Although scientists knew one atom thick, two-dimensional crystal graphene existed, no-one had figured out how to extract it from graphite, until Professor Geim and Professor Novoselov’s groundbreaking work in Swagֱ�� in 2004.

Geim and Novoselov frequently held ‘Friday night experiments’, where they would play around with ideas and experiments that weren’t necessarily linked to their usual research. It was through these experiments that the two first isolated graphene, by using sticky tape to peel off thin flakes of graphite, ushering in a new era of material science.

Their seminal paper ‘, has since been cited over 40,000 times, making it one of the most highly referenced scientific papers of all time.

What Andre and Kostya had achieved was a profound breakthrough, which would not only earn the pair a Nobel Prize in 2010 but would revolutionise the scientific world.

The vast number of products, processes and industries for which graphene could significantly impact all stem from its extraordinary properties. No other material has the breadth of superlatives that graphene boasts:

• It is many times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible
• It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent
• It is the world’s first two-dimensional material and is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

It’s areas for application are endless: transport, medicine, electronics, energy, defence, desalination, are all being transformed by graphene research.

In biomedical technology, graphene’s unique properties allow for groundbreaking biomedical applications, such as targeted drug delivery and DIY health-testing kits. In sport, graphene-enhanced running shoes deliver more grip, durability and 25% greater energy return than standard running trainers – as well as the world’s first .

Speaking at the , hosted by Swagֱ��, Professor Sir Andre Geim said: “If you have an electric car, graphene is there. If you are talking about flexible, transparent and wearable electronics, graphene-like materials have a good chance of being there. Graphene is also in lithium ion batteries as it improves these batteries by 1 or 2 per cent.”

The excitement, interest and ambition surrounding the material has created a ‘graphene economy’, which is increasingly driven by the challenge to tackle climate change, and for global economies to achieve zero carbon.

At the heart of this economy is Swagֱ��, which has built a model research and innovation community, with graphene at its core. The enables academics and their industrial partners to work together on new applications of graphene and other 2D materials, while the accelerates lab-market development, supporting more than 50 spin-outs and numerous new technologies.

Professor James Baker,  CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� said: “As we enter the 20^th anniversary since the first discovery of graphene, we are now seeing a real ‘tipping point’ in the commercialisation of products and applications, with many products now in the market or close to entering. We are also witnessing a whole new eco-system of businesses starting to scale up their products and applications, many of which are based in Swagֱ��."

What about the next 20 years?

The next 20 years promise even greater discoveries and Swagֱ�� remains at the forefront of exploring the limitless graphene yields.

Currently, researchers working with INBRAIN Neuroelectronics, with funding from the European Commission’s Graphene Flagship, are developing brain implants from graphene which could enable precision surgery for diseases such as cancer.

Researchers have also developed wearable sensors, based on a 2D material called hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), which have the potential to change the way respiratory health is monitored.

As for sustainability, Dr Qian Yang is using nanocapillaries made from graphene that could lead to the development of a brand-new form of , while others are looking into Graphene’s potential in grid applications and storing wind or solar power. Graphene is also being used to reinforce , to reduce cement use – one of the leading causes of global carbon dioxide.

Newly-appointed Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair, Professor Rahul Nair, is investigating graphene-based membranes that can be used as water filters and could transform access to clean drinking water.

Speaking at the World Academic Summit, Professor Sir Andre Geim said: “Thousands of people are trying to understand how it works. I would not be surprised if graphene gets another Nobel prize or two given there are so many people who believe in this area of research.”

Discover more

To hear Andre’s story, including how he and Kostya discovered the wonder material in a Friday night lab session, visit: 

To find out more about Swagֱ��’s work on graphene, visit: 

To discover our world-leading research centre, or commercial accelerator, visit

To find out how we’re training the next generation of 2D material scientists and engineers, visit:

• .

Alzheimer's is marked by a loss of brain cells, whereas glioblastoma is responsible for rapid cell growth. The unexpected relationship between the two, known as ‘inverse comorbidity’, suggests that there might be a deeper biological connection we don’t yet understand. If we could work out what that connection is, we might be able to design vital new treatments. 

Now, a Swagֱ�� team are on a mission to discover the answer and make a positive difference, through what they’ve called the NanoNeuroOmics Project. 
 

The challenge they face 

Both Alzheimer's disease and glioblastoma are often quite well-advanced in a person, by the time they’re diagnosed. The current methods we use for this, such as PET or MRI scans, still aren’t very effective at early detection. What we really need are simple blood tests that can spot changes early on. 

In both conditions, the blood-brain barrier (which normally protects our brain), becomes more permeable – meaning it’s possible to detect disease-related molecules in the blood. This could in turn help us to identify people who were more at risk, and to monitor responses to different types of treatment. 

However, it won’t be easy. In current blood tests, when we’re looking for certain proteins – key indicators of disease – they’re often drowned out by a range of other proteins. Developing a way to spot those blood-based ‘biomarkers’ for brain health, which can easily be used in clinical practice, would be a key next step. 

How Swagֱ�� innovation could make a difference 

By merging expertise in nanotechnology, protein analysis, and blood biomarker discovery, the NanoOmics lab are aiming to: 

1. Identify new blood proteins(biomarkers) that could help in the early diagnosis and monitoring of the Alzheimer's and glioblastoma. 
2. To understand more about the link that Alzheimer's and glioblastoma share. 

The NanoOmics lab is looking to identify these unique biomarkers by tracking protein changes in blood and the brain over time, and across different stages of both diseases. They will use nanotechnology to detect these 'protein markers,' employing nanoparticles to isolate them from the multitude of other molecules present in the blood. With their ‘Nanoomics’ technology, these nanoparticles capture disease-related molecules, acting almost like tiny ’fishing nets’. Using this approach, the team can filter out a huge number of other proteins that are currently getting in the way. In turn, by analysing what they’ve captured, our researchers are aiming to identify new biomarkers that are currently undetectable by state-of-the art protein analysis approaches. 

Hope for the future 

To achieve this, Group Leader Dr Marilena Hadjidemetriou and her NanoOmics team have been combining long-term studies in lab models, with validation studies using biofluids obtained from human patients. 

The aim isn’t only to search for new blood biomarkers, but to gain further insight into how neurological conditions work, so that we can connect changes we see in our blood with changes that can happen in our brain. 

Their approach is multidisciplinary, working with experts across both nanotechnology and omics sciences, to improve early disease detection and hopefully develop personalised treatment for future patients. 

NanoNeuroOmics represents a significant step forward in the quest to understand, detect and treat complex neurological diseases. 

About Dr Marilena Hadjidemetriou 

Dr Hadjidemetriou is the NanoOmics Group Leader, and a Lecturer in Nanomedicine in Swagֱ��’s School of Biological Sciences. 

She joined the Nanomedicine Lab at the University of Swagֱ�� as a Marie Curie Early-Stage Fellow and full-time PhD student, working on the development of the nanoparticle protein corona as a tool for cancer diagnostics. 

After her PhD, Dr Hadjidemetriou was granted a postdoctoral fellowship by the Medical Research Council, to focus on the discovery of novel biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease. She was also awarded a Swagֱ�� Molecular Pathology Innovation Centre Pump Priming Grant and the CRUK Pioneer Award, to work on the nanoparticle-enabled discovery of blood biomarkers for a variety of pathologies. 

Now leading the NanoOmics lab Dr Hadjidemetriou is aiming to develop nanotechnology platforms that explore disease pathways and uncover molecular biomarkers. 

Dr Hadjidemetriou’s recent research includes: 

To discuss this research, contact Dr Marilena Hadjidemetriou at marilena.hadjidemetriou@manchester.ac.uk 
 

R2I is a bespoke entrepreneurship training programme for final-year PhD students, PDRAs and early-career researchers from across all faculties with ambitions to develop commercial ventures or to create impact from their academic studies.

The programme includes a series of interactive personal and professional development sessions, which introduce the concept of commercialisation, equipping researchers with strategies to take ideas forward and discover new pathways to funding.

