Fulmer Research Institute Research Articles

Fulmer in Africa

In reply to our colleague, L Alberts, writing from South Africa, I would point out that the information required to sustain a well-founded concern about Fulmer Research Institute's activities in that country is already available in the report of its Managing Director which appeared in Physics Bulletin in December 1986 (p493). He noted the contribution of Fulmer to the UK government's R and D effort 'in both defence and civil fields'.

PVDF applications

Report on PVDF: a versatile electrically active polymer, Fulmer Research Institute, 28 October 1986, Fulmer, Slough.

Fulmer Research Institute

Fulmer Research Institute, one of the foremost independent contract research organisations in the UK, is owned by The Institute of Physics. This year, Fulmer celebrates the 40th anniversary of its foundation.

Contracts

FULMER Research Laboratories (FRL), a division of Fulmer Research Institute Ltd has just concluded a Licence Agreement with British Aerospace PLC on infra‐red‐transmitting windows.

Schools/Industry Liaison: An Industrialist's View

The Fulmer Research Institute became involved in schools-industry liaison in 1969. We were approached by the Science Society of a local public school to see if we would welcome a visit, as a change from their normal excursions around breweries and confectionery plants.

Contract Research: A bonanza for Fulmer

1983 was a very successful year for Fulmer Research Institute, both financially and technically. Total turnover increased by 26% to above £4m and profit increased 2½ times to £360000, after providing for losses in the startup of the Singapore laboratories.

Doing better together: the personal factor in innovation

Journal Article Doing better together: the personal factor in innovation Get access W.E. Duckworth, MA, PhD, F Eng, FIM, FIS, FInstP W.E. Duckworth, MA, PhD, F Eng, FIM, FIS, FInstP Managing Director Fulmer Research Institute Ltd, Stoke Poges, Slough, Berks SL2 4QD, UK Dr W. E. Duckworth is Managing Director of Fulmer Research Institute, a major independent contract R, D and D organization. He has guided many projects from inception to commercial success in his several industrial jobs. Product and process innovation has been his career. Teaching Britain how to do it better is now his major commitment. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Science and Public Policy, Volume 10, Issue 2, April 1983, Pages 77–79, https://doi.org/10.1093/spp/10.2.77 Published: 01 April 1983

Casting with metal slurries

Rheocasting and thixocasting are processes for the high pressure die casting of products using metal slurries. In principal, the slurry casting process is not new, an early example being the stir casting of organ pipes. But its potential has not been realised until recently. A wide range of metals can be die cast in this way and work is currently proceeding at the Fulmer Research Institute and Sheffield and Sussex Universities, as well as at a number of companies, such as Delta Metal, to evaluate both the fundamentals of the process and its application to specific products.

Radiation simulation testing of materials

Report on Radiation simulation testing of materials, Radiation Effects Liaison Group/Institute of Physics, 16 February 1978 at the Fulmer Research Institute, England.

The cost of industrial research

The information which Dr K Hoselitz provided in the November 1975 issue of Physics Bulletin (page 478) on the administration and cost of industrial research at the Mullard Research Laboratories should initiate a comprehensive dialogue which will be, in the long run, of considerable benefit to all those involved in the management of research. For comparison, I should like to outline the cost of research at the Fulmer Research Institute.

Physicist turns detective

Report on Physics of surveillance and detection, 5 November 1975, Fulmer Research Institute

TRIBOLOGY AT FULMER

Tribological problems, in common with most other technological problems, are normally solved by one of two methods—1. By the application of existing knowledge. 2. By a research and development programme. The first method, on grounds of speed and economy, is usually the first to be tried and requires the means of characterizing the friction, wear, or lubrication problem, a broad knowledge of the possible alternative solutions and the necessary experience to identify the most cost effective solution. Where no technically satisfactory solution exists or where the solution is economically unattractive, a more basic approach is necessary. Although it can be said that a change of design can have the greatest influence on tribological problems in many instances constraints on change will only permit materials or lubricant substitution or possibly the application of a surface coating. In these instances the tribological problem becomes one of materials development. Examples of the solution of tribological problems by both methods are presented in this paper. They are taken from work recently carried out or presently in progress at the Fulmer Research Institute.

Fulmer Fulfills its Promise

First and foremost the Fulmer Research Institute (FRI) is a commercial enterprise. Founded 28 years ago as the first contract research organization in the UK it has flourished without any fixed grant or subsidy or any other guaranteed source of income.

Project planning and control for research managers

Report on Project planning and control for research managers, 6-7 May 1974 at the Fulmer Research Institute Ltd, Stoke Poges, Slough.

CORROSION AND PROTECTION RESEARCH AT FULMER

1. Fulmer and its origins The Fulmer Research Institute is an independent non‐profit distributing, contract research, consultancy and testing organisation principally involved with materials technology.

Fulmer and Yarsley to merge interests

Fulmer Research Institute Ltd. and Yarsley Research Laboratories Ltd. jointly announce that agreement has been reached for transferring the present business of YRL at Chessington, Surrey, to the premises of Fulmer at Stoke Poges, Bucks. The new Yarsley research laboratories are nearing completion at Stoke Poges and all work will have been transferred by the end of September. Dr Yarsley, Chairman of YRL, has been invited to join the Fulmer Board. The effective date of the merger is May 1st, 1973.

Fulmer Open Days

The necessarily 'stop-go' progress of contract research is insufficient in the long run to provide a firm basis for expansion to an organization such as the Fulmer Research Institute, owned by The Institute of Physics. This was the assessment which Dr W E Duckworth, Director of Fulmer, gave during Fulmer's Open Days in June, marking the silver jubilee of Fulmer's foundation.

Fulmer: the future

In June the Fulmer Research Institute will celebrate its Silver Jubilee with a series of Open Days (24–25 June). It is hoped that many members of The Institute of Physics will be able to attend to see the organization which passed into their ownership in January 1965.

The Fulmer Research Institute

The origins and program of the Fulmer Research Institute (FRI) were described previously in the Bulletin in May 1965 and January 1967. In contract research, however, the situation changes so quickly that it is appropriate once more to describe the work of the Institute, especially as there has been a change of Director since the last article and several new activities have been started.

Research on research

Fulmer Research Institute is cooperating in a study of communication in research and development laboratories which is being carried out by the R and D Research Unit of the Manchester Business School for the Programmes Analysis Unit of the Ministry of Technology. The study is designed to investigate the flow of technical information through the Institute and to establish the communication patterns of the individual members, in relation to such variables as geographical location, organizational flexibility and planning control procedures.