Study Tour News – Lewis Munchi at iCOMAT

Published: 3rd November 2021

At the back end of 2019, I completed an internship with iCOMAT, a start up in the field of composite manufacturing hardware. I was given the opportunity to work as a business development engineer, identifying prospective markets for the exciting new technology. The chance to continue to grow my network in the industry of composites and manufacturing gave a welcome change of environment to my research programme. However, the main takeaway was the opportunity to observe the day to day operations of a start-up following their first successful rounds of funding.

I gained a fresh understanding to the challenges and barriers in bringing promising academic and industrial research developments to market. The need to be able to tailor communication of the technology to a range of different partners, suppliers, investors and team members requires a unique challenge that most people rarely get to observe or have a need to perform. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with iCOMAT and the experience has definitely opened my perspective on postdoctoral possibilities.

My acknowledgement to the IDC, UoB, and the NCC, industrial sponsor, for allowing me to take the time out of the research programme for this experience. I would also like to thank the ESPRC for funding the placement through the national productivity fund.