History of the Wolfson Centre
The Wolfson Centre was set up in 1969 with the aid of a grant from the Wolfson Foundation of £132,000 to the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST) to establish a research centre to carry out basic and applied studies on magnetic materials and their industrial applications. Professor J.E. (Jack) Thompson was appointed the Director of the "Wolfson Centre for the Technology of Soft Magnetic Materials". The original objective was to create a unique UK Centre capable of competing at the international level. This objective remains broadly the same today.
In the 1970’s the Wolfson Centre was awarded the multidisciplinary "Centre of Excellence" recognition by the Science Research Council, the forerunner of today’s EPSRC. Professor Thompson was appointed Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University College Cardiff (UCC) and by mutual agreement the Wolfson Centre transferred to UCC. The Wolfson Centre hosted the Second Soft Magnetic Materials Conference (SMM2) in 1975 and the Centre's name was changed to the "Wolfson Centre for Magnetics Technology" reflecting its broader range of expertise and activities. The Wolfson Centre hosted SMM5 in 1985 and research carried out at the Centre became commercialised with the establishment of one of the University's first spin out companies, MR Sensors Ltd, to manufacture thin film sensors in Cardiff.
When UWIST and UCC merged in 1988 the Wolfson Centre became part of the School of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering, which later became the Cardiff School of Engineering. The Centre later moved to its present location in purpose built laboratories in the Queen's Buildings on Newport Road, which was part of a £30 million refurbishment of Engineering and Science buildings at Cardiff University.
Professor Thompson retired in 1990 and Professor A.J. (Tony) Moses became the new Director. In 1994 the Centre was designated a "Centre of Expertise" by the Welsh Development Agency. The Wolfson Centre hosted another major international conference, the International Symposium on Non-Linear Electromagnetics (ISEM ) in 1995. In 1999, major government funding of £1.3 million under the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) was awarded to the Wolfson Centre to expand and improve facilities and enable the Wolfson Centre research staff to carry out cutting-edge magnetics research into the next decade.
In 2001 the Wolfson Centre hosted the first UK Joint Magnetics Workshop (JMW) of the new millennium and was approved as one of 20 Centres of Excellence for Technology and Industrial Collaboration (CETIC) within Wales. The formal opening of new Wolfson Centre facilities established as a result of the £1.3 million investment awarded under the Joint Infrastructure Fund took place in January 2003. In June 2004 the Wolfson Centre was host to the 5th European Magnetic Sensors and Actuators Conference. In August 2005 Professor David Jiles was appointed as the new Director and the name of the Centre was changed to the "Wolfson Centre for Magnetics" to better reflect the range of activities being undertaken within the Centre, which includes not only magnetics technology but also basic scientific aspects of magnetics.
The Future
Cardiff University plans a further major expansion of the Centre over the period 2006-7 to increase the number of faculty working in magnetics and to enlarge the already excellent research facilities. The expansion will focus on aspects of magnetics related to energy, healthcare, nanoscale magnetics and sensors. There were two new faculty appointments to the Centre in 2005, a further three in 2006, and additional appointments are expected in 2007. On completion the Wolfson Centre for Magnetics will be one of the largest and best-equipped research centres in magnetics in Europe.