Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has announced that the University of Manchester is to build a £60 million Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC).
The Centre will provide facilities so that graphene based products can be fast tracked from the drawing board to the market.
The GEIC will be partially funded by £15 million from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF), £5 million from Innovate UK (formally the Technology Strategy Board) and £30 million from Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based clean technology and renewable energy company. The remainder will be sourced by The University of Manchester from available funding schemes including European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The new centre will complement and build on the UK National Graphene Institute, also located at The University of Manchester and which is nearing completion following nearly £40 million of funding at Budget 2012. Taken together both projects represent a significant investment in graphene technology.
Commenting on the plan, Chancellor George Osborne said:
“Graphene is potentially a game-changer – its properties make it one of the most important commercial scientific breakthroughs in recent memory. It presents tremendous opportunities with the potential to provide thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of further investment.”
Graphene is of key interest to the water sector – one of its many potential applications is its use in the desalination of sea water to meet growing global demand for potable water and water for use in agriculture.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Börger UK, which has firmly established itself as a leading pump brand since it was set up in Staffordshire in 2004, has moved into bigger, brand-new premises in Shrewsbury.
HUBER Technology UK & Ireland are inviting people to register for their March webinar where they will be providing information about HUBER water intake screens for municipal and industrial applications.
Sulzer has launched a new global Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water Treatment Solutions - the CoE consolidates Sulzer’s wastewater treatment expertise in a unified and global manner.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.