BOLTON Institute is hoping for success in the British Female Inventor of the Year Awards.

Dr Kim Alderson, joint leader of the auxetic materials research team, will be at the Cafe Royal in London this Thursday with Ginny Simkins, one of her PhD students.

They have been shortlisted as finalists in the 2002 competition.

The nomination honours the results of their investigation into possible applications for auxetic materials -- the fibres which are made from polypropylene and are used in everyday items such as washing up bowls, ropes and children's toys.

Auxetic fibres get fatter when pulled rather than thinner like most normal materials.

It improves how a material reacts to being hit, how well it can absorb sound and the material toughness.

Bolton Institute is one of only three major centres in the world of research into auxetic fibres and the first to design a process to produce the fibre in quantity.

It has established a company to develop potential applications of the material such as filter, energy absorption and drug release materials.

Dr Kim Alderson is joint leader of the Institute's auxetic materials research with her husband, Dr Andy Alderson.

She has been at the Institute since 1995 and has special interests in polymers and composites -- working part-time and also looking after four children.

Ginny Simkins , who has a background in retail soft furnishing, achieved a lst class honours BSc in textile technology and marketing at Bolton Institute.

She is married with a family.

Dr Alderson said today: "Both Ginny and myself were delighted to be shortlisted.

"This reflects well on the work of the Institute and the auxetic materials research team.

"The Institute has been very supportive of our research and our family commitments, allowing us to continue in our efforts to develop the auxetic fibres."

Professor Dick Horrocks, Director of Research, said: "The achievement of Kim and Ginny shows what two busy women scientists can do while balancing family and career responsibilities.

"They are a credit to themselves and their female colleagues within the recent ATHENA project which helped promote women in science and engineering undertaken at the Institute."