Grant in Aid of Supporting the Technological Plasma Workshop 2009

The Technological Plasma Workshop was held at the Glasgow Science Centre in Glasgow on December the 14th and 15th 2009. Seventy seven people attended (42 PhD students, 31 researchers and academic staff and 4 invited speakers) from a mixture of UK and other European institutes.

EPSRC funds helped support participation of four invited speakers as well as other conference costs (website and admin support etc). A large number of PhD students from UK institutions attended, enabling the next generation of researchers in this field to engage with leading researchers in both academia and industry. EPSRC support enabled the registration fee of (£70) for all the PhD students participating in the conference to be waived.

Research reported at the workshop included the application of plasmas to organic compounds, bio-materials, living tissue and the decontamination of surgical instruments. Part of the workshop was focused on plasma-assisted catalysis conversion of greenhouse gases into hydrogen and chemical vapour deposition of diamond coatings for plasma fusion facing components.

In summary, the conference programme consisted of 12 oral presentations and 32 poster presentations.

Many industrial plasma processes have been developed empirically without a complete and proper understanding of the chemical and physical properties of the plasmas involved. This shortcoming has resulted in many plasma applications not being exploited to their full potential. It is now recognised internationally that a better understanding of the fundamentals of plasma discharges is key to meeting the technological challenges in a wide range of industrial sectors. Technological plasmas are a valuable tool in much of modern industry. Their use underpins the manufacture of products worth many billions of dollars annually. Application areas include microelectronics, aerospace, automotive, packaging and textiles. Further exploitation will come in the fields of biomaterials, biological decontamination, and environment management. EPSRC support of the Technological Plasma Workshop (TPW) was the seed funding that enabled the technological plasma community in the UK and Europe to meet annually to discuss and present the latest developments in these areas. The interdisciplinary field of plasma physics and engineering has over many decades enabled some of the most exciting science and contributed to major industrial innovations. Its continued growth can only be sustained when more and more young researchers choose plasma science as the field of their future career. EPSRC support for TPW enabled an excellent forum for the promotion of the rapidly developing field of technological plasmas within the UK and for the development of new ideas and cross-university collaborations to be setup. It has also provided the opportunity for academics in plasma science and technology to foster closer links with industrial end-users, as well as encouraging the development of the next generation of plasma scientists. The format of TPW in Glasgow 2009 has continued in future conferences with four plenary talks given by leading international plasma scientists, supplemented with several contributed talks so as to engage young scientists in the most exciting and current challenges facing the technological plasma science and their industrial and medical applications.

The TPW conference has become a major international forum for technological plasmas where key industrial needs are raised and discussed. TPW is a success as demonstrated by continued future series of well attended (70 to 80 delegates from academia, postgraduate staff and students and industry) self-sustaining conferences (TPW Jan 2011 Bristol, TPW Dec 2012 Open University, TPW Dec 2013 York and TPW Oct 2014 Coventry). It has become a major showcase of the UK Technological Plasma Science providing the opportunity for academics in plasma science and technology to foster closer links with industrial end-users, as well as encouraging the development of the next generation of plasma scientists. The enthusiasm and drive of the next generation of scientists is a key factor to the future success of the UK Plasma Science as a whole. Over the past few years, the technological plasma community has been presented with some exciting challenges arising from major needs in novel material processing, medicine and biology, and environmental protection. These offer outstanding opportunities to attract young scientists into plasma science. The workshop was focused on specifically promoting young researcher’s participation and contribution in the form of oral and poster presentations. This EPSRC grant has helped deliver the continued success of UK Technological Plasma Science and has strengthened the academic base.