Read more about the researchers recently supported to further their ideas.

and register now to attend one of our short  to hear more about the programme and how to apply.

Key Dates

Cohort 1:

• Introductory Sessions: In person and online across 16^th and 17^th October 
• Applications Open: 17th October
• Application Deadline: 28th October
• Programme: 14^th November - 19^th February 2025

Cohort 2:

• Information Sessions: March 2025
• Programme: April – June 2025

The MEC Researcher to Innovator (R2I) programme is supported by the University’s Innovation Academy. The Innovation Academy is a pan University initiative and joint venture between the , the  and the Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, bringing together knowledge, expertise and routes to facilitate the commercialisation of research.

The company has been selected from 30 international contenders to showcase its Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC™) technology by Chile’s state-owned mining body, the Empresa Nacional de Minería (‘ENAMI’). This selection follows a Request for Information issued by the state-owned company for innovative technologies that meet the economic, social, and environmental requirements for the sustainable development of Chile’s extensive lithium reserves.

This project will enable ENAMI to assess the technical and economic feasibility of Watercycle’s technology for lithium exploration in the northeastern Atacama Region. This represents a unique opportunity for Watercycle to showcase the capabilities of its technology alongside major competitors in the mining sector.

Watercycle Technologies is based at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and focuses on sustainable and circular critical mineral recovery, including Direct Lithium Extraction and Crystallisation (DLEC™), essential to creating a circular economy for the global energy transition.

Watercycle Co-founder and CEO, Dr Seb Leaper, said: “It’s great to be representing UK technology on the world stage and we are very grateful to ENAMI for giving us the opportunity to do so. Demand for lithium is set to outstrip supply in the coming years as the global transport sector decarbonises. ENAMI is key to filling this supply gap and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them in this endeavour.”

Professor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, commented: "We are proud to see Watercycle Technologies, a University of Swagֱ�� spinout, being selected by ENAMI for this great opportunity. It is a testament to the world-class innovation emerging from our partnership at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC). This project demonstrates how advanced materials  technologies can play a pivotal role in addressing global challenges like sustainable lithium extraction."

With over 60% of the world’s lithium supply found in South America, Chile is the leading commercial provider in the region. Watercycle is among eight companies selected by ENAMI, which include industry giants Rio Tinto and Eramet. 

Adding graphene to concrete can reduce CO₂ emissions by using less material without sacrificing strength. The consortium, led by Cemex and partnered with Galliford Try, Sika, Northumbrian Water, and Graphene@Swagֱ��, will conduct research to develop and market more eco-friendly construction materials.

Working with partners representing the whole supply chain, application experts from Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), part of Graphene@Swagֱ�� will share their expertise and access to cutting edge equipment to support the consortium in designing, developing, scaling, and ‘de-risking’ the next generation of innovative construction materials. Led by Dr Lisa Scullion, who manages the GEIC’s concrete application division, the team will conduct research into the formulation and testing of an integrated micronized limestone and graphene-based admixtures.

Graphene@Swagֱ�� has demonstrated through previous collaborations with industry partners that adding graphene effectively enhances the mechanical properties of concrete, reducing the amount of material needed while maintaining early age strength development.

The aim on this project is to understand the benefits of uniting graphene with micronized limestone as a supplementary cementitious material.  The use of micronized limestone reduces the need for Ordinary Portland Cement, which is responsible for a significant portion of concrete's carbon emissions. It’s fine particle size and high surface area, also contributes to improved particle packing and hydration reactions in the concrete mix, enhancing strength and durability.

By using the materials together, the consortium hopes to further lower carbon concrete without compromising on strength, curing time, or the need to amend traditional production methods. The GEIC will formulate the mix, while the actual concrete pour will be at a Northumbria Water installation.

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, added: This partnership showcases the power of our lab-to-market innovation model, where we collaborate with industry and its supply chain to scale and commercialise graphene and share the remarkable properties of this 2D (2 Dimensional) material. The outcomes of the project will foster engagement between innovation projects and end users, demonstrating market demand, reducing commercial risks, encouraging investment, and speeding up adoption. The potential for graphene-enhanced concrete to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions during manufacturing marks a major advancement in sustainable construction.”

Mike Higgins, National Technical Manager for Cemex UK, commented that “This partnership is a great example of experts working across the construction sector to drive innovative new approaches that aim to bring about additional benefits for the built environment, as it continues its journey towards a more sustainable future.”

Higgins goes on to add that, “The commercial potential of this innovation is substantial, given the urgent need for more sustainable building materials in the face of global climate challenges. This project encompasses a comprehensive plan from laboratory development to real-world application, ensuring the solution is not only technically viable but also commercially viable.”

This prestigious award is designed to support students, postdoctoral researchers, recent graduates, and encourage new student cohorts to engage with MEC, in launching new businesses that involve graphene or other 2D materials. It’s all about sparking innovation and making a real impact in the commercial world, turning groundbreaking research into real, game-changing solutions for the future.

With awards of £50,000 and £20,000, we’re excited to celebrate the individuals or teams who showed how their graphene-related technology can be turned into a business. The applications were judged based on how solid their plans were for creating a new business related to graphene or 2D materials.

This award gives winners the perfect launchpad they need to kickstart their business. Swagֱ�� understands how crucial flexible early-stage financial support is for these kinds of ventures, to help make these dreams a reality and bring a product or technology to the market.

This year, the top prize of £50,000 went to Kun Huang of Solar Ethos. Kun has a Master’s degree in Corrosion Control Engineering and a PhD in Material Physics. The second prize of £20,000 was awarded to Hafiza Hifza Nawaz of Fabstics, who has a PhD in Materials. We also congratulate the other finalists - Mohammadhossein Saberian of EcoTarTech and Ozan Zehni of Dorlion SHM.

The winners, pictured above with Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Deputy President Luke Georghiou:

• Left: First place - Solar Ethos
• Right: Second place - Fabstics

All finalists received support throughout the competition, which included: pitching workshops, help with applications by Scott Dean (CEO of Graphene Trace), and IP advice from Innovation Factory. These resources were key in helping them navigate the challenges of starting a business and turning their groundbreaking ideas into real-world solutions.

Our top-tier judges included Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Swagֱ��; Lynn Sheppard, Masood Entrepreneurship Centre Director; Jessica McCreadie, Investment Director at Northern Gritstone; James Baker, CEO Graphene @Swagֱ�� at Swagֱ��; and Gareth Jones, Project Manager - Electronics at the University of Swagֱ�� Innovation Factory. Their expertise and dedication to encouraging innovation played a key role in choosing projects that could make a big difference.

We offer a huge congratulations to all the participants! We can’t wait to see the fantastic impact of their innovative work in the commercial world. By supporting these entrepreneurs, we're not only helping them achieve their dreams but also paving the way for future advancements that can tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges.

Along with the awards, we heard inspiring speeches from high-profile individuals such as Lynn Sheppard, Professor James Baker, Dr. Vivek Koncherry, Liam Johnson, and Professor Luke Georghiou. They shared amazing insights about graphene and other 2D materials, emphasising the transformative potential of these technologies and the importance of ongoing innovation. We were also joined via Zoom from California by Dr. Eli Harari, founder of SanDisk, the memory storage technology company. He encouraged attendees to "Think Big!".

Eli & Britt Harari Award 2021 winner Dr. Vivek Koncherry, the CEO of Graphene Innovations Swagֱ��, is making significant strides in connecting graphene technology with global business opportunities. Last year, he signed a $1 billion partnership with Quazar Investment Company to create a new company in the UAE aimed at tackling global sustainability challenges. Recognised as Swagֱ��'s answer to Elon Musk, Vivek recently impressed judges to win the North West heat of KPMG’s Tech Innovator in the UK 2024. With a strong background as an alumnus and researcher from Swagֱ��, Vivek exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Some notable quotes about the competition include Lynn Sheppard's encouragement, "For all the winners and nominees, your journey does not stop here, it goes on," and Prof. James Baker's insight, "Graphene can make a big difference in addressing the climate change challenges." Dr. Vivek Koncherry highlighted Swagֱ��'s entrepreneurial spirit by stating, "Swagֱ�� is very good for entrepreneurship," while Dr. Eli Harari inspired with, "We need people like you to aspire in making the world better." Liam Johnson appreciated the award's impact, saying, "The award allowed me to turn this idea to something tangible," and Prof. Luke Georghiou emphasised the importance of support with, "It's our duty to build an ecosystem to support the development of graphene."

