This project constitutes a second phase of a Leadership Fellowship award exploring innovation possibilities with the ceramic extrusion process. The method has been utilised for many decades in mass productions of architectural components, such as bricks and tiles. The process presents significant creative and commercial opportunities with the potential to be utilised in many other contexts and applications. Despite this innovation potential ceramic profile extrusion is significantly under researched, this research seeks to address this knowledge gap. The proposed fellowship is centred on investigations into how digital fabrication technologies can be the basis for developing new approaches and materials via interdisciplinary applications for the process. The project builds on successful findings from the initial fellowship period which established a series of tools and processes to aid further research and utilisation of the ceramic profile extrusion method. These tools include innovative methods for 3D printing the extrusion profiles, known as 'dies', as well as the development of software scripts which facilitate non-specialists to design the dies through simple numeric controls. The first phase also established a concept for a low-cost hydraulic extrusion system. This system, combined with the software script and the methods for 3D printing the extrusion die, constitute a rapid development workflow that enables individual practitioners as well as industrial companies to engage in this innovation with the ceramic extrusion process. This second stage fellowship will provide the opportunity to build on the very promising potential of these results and expand the explorations into hybrid approaches introducing deployable elements to the extrusion dies. These explorations will seek to investigate the potential creation of hybrid extrusion and die moulding production methods - thus extending both the creative and technical application possibilities. Exploration of these tools, materials and processes into commercial contexts will be aided by extending successful research collaborations from phase one with the sector leading companies Wienerberger and Arup. In addition, this project will utilise the knowledge foundations from phase one in entirely new interdisciplinary research partnerships to explore novel contexts and applications for the knowledge foundation. These include collaboration with the National Composite Centre (NCC) to explore the use of the ceramic extrusion process with composites for the production of parts for high performance applications in sectors such as aerospace and nuclear energy. Furthermore, this project will explore utilisation of the distinctive qualities of clay/ceramics to address the challenges in relation to sustainability and low carbon construction collaborating with Plymouth University's CobBauge project to investigate the possibility of extruding the traditional building material cob into building components. Another main aim of this project is to further develop Dr Tavs Jorgensen's capacity for delivering interdisciplinary research leadership. This will be ensured through a range of activities including masterclasses, workshops and publishing research. This aim will be addressed in collaboration with other researchers across different disciplines, other HEIs and with world leading industry partners. The ambition is to develop capacity to actively raise the quality of the research environment in this interdisciplinary research area. The project aims to be field-defining research that produces a new body of knowledge with a clear aim of extending the interdisciplinary research approach as wide as possible in the exploration of novel application for the ceramic profile extrusion process - in particular seeking to utilise the specific characteristic of ceramics to address the urgent issue of sustainability in design, manufacturing and construction.

Ceramics have been used for millennia for architectural construction, utilitarian items and cultural artefacts. The ceramic medium has unique qualities in terms of durability, sustainability, longevity and aesthetics and has been an integral part of our creative and commercial output. However, many of the sectors involved with ceramic production have faced extremely difficult conditions with a very significant decline over the last many decades. Such a decline is likely to be a combination of many factors, including overseas competition and cultural changes, but a lack of innovation is also likely to have contributed. In order for the UK to maintain or regrow its long heritage with this medium, new approaches and innovation are required. Innovation within digital fabrication in the field of ceramics has, to date, been predominantly focused on 3D printing, with both powder and plastic clay printing methods being established. While these methods have extended manufacturing possibilities with new geometric possibilities, 3D printing remains a very slow and size limited production method, which limits the process' commercial potential with the ceramic medium. In contrast, profile ceramic profile extrusion is an extremely quick and efficient production method. This method dates back to the 17th century and remains a highly utilised manufacturing process in the production of bricks and clay pipes. However, ceramic profile extrusion is generally limited to the productions of straight linear sections and remain significantly under-utilised in many other aspects of ceramic production. This research project will seek to explore how digital fabrication technologies can be used to establish new approaches with the ceramic profile extrusion technique that extends conventional capabilities to provide new creative and commercial opportunities. The research will investigate how customised, curved and bespoke shapes can be generated through the application of robotics, and how rapid workflows from computer aided designs to creation of extrusion dies be developed through the used of parametric scripting and digital fabrication approaches which collectively are termed: Smart Tooling. The research will include an in-depth survey of existing practices through interaction with industry specialists, visits to companies and leading international research centres. The core of the research will focus on interdisciplinary practice based investigations structured as a series of experimental feasibility studies. Technologies and approaches developed through the research are aimed to impact on a number of sectors including architecture, design and craft. Applications and exploitation opportunities will be identified through collaborative dialogue with key sector organisations, research partners and commercial companies. The fellowship will be hosted at the Centre for Fine Print Research and draw support from the centre's extensive experience in practice based research and technology driven innovation. Furthermore, the project draws together a group of world leading companies and organisation as collaborating partners in the research; Wienerberger, Sibelco, Arup and Centre for Window and Cladding Technology. The vision for this research project is to provide an exemplar of how material knowledge, new technologies and interdisciplinary approaches can be complied to deliver sustainable innovation with a traditional material.