SKF is setting up a University Technology Centre on tribology in Imperial College London`s Department of Mechanical Engineering. The initial contract is for five years and will focus on research into modelling tribological systems with the aim of reducing friction and wear, and thus extending the service lives and environmental performance of SKF products such as bearings.

The contract builds on the long relationship between SKF and Imperial. The Centre will be led by Professor Hugh Spikes, head of the college’s tribology research group, who says that it will help to ensure that research is applied rapidly to real applications, such as reducing friction and thus saving energy in rolling bearings.

SKF’s first University Technology Centre was established at the University of Cambridge last year.