Their words emphasised the event's theme of driving change and shaping a brighter future through cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship, wrapping up the event on an exhilarating high.

Entitled ‘Swagֱ�� Model: Industry led, academic fed’, the event brought to life how Graphene@Swagֱ��’s ecosystem supports partners in leveraging the capabilities of 2D materials – from 2D material research tailored to organisation’s application needs, to accelerating their real-world translation. 

Professor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� explains: “We offer something unique in UK academia: a comprehensive pipeline for scaling up, supporting industry through technology readiness levels 1 to 7. This is possible due to three key strengths: our world-leading community of research and innovation experts, our state-of-the-art facilities, and our lab-to-market expertise, where we can support industry in developing products with improved performance and reduced environmental impact. 

"Our University is at the forefront of the 2D materials revolution and serves as the UK's principal knowledge partner for the commercialisation of 2D materials. Today's event aimed to showcase our exceptional capabilities to a new industry audience, enabling them to benefit from our unparalleled offerings." 

Over the course of the two days, attendees met academics – including Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, the Nobel Prize winning scientist who isolated graphene in 2004 with Professor Sir Andre Geim – and application experts leading cutting-edge research from lab to market; toured Swagֱ��’s world-leading facilities, National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC); met companies who have already benefited from their partnership with Swagֱ��; and were shown how the University is training a new generation of 2D materials experts.  

They were also invited to the presentation. This annual award, in association with Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Andre Geim, is gifted to help the implementation of commercially-viable business proposals from our students, post-doctoral researchers and recent graduates. 

‘Swagֱ�� Model: Industry led, academic fed’ was hosted in the run up to the official 20^th anniversary of the first graphene paper. It recognised the University’s continued role in driving a fast-growing graphene economy.  

Swagֱ�� is home to the highest-density graphene and 2D material research and innovation community in the world, comprising more than 350 experts spanning various disciplines, including physics, materials science, chemistry, neuroscience. This community includes academics, engineers and application experts, who bridge the gap between academia and the real-world needs of businesses, and innovation leaders, investment experts, IP advisors, plus operational and specialist technical staff.  

Renowned for rapidly advancing Technology Readiness Levels (TRL), this community is centred around two specialist facilities: the £62m academic-led NGI; and the multi-million pound research translation centre, the GEIC.  

The NGI is the hub for groundbreaking 2D material research, featuring 150m² of class five and six cleanrooms. It is home to Nobel Prize-winning Professor Sir Andre Geim, who, along with Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, isolated graphene in 2004 and who continues to support a leading community of fundamental science researchers. 

The GEIC focuses on accelerating the development of lab-to-market innovations. In just five years, it has supported over 50 spin-outs and launched numerous new technologies, products, and applications in collaboration with industrial partners. These include a groundbreaking hydrogel for vertical farming and a method for extracting lithium from water for battery production. 

Read more about the event at the dedicated page. 

Visit to contact Graphene@Swagֱ��’s experts and discover the facilities available. 

The Options Roundabout event on the 12^th June 2024 was the culmination of the R2I programme which saw our researchers pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs, funders and commercialisation experts. The event which was an opportunity for the cohort to network and celebrate their achievements was hosted in our MEC Enterprise Zone, a dedicated entrepreneurship space in the Alliance Swagֱ�� Business School. 

The R2I programme aims to inspire and accelerate the translation of the knowledge created through academic research into products, services or processes to deliver tangible benefit through a series of bespoke workshops and mentoring opportunities. The workshops helped researchers articulate their ideas by taking them through a lean start-up pathway to explore the commercial potential of their research.

The Innovation Enabling Awards were granted to acknowledge the impact and growth potential with early career researchers receiving between £2000 to £8000 to further develop the commercial potential of their ideas and businesses.

Aline Miller, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering and Associate Dean for Business Engagement and Innovation, presented the Innovation Enabling Awards to the seven winning projects.

Award Winners

Innovation Enabling Awards: £8,000

Personalised phage therapy for bacteria infections 

Dr Rosanna Wright (School of Biological Sciences)

“The Researcher to Innovator programme has been an incredibly rewarding experience; the workshops, support and mentorship have helped me to understand the potential impact of my research and develop skills to better communicate with stakeholders. I am thrilled to receive an Innovation Prize which will accelerate our pathway to translation. Thank you R2I!”

UrbanWatt

Josiah Edebiri (School of Engineering)

"The Researcher to Innovator program has been a great experience; I enjoyed connecting with the other aspiring entrepreneurs and found the workshops hugely beneficial in developing my skillset to progress my enterprise moving forward."

Innovation Enabling Awards: £5,000

Scrap Metal Separation

Dr Kane Williams (School of Engineering)

"R2I enabled me to make contacts in areas of my research that I would not have had otherwise. These contacts will allow me to develop my research further and branch out into new areas." 

Gait Analysis System

Muhammad Taimoor Adil (School of Engineering)

“Participating in the Researcher to Innovator programme has been a transformative experience. The award validates my research's potential and provides essential support to turn it into an impactful solution. I'm grateful for the opportunity and excited to advance my deep-tech startup journey.”

Innovation Enabling Awards: £2,000

Breaking the barrier: A science-art hub

Dr Soheb Mandhai (School of Natural Sciences)

 “The R2I journey has opened my mind to new horizons and has equipped me with the foundational skills that I need to build my enterprise.”

Select Xpress

Matthew Reaney (School of Engineering)

“Having completed the program I can say our idea is in a better place and I feel I have skilled-up in terms of my communication of scientific ideas and willingness to reach out to potential collaborators.”

Colorolicous

Hongning Ren (School of Natural Sciences)

"I gained more appreciation of how to use my research to actually make a difference - sometimes it's better stepping out from lab to talk to real people, then you can solve some real problems."

The prize winners will also receive expert support and signposting to regional and national accelerator programmes and all the participants on the programme will have access to further support, mentoring and guidance from internal professional support teams, including the opportunity to build relationships with business engagement, Innovation Factory and the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre.

The organisers wish to thank the  Fellowship for their sponsorship of the Innovation Enabling Awards.

Get Involved

If you are an early career researcher looking for an exciting opportunity to develop your innovative thinking and enhance your understanding of creating and developing impact join the next round of the R2I programme. Find out more .

The MEC Researcher to Innovator (R2I) programme is supported by the University’s Innovation Academy. The Innovation Academy is a pan University initiative and joint venture between the , the and the Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, bringing together knowledge, expertise and routes to facilitate the commercialisation of research.

R2I is a bespoke entrepreneurship training programme for final-year PhD students, PDRAs and early-career researchers from across all faculties with ambitions to develop commercial ventures or to create impact from their academic studies.

The programme includes a series of interactive personal and professional development sessions, which introduce the concept of commercialisation, equipping researchers with strategies to take ideas forward and discover new pathways to funding.

Read more about the researchers from cohort 1 supported to further their ideas.

and register now to attend one of our short to hear more about the programme and how to apply.

Key Dates

Cohort 2:

• Introductory Sessions: In person and online across 20^th and 21^st  March 
• Applications Open: 21^st March
• Application Deadline: 1^st April
• Programme: 16^th April - 13^th June 2024

The MEC Researcher to Innovator (R2I) programme is supported by the University’s Innovation Academy. The Innovation Academy is a pan University initiative and joint venture between the , the  and the Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, bringing together knowledge, expertise and routes to facilitate the commercialisation of research.

The Options Roundabout event on the 19^th February was the culmination of the R2I programme which saw our researchers pitch to a panel of entrepreneurs, funders and commercialisation experts. The event which was an opportunity for the cohort to network and celebrate their achievements was hosted in our MEC Enterprise Zone, a dedicated entrepreneurship space in the Alliance Swagֱ�� Business School. 

