App to Speed Chemical Formulation Process

Time-to-market for chemical manufacturers developing, testing and improving product formulations is critical against a tough, highly competitive market environment and while high performance computing can drastically speed up this process, this can be a complex and daunting task without an in-house specialist.

UK start-up company Formeric, a spin-out the Science and Technology Facilities Council ‘s Hartree Centre, based at Sci-Tech Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, has developed a revolutionary cloud-based app for use by Chemical manufacturers to develop new products, with no supercomputer specialist required.

The platform application enables manufacturers and materials scientists to use the latest high performance and cloud computing technologies to accurately predict the behaviour and structure of different concentrations of liquid compounds.  It will also show how they will interact with each other, both in the packaging, throughout shelf-life and in use.  It means that a single simulation can be requested in seconds, helping researchers to plan fewer and more focussed experiments, reducing time to market.

STFC’s Dr Rick Anderson, a founder of Formeric, said: “STFC, through its Scientific Computing Department and Hartree Centre, is well known for its expertise in modelling and simulation that can be used to benefit UK companies competing on an international scale.  Formeric has been a few years in the planning since concept, so I’m thrilled that our cloud-based app is now ready to speed up design processes and reduce manufacturing costs. The resulting advances in materials chemistry will bring significant benefits to consumers, the environment and the wider economy.”