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On 20-22 May, the Raw Materials Summit 2019 will gather experts from Europe and the rest of the world to discuss Innovation and new Technologies covering the entire raw materials value chain. Most relevant topics in the raw materials sector will be addressed such as strategies concerning supply and access of raw materials, European industrial competitiveness and innovation capacity as well as entrepreneurship and innovation in education.

The Raw Materials Summit 2019 will provide all participants with a unique opportunity to understand the EU positioning concerning the energy transition and the impact this will have on raw materials supply and policies. The event will include keynotes by prominent speakers from the raw materials sector, representatives of the EU Commission, high profile entrepreneurs and start-up investors. Besides the keynote speeches, a series of parallel sessions will take place.

Start-ups will showcase and pitch their ideas to potential investors at the Venture Forum, and innovative programmes in Education will be presented.

Innovation project COFREE offers Cobalt-free solutions for cemented carbide tools and their production

Two Swedish competitors, Epiroc and Sandvik Coromant, decided to join forces with Swedish universities to find a substitute for cobalt as a binder in cemented carbides. Using advanced quantum mechanics modelling, researchers at KTH and Uppsala University were able to design an iron-nickel alloy that has the same binding properties as cobalt. Using this iron-nickel alloy, batches of cobalt-free tools were produced and the TRL5 performance of these tools looked promising.

To upscale their solution with the EIT RawMaterials funded innovation project COFREE, these four partners were joined by the Freeport, a Finnish company that currently refine and supply cobalt particles to the tooling and other industries.

The COFREE innovation project was vital to Epiroc and Sandvik Coromant contributing to the immediate R&D boost as well as the capacity for producing cobalt-free tools. This, together with Freeport capability to supply the iron-nickel alloy substitute, means that the European mining, manufacturing and tooling industries have the contingency in place and the supply of cemented carbide tools is secure in the era of raw materials supply uncertainty.

On 28 March 2019 in Brussels, the EIT Jumpstarter, a competition and training programme for start-ups run cooperatively by EIT RawMaterials, EIT Health and EIT Food, won the Best Association Training Initiative category in the  celebrating the vital work that the European Associations do on behalf of their members.​

The EIT Jumpstarter 2019 has kicked off this spring. During the bootcamps, participants will learn how to get started on building a business in a unique cross-industry environment: building a team, business processes and organisational design. The primary focus is on quantitative business model building. At the end of the program, graduates will prepare their pitch deck, business model canvas, competitive landscape, go-to-market strategy and roadmap. Participants will be selected based on the strength of the entrepreneurial idea, their impact on the sector and their growth potential. 

20-22 May in Berlin, Germany

27-30 May in Antofagasta, Chile

27-28 June in Berlin, Germany

18-21 August in Vancouver, Canada

1-4 September in Poznan, Poland

20-22 September, tba

1-2 October in Uppsala, Sweden

7-9 October in Turin, Italy

29-31 October in Levi, Finland

1 November in Levi, Finland 

Registration deadline is 20 May 2019

3-7 June in Gothenburg, Sweden

11-12 June in Trento, Italy​

16-20 June in Uppsala, Sweden

17-18 June in Brussels, Belgium

17-20 June in Bologna, Italy

17-21 June in Grenoble, France

1-4 July in Goslar, Germany

1-5 July in Coventry, UK

10-12 July in Cambridge, UK

31 July - 2 August in Delft, the Netherlands

18-31 August in 4 locations across Europe

26-30 August in Dresden, Germany

3-5 September in Munich, Germany

9-13 September in Madrid, Spain

17-19 September in Leuven, Belgium

2-3 October in Zagreb, Croatia

8 October in Altavilla Vicentina, Italy

8-10 October in Bilbao, Spain​

Online

Online

Application deadline is 31 May 2019

Application deadline is 14 June 2019

13-14 June in Berlin, Germany