The R2I programme aims to inspire and accelerate the translation of the knowledge created through academic research into products, services or processes to deliver tangible benefit through a series of bespoke workshops and mentoring opportunities. The workshops helped researchers articulate their ideas by taking them through a lean start-up pathway to explore the commercial potential of their research.

The Innovation Enabling Awards were granted to acknowledge the impact and growth potential with early career researchers receiving between £2,000 to £10,000 to further develop the commercial potential of their ideas and businesses.

Aline Miller, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering and Associate Dean for Business Engagement and Innovation, presented the Innovation Enabling Awards to the five winning projects

Award Winners

Innovation Enabling Award: £10,000

NeuWave - AI solutions for rapid offshore renewables transition

Jana Stella (School of Engineering)

Innovation Enabling Award: £5,000

Purple Point- A precise and cheaper option for defeating chlamydia

Jorge A. Servert (School of Biological Sciences)

Innovation Enabling Award: £3,000

Transforming ​the Future of ​Bone Implants

Dr Nazanin Mirhosseini​ (School of Engineering)

Innovation Enabling Award: £2,000

Roboglove

Dr Anthony Siming Chen (School of Engineering)

Innovation Enabling Award: £2,000

DISSCO (The Diabetes Severity Score)

Dr Salwa Zghebi (School of Health Sciences)

The prize winners will also receive expert support and signposting to regional and national accelerator programmes and all the participants on the programme will have access to further support, mentoring and guidance from internal professional support teams, including the opportunity to build relationships with business engagement, Innovation Factory and the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre.

The organisers wish to thank the  Fellowship for their sponsorship of the Innovation Enabling Awards.

Get Involved

If you are an early career researcher looking for an exciting opportunity to develop your innovative thinking and enhance your understanding of creating and developing impact join the next round of the R2I programme. Find out more about the programme and how to apply in the upcoming for cohort 2 taking place on 20^th and 21^st March.

The MEC Researcher to Innovator (R2I) programme is supported by the University’s Innovation Academy. The Innovation Academy is a pan University initiative and joint venture between the , the  and the Business Engagement and Knowledge Exchange team, bringing together knowledge, expertise and routes to facilitate the commercialisation of research.

The (GEIC) helps companies progress and launch new technologies, products and processes that exploit the pioneering properties of graphene and other 2D materials.

Mr Khan was given a tour by Professor James Baker, CEO of , and met with application managers and technical specialists engaged in the use of tangible samples and cutting-edge equipment that bring products and applications to life.

He also held informal discussions with Professor John Holden, the University’s Associate Vice President for Special Projects, and the Vice Dean of Research and Innovation.  

To date, the GEIC has delivered more than 350 successful projects for over 200 companies and supported more than 50 spin outs.

Professor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “Swagֱ�� is proud to be known as the home of graphene.  It is where it was first isolated by our researchers in 2004 and is the world’s first breakthrough 2D material.

“Through GEIC, we offer a dedicated translation centre that helps SMEs bridge the gap from lab to market - something that is not replicated anywhere else in UK academia.

“Our two-tier membership model also allows us to work on short feasibility projects, through to a long-term strategic partnership with multiple projects in different application areas.

“It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Khan to the centre to be briefed about some of the innovative work we are involved in, and to talk about our ongoing collaborations with major partners including the UAE and the Department for Business and Trade.”

Afzal Khan MP, said: “The GEIC has a remarkable success rate in delivering new projects.

“It is a truly world class facility supported by experienced and knowledgeable applications engineers and internationally renowned academics, working across a broad range of novel technologies and applications.

“Everyone involved in establishing the centre’s enviable reputation deserves immense credit for what they have achieved.    

“I am grateful to the University’s policy engagement unit, , for arranging an especially informative visit and look forward to returning soon.”

The recent partnership between , the , , and (GGT), supported by the and , has paved the way for the development of our University spinout, Graphene Innovations Swagֱ��’s GIM Concrete in the UAE. The product, enhanced by graphene and made with recycled plastic, promises to revolutionise the construction industry by reducing CO2 emissions and showcasing the circular economy in action. The signing ceremony, attended by key stakeholders including His Excellency Sharif Al Olama, Undersecretary for Energy and Petroleum Affairs, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, symbolises a united effort to address climate challenges.

Waleed Al Ali, Chairman of GGT, sees this collaboration as a major milestone, stating, “This is an important step towards using GIM developed technology to build a Graphene-based GIGA Factory in the UAE.”

His Excellency Sharif Al Olama commented on the partnership, stating, “This MOU symbolises how various stakeholders can work together to address the challenges we are facing today when it comes to climate change, this is an excellent example of not only addressing the challenge but rather coming up with a commercially and economically viable solution.”

The CEO of GIM, Dr. Vivek Koncherry, expressed pride in the commercialisation of their graphene-based solutions, stating, “We are proud to see the commercialisation of our award-winning and groundbreaking graphene and AI-based solutions for sustainable applications that have been backed by decades of research undertaken in Swagֱ��, United Kingdon.”

In another initiative, Levidian and Tadweer are collaborating to decarbonise methane emissions in Abu Dhabi. The partnership aims to install Levidian’s LOOP technology at one of Abu Dhabi’s largest landfill sites. This first-of-its-kind pilot project will convert waste methane into hydrogen and carbon-negative graphene, with estimated emissions reduction of around 40%. If successful, the pilot could be scaled up to address emissions from an estimated 1.2 billion cubic meters of landfill gas over the next decade.

John Hartley, CEO of Levidian, highlighted the significance of the project, stating, “The utilisation of Levidian’s LOOP technology will allow Tadweer to clean up emissions while creating a revenue stream from the production of hydrogen and graphene that will ensure that the project pays for itself.”

Eng. Ali Al Dhaheri, Managing Director and CEO of Tadweer, emphasised the importance of the project in the context of a circular economy, saying, “In the lead up to COP28, it’s more important now than ever for Tadweer to become a global model for a circular economy alongside partners such as Levidian, as we create the foundations for a sustainable future.”

These partnerships emphasise the University of Swagֱ��'s commitment to fostering innovation and sustainable practices. Professor James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, summed up the sentiment, "We take immense pride in witnessing our partners and spinouts within our graphene eco-system achieve significant milestones, and it's an honour to host their team at our MASDAR building, the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in Swagֱ��. These achievements showcase the potency of graphene and 2D materials, propelling sustainable solutions and catalysing innovation and business growth through impactful partnerships. I eagerly anticipate the next stages of development and the successful journey of bringing these transformative products to market in the coming months to create a more sustainable future."

Read more on the individual announcements here: |

Watching concrete dry may not be the most exciting pastime – unless it’s Graphene enhanced. Graphene – first isolated by researchers at Swagֱ�� in 2004 – is the world’s first breakthrough 2D material. Its pioneering role has given Graphene iconic status and sparked a revolution in materials science with applications from water filtration and energy storage to transport and construction – including concrete.

Graphene is helping us reimagine cement. Very soon, you will be able to choose your preferred colour, texture and features. But more importantly and even beyond the aesthetics and functionality, it’s the growing global sustainability agenda that is creating renewed interest in the potential for Graphene-enhanced concrete.

The prize is clear. The construction industry is facing numerous challenges in the face of Net Zero targets, and one potential route to successful evolution is through the widespread adoption of advanced materials. The cement industry has one of the highest carbon footprints of any industrial sector, producing between 8-10% of global CO2 emissions. We are working on ways to mitigate the impact of the industry by using Graphene to substantially reduce the amount of cement, concrete and steel required in building projects – and find market-viable solutions to sustainability across the whole lifecycle of buildings and the built environment, from construction phase to operation and end-of-life.

From lab experiments to large-scale site trials, we have found our Graphene admixtures can deliver improvements in compressive, tensile and flexural strength in concrete, accelerated curing time, crack reduction and reduced water and salt permeation. Work is now ongoing towards verification and certification of Graphene-enhanced concrete to enable roll-out across the construction industry.

