CPI is a technology innovation centre, based at NETPark in Sedgefield, County Durham, and the process manufacturing partner in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.
CPI, the Centre for Process Innovation, is a technology innovation centre. It applies science and engineering knowledge to help clients develop, test, prototype and scale up new products and processes. It is the process manufacturing partner in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Process manufacturing means making things such as chemicals, materials and plastics in batches or continuous flows, rather than assembling parts. CPI describes itself as your innovation partner to make your ideas a reality.
CPI's focus areas include printable electronics, industrial biotechnology, smart chemistry, anaerobic digestion (making energy from waste) and thermal processes. It serves markets including transport, the built environment, pharmaceuticals, personal care, materials, electronics, food, waste and energy. Its aim is to work on the technology platforms that will have the greatest impact on the future of manufacturing, so clients can check that a process works before spending large sums on equipment and training. The pages we read do not give a CPI-specific mission or a founding date, so we have not invented them.
CPI is located at NETPark, the North East Technology Park, in the Neville Hamlin Building on Thomas Wright Way in Sedgefield, County Durham. The 2022 to 2023 HVM Catapult annual review describes CPI as based in the North East, with a Manchester office opened in August 2022. The review also mentions CPI's work with a start-up called Chestnut Bio on biodegradable alternatives to plastics. Other UK sites were not confirmed from the pages we read, so we have not listed them.
CPI's services include product and process development, prototyping, demonstration and scale-up, fabrication and pilot production, investigation of fuels, feedstocks and materials, manufacturability assessment, process modelling and consultancy, business and funding support, and incubator space. It describes having state-of-the-art facilities but gives few details, and the pages we read did not describe its culture or name its leaders, so we make no claims on those.
Jobs at CPI would include process engineers, chemists, biotechnologists, electronics specialists, laboratory and pilot plant technicians, business development staff and project managers. If you enjoy chemistry, biology or engineering and like the idea of helping a young company turn a small lab sample into a product made in quantity, this is a good example of that work in the UK. The North East has a long industrial history, and CPI is part of its modern chapter.
Website: www.uk-cpi.com
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