Manchester to build $97m graphene engineering centre

Manchester University is planning to build a new graphene engineering innovation centre (Geic), worth £60m ($97.5m). The building will be funded by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, the Technology Strategy Board and Masdar, a clean technology and renewable energy company based in Abu Dhabi.

Specifically, Geic will be funded with £15m ($24.4m) from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and £5m ($8.1m) from the UK’s innovation agency Technology Strategy Board. The remaining £30m ($48.7m) are provided by Masdar. The university will look at additional funding from other research funds and institutions.

The university is hoping to use the centre to develop commercial applications for graphene and to maintain the UK’s position as one of the leaders in the material. It will offer an accelerator that will work together with other research organisations as well as industry. One of the partners is research university Masdar Institute in Masdar City, an arcology project by Masdar.

The Geic will work to complement, not replace, Manchester’s National Graphene Institute.

Colin Bailey, vice-president and dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, said: “Research and development in graphene and 2D material applications will transform the world. The world-leading knowledge base is here in Manchester and to harvest this knowledge, for the benefit of the economy and society more widely, urgent infrastructure facilities are required. The Geic, supported by part funding from the UK Research partnership Investment Fund, Technology Strategy Board and Masdar, is essential to maintain the UK’s international leadership position in this area and ensure effective commercialisation of a UK discovery.”