This follows breakthrough research by Swagֱ�� engineers who added tiny amounts of Graphene to concrete (‘Concretene’). It has been demonstrated at commercial scale with our GEIC industry partners, Nationwide Engineering, that this allows for reduction of up to 30% of material from a build project without impacting on its strength or integrity. This means Concretene is not only much greener but also potentially cheaper to use.

As we now move into real-world commercialisation of Graphene, we can see the increasing industry ‘pull’ for Graphene innovation, driven by sustainability, rather than the traditional technology ‘push’ of past advanced materials innovation.

Swagֱ�� is the global home of Graphene and the University is actively supporting ongoing research, innovation and commercialisation through Graphene@Swagֱ��, adopting open innovation (Swagֱ�� innovation model) and supporting a growing ecosystem of startup companies at our accelerator hub – Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) which is based in The Masdar Building in Swagֱ��.

This open ecosystem is essential as there are no single Graphene solutions for the problems we are addressing – there are various types of ‘Graphenes’ and 2D materials that are best suited for many and different purposes and of course with concrete, there are also many variables from local water to local climate. There is still some significant “know-how” needed to get the right formulation.

We are still at the early stages of this work with concrete but we are now accelerating into Graphene enhanced applications, including in the UAE.

The Road to Commercialisation

Today, we are looking at Graphene enhanced polymer composite concrete (zero cement and water) with another GEIC partner, Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� (GIM), as sustainability drives new momentum for concrete innovation, especially in the UAE. This may not be suitable yet for high-rise buildings but for road building and civil infrastructure, it has huge potential – and uses recycled plastic waste, adding another benefit of a reduction and re-use of waste materials, a growing problem in UAE and around the world.

GIM was founded by Swagֱ�� University graduate, Dr. Vivek Koncherry, who recently signed an MoU with Quazar Investment Company to create a new company in the UAE. This will be one of the most ambitious projects to date to commercialise graphene as it fast-tracks cutting-edge R&D into large-scale manufacture – an investment vision worth a total of $1bn.

This new venture will develop and produce premium, environmentally-friendly products using advanced 2D materials, including breakthrough Graphene-enhanced concrete that does not need cement or water and can be made using recycled materials. I believe this is a seminal moment for the commercialisation of Graphene as it demonstrates huge confidence in the potential for this advanced material to help lead our transition into a Net Zero world.

The GIM approach promises value creation and more – a smart and functional cement in different colours, textures and features, in which sensors and membranes could also be embedded – a convergence of the physical and digital aligned with the UAE’s smart city ambitions.

Of course, the construction sector will rightly ask about design codes, how a new material will be certified and its performance after 20 years. While we may not have all the data or engineering experience yet, GIM is prepared to take risks in small scale projects and is generating good results and data, and gaining a lot of confidence. I can see parallels with the adoption of carbon fibre, which is now almost ubiquitous, and those who believed at the time that we would never fly in ‘plastic planes’.

The UAE is rapidly emerging as the world’s innovation lab and test bench, and we love the ambition in the country. Abu Dhabi plays a vitally important role within the Graphene eco-system in which Masdar and the Khalifa University of Science and Technology are partnering with Graphene@Swagֱ�� on research and commercialisation.

Our experience is that the GEIC is a catalyst for innovation and our Swagֱ�� innovation model helps scale this and nurtures a rapid ‘make or break’ approach to testing applications. Graphene is a great fit with the UAE’s vision and has the resources and talent required – the country aims to create the future as we can see clearly, in this Year of Sustainability.

The prestigious award ceremony, held in London on November 9, recognised and celebrated outstanding British entrepreneurship, firmly establishing GIM as a leader in sustainability and innovation.

The Innovator of the Year Awards, hosted by The Spectator, have become a hallmark in the UK's business and investment communities, attracting a growing number of entries each year. The award was well deserving of GIM's groundbreaking work in harnessing the power of graphene to drive sustainability and economic viability.

Earlier this month, GIM, alongside Economic Innovator of the Year finalists, was featured in . The episode delved into their expertise in manufacturing and engineering, with GIM's contributions highlighted from 27:30.

Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� Ltd

GIM design graphene-based compounds and production systems that allow partners to commercialise graphene-enhanced products at scale, unlocking competitive advantage, sustainability, and cost reduction. Notably, GIM's work in developing graphene-enhanced concrete stands out as a game-changer for the construction industry, where concrete production contributes 8% of global CO2 emissions.

GIM Concrete, a pioneering product by the company, is a fusion of graphene, polymers, and additives. What makes it truly innovative is its manufacturing process, which eliminates 88% of CO2 emissions by abstain from the use of cement. Not only does it address environmental concerns, but GIM Concrete also boasts 4 times the compression strength of traditional concrete, is 30% lighter, and cures in a mere 2 to 4 hours, compared to the 28 days required for traditional concrete.

The company has also developed a sustainable waste upcycling platform, utilising graphene as an additive to transform ground waste tires and plastics. This approach allows for the creation of high-quality, durable products through traditional manufacturing processes, optimising both performance and sustainability.

Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� Ltd was founded by Dr Vivek Koncherry, an alumnus, with their research and development centre located in Swagֱ��’s (GEIC). 

Vivek expressed his delight saying: “We are honoured to receive the Excellence in Sustainability award and grateful for the supportive environment in Swagֱ��'s graphene ecosystem and the focus of Swagֱ�� on this core area of social responsibility. This recognition exemplifies the collaborative efforts and transformative potential of graphene-based solutions. Personally, my time as a senior research fellow at Swagֱ��, combined with recognising the fundamental role of sustainability in the University’s ethos, inspired me to working with graphene and the GEIC.

"From first proposing a graphene suitcase idea to recycling car tires into graphene floor mats, the journey has been very transformative with exciting future developments now taking place. With this recognition, GIM eagerly anticipates continuing its innovative journey, contributing to a sustainable future, and inspiring others to leverage the graphene ecosystem for positive impact."

What is graphene, and its link to Swagֱ��?

If you've ever used a pencil, you've unwittingly engaged with graphene. Discovered in 2004 by Swagֱ��-based researchers, Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov, graphene is a one-atom-thick, two-dimensional crystal. Their pioneering work in isolating graphene from graphite earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Today, Swagֱ�� known as the home of graphene, remains a hub for graphene research and applications, and GIM stands as a shining example of the city's continued contribution to groundbreaking technological advancements.

When Gerdau sought an ideal location to work on disruptive ideas and solutions with the foremost experts in the field, the choice was clear—Swagֱ��, a city renowned as the "home of graphene" and a historical hotbed of innovation since the industrial revolution. Gerdau's strategic plan laid the foundation for this momentous collaboration, with a vision to diversify revenue streams through new businesses and products complementary to their core steel chain. Among these value-adding components, graphene stood out as a material with transformative potential.

Joining hands with the GEIC in early 2019, Gerdau became an early adopter in the commercialisation journey of graphene and Gerdau Graphene emerged as the group's first advanced materials business, operating independently with its own governance and resources to foster rapid and autonomous growth. The collaboration, underscored by Gerdau's strategic decision to deploy its Research and Development team to the GEIC, not only fuelled technical innovation but also expedited their prototyping processes. The knowledge and resources from the GEIC played a pivotal role in this advancement, and the company witnessed a significant share of revenues.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� and Professor of Practice, said:

"Having Gerdau as a partner to the GEIC has been rewarding for all concerned – this is a company that has a strong heritage and also continues to pioneer through Gerdau Graphene. Gerdau’s work to functionalise graphene has created a supply of material that is industry-ready and is tuned to optimise performance in the specific application requested by the customer, and we are delighted that the partnership has been part of this journey.

The unique advantage of being located here in Swagֱ��, has enabled Gerdau to tap into the cutting-edge knowledge and resources available at the GEIC and the broader University, expediting our prototyping processes and creating an entirely new portfolio of graphene-enhanced additives and materials, opening up new markets and commercialisation opportunities."

