle weight reduction.
The AI injection molding control system will be demonstrated at the Farplas plant during the project. Following project completion it will be necessary to work with other partners to demonstrate and test for a period of time on other production lines before this can be more sold commercially.
The other thing I’m keen to see is that the project learnings, particularly around Circular Economy, are shared within the automotive and more widely with other industries to allow us to really see improvements in our environment and the competitiveness of European industry.“
“…we have chosen to demonstrate the technologies on a few representative parts but it will be necessary post project to roll this out to a wider range of components and vehicles…”
Stephen Riley
In the framework of your enterprise’s main activities, which could be the improvement from REVOLUTION?
“Circular economy, e-mobility, materials and recycling are key areas in which Iconiq operate so REVOLUTION is a great opportunity for us to strengthen our relationships with the project partners and expand our networks.”
From the techno-economic point of view, which are the strengths of this project?
“Ensuring Europe is a leader in the electric vehicle industry will result in significant economic growth for the project partners and the European automotive industry and supply chains. Benefits will also be seen more widely in the Plastics and Chemicals industries for other applications. The global automotive industry plastics market is expected to reach USD 91 billion by 2026 and the REVOLUTION materials, formulations, and technologies will contribute towards ensuring European companies are highly competitive in this market.”
