A research centre dedicated to fundamental research into steel materials for bearings has been inaugurated officially at Cambridge University. The SKF University Technology Centre for Steels is working on projects that could lead to new generations of bearings with improved performance and longer lives.

The Centre, which has been operating for two years, has been funded for an initial five-year period by the bearing-maker, SKF. At the official opening recently, SKF CEO Tom Johnstone said that as well as giving his company access to advanced materials knowledge, it would also help to raise its profile among students.

The Cambridge UTC is one of a series that SKF is establishing at universities around the world. Last year, it inaugurated a centre at Imperial College in London focusing on tribology , modelling and simulation, and it is also funding a Centre in China working on non-metallic materials and sealing, and one in Sweden dedicated to sustainability and the environment. Further UTCs are in the pipeline.