The collaboration has allowed Gerdau to  extend applications of graphene to products within Gerdau's broader "ecosystem," reaching beyond the steel industry. The initial commercial applications were implemented in maintenance paints for the 16 Brazilian factories, packaging for construction nails, and mineral additives for projects involving key customers and partners in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of the country.

Alexandre Corrêa, Executive Director of Gerdau Graphene,  also shared his satisfaction for the ongoing partnership: "Our partnership with the GEIC marked our starting point in this journey into specialty chemicals and the development of novel additives with graphene. Our first research into material dispersion and our first application development into industrial paints were all started at the GEIC. From these projects we expanded into a vast network of over 6 laboratories in the UK and Brazil and strategic partnerships with clients and graphene suppliers having Swagֱ�� and the GEIC as a critical hub for our technical development. This network has turned graphene into a reality here in Latin America, leading to the development of several novel family of Additives and Masterbatches which we are currently selling in the region."

Gerdau Graphene has positioned itself as the first solution provider and developer of industrial scale additives focused on the incorporation of graphene in the Americas, bringing a unique blend of products and services to the market. This strategic move enables the company to make significant contributions to the development of graphene-enhanced products including polymers, paints and coatings, mineral additives, chemical additives, lubricants, and masterbatches. The incorporation of graphene in their products gives Gerdau Graphene a competitive edge, ensuring unmatched performance gains and benefits compared to conventional additives, in addition to generating a significant impact on sustainability,

The five-year partnership between Gerdau and GEIC facilitated rapid progress in the development of new graphene applications, showcasing the potential of collaborative efforts in driving technological innovation. Through their collective pursuit of disruptive ideas and inventive solutions, both companies have contributed significantly to the advancement of the graphene industry. As they continue to work in tandem, members of the GEIC are scheduled to visit Gerdau's facilities in Brazil in November, further solidifying their enduring partnership and underlining their commitment to developing graphene applications.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� has been conferred the title of Professor of Practice at Swagֱ�� in recognition of his significant leadership and contributions to graphene and 2D materials. 

Under his leadership, Baker has realised the ambition of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) creating something that is not replicated in UK academia.  

Opened in 2019, a year into his tenure of CEO, the GEIC accelerates lab to market development, seeding a fast-growing graphene economy. In just five years it has supported more than 50 spin outs and launched many new technologies, products and applications with industrial partners – including a graphene-enhanced concrete, which reduces C02 emissions by up to 30%, a revolutionary hydrogel for vertical farming, and a process to extract lithium from water for use in the battery-making industry. It had also created a significant impact on the local economy including new jobs, businesses and in gross added value to the Swagֱ�� region.    

Baker has overseen the consolidation of the highest-density graphene research and innovation community in the world, comprising more than 350 experts spanning various disciplines, including physics, materials science, chemistry, neuroscience. This community includes academics, engineers and application experts, who bridge the gap between academia and the real-world needs of businesses, and innovation leaders, investment experts, IP advisors, plus operational and specialist technical staff.  

This community, which is celebrated for fast tracking Technology Readiness Levels, centres around two bespoke buildings: the GEIC, and the £62m academic-led National Graphene Institute (NGI). 

The NGI is the epicentre for pioneering 2D discovery, and hosts class 100 and class 1000 cleanrooms, creating the world’s largest academic space of its kind. It is home to Nobel Prize-winning Professor Sir Andre Geim, who first isolated graphene in 2004 with Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov and who continues to support a world-leading community of fundamental science researchers. 

By driving the University’s reputation for commercialisation, Baker has ensured Swagֱ�� has maintained its reputation at the forefront of the global materials research revolution. This reputation has resulted in ambitious collaboration, such as the partnership with Khalifa University, to tackle the global challenges of water filtration and desalination, construction, energy storage, and lightweighting of materials. 

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Swagֱ��, said: “The isolation of graphene at the University in 2004 created the opportunity to transform a wide range of sectors through its application. James has played a key role in establishing the pathway to commercialisation and social benefit and anchoring that in the home of graphene.

“As a result of his leadership, our University is firmly at the heart of the graphene lab-to-market success story and is the UK’s lead knowledge partner in the commercialisation of 2D materials.” 

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, added: “I am honoured and humbled to receive this title, not least because the success of Graphene@Swagֱ�� has been built on the backs and brains for a university-wide community of innovators and pioneers. I am lucky to be counted among them. 

“While it's nice to reflect,  now is the time to embark on the next chapter. We have proven graphene can deliver prosperity and progress. Now, we have to accelerate its adoption to tackle the greatest challenge of our time - climate change. We have to show that graphene and 2D material innovation doesn’t have to come at a premium but can play its part by delivering sustainability without compromise. Our focus is on driving innovation in support of sustainability and working in partnerships with governments, small businesses and large industry partners, including at COP28.” 

The title of Professor in Practice is bestowed upon experienced professionals, who share their skills and knowledge. They allow universities to directly connect with business practice and public policy, to enable actionable, positive impact on society. 

Baker has led the business-facing development of graphene and 2D materials at Swagֱ�� since 2018. 

He joined Swagֱ�� in 2014 as the Graphene Business Director at the NGI. Previously, he spent 25 years in industry where, most recently, he was Vice-President of Technology Collaboration Programmes and Managing Director of the Advanced Technology Centres for in the UK. 

Viscount Camrose started his tour at Engineering Building A, home to the new international research centre CRADLE (Centre for Robotic Autonomy in Demanding and Long-lasting Environments), where he announced the countdown to the centre’s official opening in November.

The Minister was guided by Professor Barry Lennox, The University of Swagֱ��’s Centre for Robotics and AI Co-Director, where he learnt all about the interdisciplinary research going on in the centre, including a demonstration of a robot named Lyra, built to help transform nuclear infrastructure inspection.

Lyra was used to survey one of the radiologically contaminated ducts in Dounreay. It performed the equivalent of more than 400 air-fed suited entries into the site, equal to 2,250 man-hours. This capability reduced costs by an estimated £5m and it is predicted that similar surveys could save decommissioning costs by a further £500m in the future.

The Minister then took a tour of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), taking in its energy storage labs, printing lab facilities and construction materials testing facility, before making his way to ID Swagֱ�� and the location for the (TIC); a project which aims to link businesses to cutting-edge AI research and technologies to help enhance productivity.

John Holden, Associate Vice-President for Major Special Projects at Swagֱ��, said: “I was delighted to welcome the minister to Swagֱ�� and to show him the leading-edge research and development activity we are undertaking in areas critical to the UK’s future economic growth and prosperity, including our pioneering work in AI and robotics.

“Funding research and development in universities is critical to regional and national efforts to improve productivity across all industries, and the visit was an opportunity to highlight to the minister how we are accelerating the translation of our research base into industrial application through initiatives such as GEIC and the Turing Innovation Catalyst.

“The visit was also an opportunity to highlight the major opportunity that ID Swagֱ�� represents for the region and UK – our plan to transform eight hectares of the North Campus into a commercially-led innovation district will create a world-leading innovation ecosystem around the University and has the potential to create 10,000 high quality jobs in research and development intensive sectors linked to the University’s capabilities over the next 10-15 years.”

The Minister for AI and Intellectual Property, Viscount Camrose, added: “Greater Swagֱ�� has long been at the forefront of science and innovation in this country, from the first splitting of the atom to the invention of the first computer.

“By engaging closely with partners including Swagֱ��, businesses and local government, we can continue to grow our innovation economy across the country and level-up the UK.

“It was great to see first-hand some of the fantastic Government-backed research in Swagֱ��, such as the development of graphene applications at the GEIC, CRADLE’s cutting-edge innovations in robotics, as well as some of the projects underway through our £100m Innovation Accelerators programme such as the Turing Innovation Catalyst, the Centre for Digital Innovation and the Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub.”

The visit ended with a round-table discussion about the . Led by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department for Science, Innovation Technology (DSIT), the pilot programme is investing £100m in 26 transformative R&D projects to accelerate the growth of three high-potential innovation clusters – Greater Swagֱ��, Glasgow City Region and the West Midlands.

