Graphene hub to open on Booth St East
THE new graphene hub planned for Manchester city centre has attracted interest from “some of the biggest names in the global economy”, according to New Economy chief executive Mike Emmerich.
Speaking at the MIPIM property conference in Cannes earlier today, Mr Emmerich said that the hub would house graphene researchers from Manchester University’s own Nobel Prize-winning team as well as researchers from other universities across Europe and space both for small companies and for larger firms interested in the commercialisation of graphene – including Apple, Intel, Siemens, IBM and Samsung.
“The challenge is going to be to turn that level of interest into investment in the hub,” said Mr Emmerich.
He said the new £45m hub, which received £38m of funding from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research last month, would be built on Booth St East opposite the National Aquatic Centre next to an existing car park and could be the first step in the development of a “graphene city”. The building is set to become operational by 2015.
Mr Emmerich said city leaders had worked quickly over the past 12 months to meet Dr Andre Geim and Dr Konstantin Novosolev to see what could be done to ensure the city benefits from their discovery.
Since then, he said it had worked “all out to secure the the financal support that this team deserves”.
Mr Emmerich said Dr Geim had also been keen to ensure that graphene researchers also take qualifications in ennterprise, so that the skillsets are in place for them to develop their own businesses .
“He believes profoundly and passionately – as do we – that it’s not just about big companies. It’s about entrepreneurs and innovators being the same people and embodying a new spirit of endeavour. That’s very much what the University of Manchester is building.”