Leaders from three AI-related projects backed by the Innovation Accelerator – the Turing Innovation Catalyst, led by Swagֱ��, the Centre for Digital Innovation, led by Swagֱ�� Metropolitan University, and the MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub, led by The Landing at MediaCityUK – attended the round-table. They were joined by Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Swagֱ�� City Council and Greater Swagֱ�� lead for Economy, Business and International, and representatives from Greater Swagֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA).

Participants discussed how to strengthen connections between these projects and maximise their value, and other national initiatives to support AI and related technologies.

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Swagֱ�� City Council and GMCA Lead for Economy and Business, said: “Today’s visit provided a fantastic opportunity for the minister to learn more about the groundbreaking research and innovation happening right here in Greater Swagֱ��, and particularly at Swagֱ��.

“In recent years we have grown a reputation as a leading digital city-region, with AI as an important emerging sub-sector. As the impact of AI on our economy and society continues to grow, Greater Swagֱ�� is well-placed, with the potential to go even further.

“We also held a productive discussion about Greater Swagֱ��’s Innovation Accelerator programme and its AI-related projects. Through the Innovation Accelerator we are piloting a new model of R&D decision making that empowers local leaders to harness innovation in support of regional economic growth.”

Firstly the assembled finalists and guests heard from Physics alumnus and founder of global flash-memory giant SanDisk, Dr. Eli Harari, who joined the awards event as a guest speaker, live from the USA. He described the aim of the competition, since it started in 2013, to encourage students, researchers and visionaries toward innovation and risk taking.

Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award Winners

The award winners were announced and presentations made by chair of the judging panel Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Swagֱ��.

First prize of £50,000 was awarded to Liam Johnson, Ph.D. Student (Engineering) and his team (Ed Hayter) who are manufacturing the first on-skin device for wirelessly monitoring the cardiovascular activity of free-moving mice (using electrocardiography, or ECG).

Professor Luke Georghiou presenting first prize to Ed Hayter.

MouseAble will use screen printable graphene inks to engineer an on-skin, wireless ECG sensor for laboratory mice. This device would reduce animal burden and allow ECG acquisition immediately without need for recovery or invasive surgery. A non-invasive device will also enable the collection of better quality data, as removing the burden of an implant may reduce animal stress and the impact this has on the results. By providing a faster, more humane method of collecting data a non-invasive system could offer researchers freedom to be more ambitious with their experimental plans.

In second place and claiming the £20,000 prize was Aayush Chadha, Ph.D. Student (Graphene NOWNANO CDT) with Eye Venture, aiming to manufacture smart contact lens systems using 2D materials in order to deliver unobtrusive detection and monitoring of ocular and systemic diseases (glaucoma and certain types of neurodegeneration) which pose high social and economical costs.

This year again saw the inclusion of an additional prize that celebrates the University's position leading the world on sustainable development. The winners of the £10,000 Eli Harari Sustainability award were  Dinara Mangusheva, undergraduate student (Biomedical Science) and team (Luke Marden, Atif Riaz, Izehiuwa Ehimatie) with Aqua Catalysis. This venture aims to enhance the treatment of industrial wastewater by refining existing technologies and boosting photocatalysts through UV absorption.

Introducing the Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2023 Finalists

The three winning teams were selected by a panel of professional judges from a shortlist of five finalists all seeking to secure funding to drive their ideas forward. Watch the video to find out more.

The award is co-funded by the North American Foundation for Swagֱ�� through the support of Dr. Eli Harari and his wife, Britt. It recognises the role that high-level, flexible, early-stage financial support can play in the successful development of a business targeting the full commercialisation of a product or technology related to research in graphene and 2D materials.

The Mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, Andy Burnham, inaugurated the conference, which sees more than 30 companies exhibiting their revolutionary graphene technologies. More than 200 experts from academia and industry will also deliver lectures at the conference. 

“We’re proud to welcome businesses and researchers from across the world to Greater Swagֱ�� for Graphene 2023”, said the mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, Andy Burnham. “Our city-region has been the driving force behind cultural and scientific innovations for over 200 years, and it’s fitting that we host the world’s 2D materials community as we approach 20 years since graphene was first discovered. I hope delegates get a sense of the exciting work happening right here in Greater Swagֱ�� to commercialise advanced materials.” 

The conference is held in the newly opened , the new home of Engineering and Materials at the University. Unrivalled in scale as a hub of engineering and materials expertise here in the UK, it combines Swagֱ��'s industrial heritage with new, purpose-built facilities, ideal for discovery and solving some of the world's most pressing issues. Delegates are also be offered tours of the and the , the flagship facilities for graphene and 2D materials research and development.  

Professor Vladimir Falko, the Director of the NGI, said, “Swagֱ��’s National Graphene Institute and Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre stay at the forefront of graphene and 2D materials research and commercialisation, and we are glad that a major pan-European graphene conference is coming to the UK, despite all the uncertainties created by Brexit.” 

Professor Aravind Vijayaraghavan, the lead local organiser added, “We are placing special emphasis on attracting industrial and academic partnerships from around the world to invest and collaborate with the University, and this conference is the ideal opportunity for us to showcase our world-leading facilities and expertise in advanced materials and manufacturing which is key to a green, equitable and healthy future for us all.” 

The conference takes place at the University of Swagֱ�� on 27-30 June 2023. The conference marks 20 years since the first isolation of graphene at the University, by Professor Sir Andre Geim and Professor Sir Kostya Novoselov, who were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics “for ground-breaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene”. 

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

, founded by University of Swagֱ�� alumnus, , has recovered commercial grade lithium carbonate and graphite from black mass; a solid black powder containing a complex mixture of metals and impurities recovered from the recycling of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.

Conducted in partnership with globally renowned precious metal recovery specialists, , and with access to Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre's (GEIC) world-leading capabilities and the support of its expert facilities team, the test work on 1 kg of black mass validates the Watercycle’s ground-breaking technology. It underpins the major contribution that deep tech university spin outs are playing in championing the UK’s ambitions for the energy transition and the attainment of a circular economy.

WaterCycle Technologies Ltd. are a Tier 2 partner of the GEIC, the University’s world-class, multi-million-pound engineering centre which provides industry-led development in graphene applications, bringing real-world products to market.

Watercycle CEO Dr Seb Leaper said, “To most people it is not obvious that one of the main barriers to achieving Net Zero is the availability of critical minerals like lithium. But we must ensure that the means of accessing these minerals is environmentally responsible. This requires sustainable primary production and efficient recycling technology, which is what we are creating at Watercycle. We are proud to be a University of Swagֱ�� spinout and are proud to be working with two fantastic northern companies in RSBruce and Weardale Lithium who are making the UK’s domestic lithium supply chain possible.” 

This breakthrough marks the first step forward in commercialising Watercycle’s technology.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “The Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre provides partners within the rapid development and scale-up of R&D, the support to bring real world products to market. In particular, the gives companies like Watercycle Technologies the opportunity to bring innovation and research into the tough world of commercialisation, and to amplify prototypes through the conduction of leading edge benchtop experiments.

“By supporting partners in this way, we can also support Swagֱ��’s regional and national competitiveness, in turn attracting world-class businesses and high-quality jobs to the companies we’re helping to commercialise.”

in collaboration with RSBruce, demonstrating the significant opportunity to recover value-added products from Black Mass processing using Watercycle’s system and both companies are now in the process of finalising a developed pilot plan.

Corresponding to this phenomenal achievement, the team have found success in producing lithium carbonate from another source, establishing a step further to supporting UK’s ambitions to produce a domestic supply of lithium to power the domestic energy transition, and the UK Government’s goals of achieving net zero.

At its laboratory in the GEIC, the company applied its proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction & Crystallisation process (DLEC™) to successfully produce lithium carbonate crystals from brines, extracted from Weardale Lithium Limited’s existing geothermal boreholes at Eastgate, in County Durham. 

.

UK-based Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� Ltd (GIM), founded by University graduate Dr Vivek Koncherry, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with to create a new company in the UAE.

This exciting UK-UAE partnership - which highlights potential opportunity for UK innovators to access global investment and international markets and supply chains - will be one of the most ambitious projects to date to commercialise graphene as it fast-tracks cutting-edge R&D into large-scale manufacture – an investment vision worth a total of $1billion.

This new venture will develop and produce premium, environmentally-friendly products using advanced 2D materials, including breakthrough graphene-enhanced concrete that does not need cement or water and can be made using recycled materials.

Dr Vivek Koncherry, CEO of Graphene Innovations Swagֱ��, based in Swagֱ��’s (GEIC), said: "We are proud to be associated with Quazar so that we can assemble a powerful world-class team to provide us the opportunity to massively deploy our graphene-based technologies.”

Waleed Al Ali, CEO of Quazar, who will be active in helping bring the new company to successful, large-scale commercialisation, said: "The new graphene company will take a global lead in making environmentally friendly concrete and other products. We are glad that Quazar can play an active role in helping fulfil the UAE's His Highness Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Bin Mohamed Al Nahyan's support for the UAE Vision 2030”.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, added: “This agreement with our GEIC partner Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� and Quazar is a seminal moment for the commercialisation of graphene as it demonstrates huge confidence in the potential for this advanced material to help lead our transition into a net zero world.

“It is also a very proud moment for the Graphene@Swagֱ�� community as it confirms that our innovation ecosystem is providing exactly the right platform to nurture pioneering R&D into graphene and other 2D materials that is world-class.

“Swagֱ�� is known as the ‘home of graphene’ – but increasingly, it’s also being recognised as the home to its commercialisation potential. We are therefore able to form international partnerships, such as those in the UAE, based on this reputation; and from this position of strength we can place our city-region and the UK more generally into graphene’s global economy.

“As Greater Swagֱ�� further develops its innovation and manufacturing potential – all underpinned with the University’s leadership in advanced materials - this city-regional will have great opportunities with access to international supply chains, foreign investment and global markets.”       

As part of this ambition a new ‘Sustainable Materials Translational Research Centre’ is set to be created by the multi-million pound Greater Swagֱ�� Innovation Accelerator programme. The new centre is a partnership with the University’s, the, the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and Rochdale Development Agency, and aims to connect local businesses to national opportunities, all underpinned with outstanding materials research.

The scheme is linked  to the zone and a said “… Swagֱ��'s expertise in material science” could potentially support a northern economic powerhouse.

Furthermore, the graphene innovation ecosystem at Swagֱ�� has recently been cited as an exemplar in attracting inward investment into the local regional economy – and therefore helping to boost the UK’s ‘levelling up’ agenda. The spotlight comes in a report entitled,   published by universities think-tank the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).

A strategic partnerships that is highlighted is the ambitious agreement between the University and Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology which aims to deliver a funding boost for graphene innovation to develop new sustainable technologies. Attracting international funding to the North-West is also helping the UK government level-up R&D spending across the nation.

The spotlight comes in a report entitled, which has been authored by Dr Alexis Brown for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI). Dr Brown is Head of Global Education Insights at the British Council and is calling for UK universities to leverage global connections to help drive local growth.

The report highlights where this collaboration is already being achieved. For example, the strategic, long-term relationship-building between Swagֱ�� and regional civic stakeholders plus international partners, such as those based in Abu Dhabi.

This type of relationship has, for example, led to an ambitious agreement between the University and Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa University of Science and Technology which aims to deliver a funding boost to graphene innovation that will help tackle the planet’s big challenges. This project has also won praise from senior figures in the UK government.

Much of the focus of this international collaboration on advanced materials has been around the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) which is a unique innovation accelerator based at Swagֱ��.

And, as well as supporting collaboration in the Middle East, the HEPI report also points out that the “… GEIC’s development has in turn generated further funding from a range of international and domestic partners, including the Australian-based supplier of graphene products First Graphene, the Brazilian graphene startup Gerdau Graphene, surface-functionalised graphene specialists Haydale and advanced engineering materials group Versarien.

“GEIC will also form a cornerstone element of the new £1.5 billion , alongside the University’s , which focuses on industrial biotechnology and industry-facing biomanufacturing…”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “It’s fantastic to see that Swagֱ��’s graphene innovation ecosystem has been highlighted in a national policy report that outlines how universities can bring inward investment into the regional economies they serve.

“It has been five years since the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre opened its doors and our success in taking 2D materials from lab-to-market is clearly demonstrated by the many international partnerships we have formed - and the significant investment that these partners are making to drive graphene-inspired R&D in our region.

“These international research and innovation collaborations are creating new products, new businesses and new jobs. This all adds new value to our regional economy - so boosting the UK’s ‘levelling up’ ambitions.”

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

Haydale were early adopters and among the very first partners to sign up and join the GEIC when it opened its doors and embarked on its journey of commercialisation in 2018. At the time interest in graphene was growing in the commercial world; but it remained to be seen just how ready industry was in adopting graphene into existing products – or go one step further and use it to develop new and disruptive technologies.

Now, as the partnership enters a sixth year both organisations are delighted to see the progress working in collaboration has brought to the industry, particularly through the adoption of plasma functionalisation technology and commercialisation of graphene and other 2D materials, as James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� explains:

“Too often graphene has been seen as a magic dust that can be sprinkled into a product to transform its performance. Even if you’re lucky and achieve positive results, this ad hoc approach is usually non-replicable or able to be developed with a reliable quality control to earn market confidence.

“Haydale’s pioneering work to functionalise graphene has created a supply of material that is industry-ready and is tuned to optimise performance in the specific application requested by the end-user and we are delighted that the partnership has been part of this journey.”

Alongside their industry leading test facilities, as part of the partnership agreement, the GEIC will continue to use one of Haydale’s HT60 plasma reactors, which has been fundamental in growing the knowledge of functionalisation and its importance in unlocking the potential of graphene and other 2D materials. The clean chemistry process offers a way of activating inert materials, so they perform in application but in an environmentally-friendly way.

Access to unique engineering knowhow, world-class science and specialist R&D capability has seen the maturity of joint developments between Haydale and the GEIC most notably the graphene-enhanced carbon composite body panels for the BAC Mono R road-legal sports car, technology that Haydale has now seen application in composite tooling with Prodrive and resin infusion for sports and leisure. More recently, the teams have developed novel coating processes combining Haydale’s prepreg and ink products and helped to optimise Haydale’s 3D printing product range for volume application.

Commenting on the continued partnership, Keith Broadbent CEO of Haydale said: “We have been working with the GEIC from the very beginning to enhance graphene and nanomaterials and bring them into a commercial space. I am excited to see what the next stage of the partnership will bring. We have seen a seismic shift from graphene push to market pull as more customers know what they want. Customers are driving momentum and together we can continue the commercialisation journey.”

This is a sentiment shared by James, who added: “Five years on from the opening of the GEIC the market landscape for nanomaterials has matured quickly, and advanced materials are recognised as being critical in providing solutions to the big global challenges.

“Haydale’s vision has always been to provide the graphene supply chain with a premium product that can add real value – and they know exactly how to do this.”

The ongoing partnership will continue to build trust with wider industry and provide a solid foundation for the adoption of graphene and other 2D materials as advanced materials become increasingly critical in providing solutions to some of the biggest global challenges.

Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material, is a game-changing UK discovery and its properties make it one of the most important breakthroughs in recent memory. Graphene is a wonder material, with incredible electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties.

Prizes of £50,000 and £20,000 will be awarded to the individuals or teams who can best demonstrate how their technology relating to graphene or other 2D materials could be applied to a viable commercial opportunity. We will also be including an additional prize that celebrates the University's position as one of the leading institutions in the world on sustainable development.

Applications will be judged on the strength of their business plan to develop a new graphene-related business. The award then becomes seed funding to allow the candidate to take the first steps towards realising this plan. It recognises the role that high-level, flexible early-stage financial support can play in the successful development of a business targeting the full commercialisation of a product or technology related to research in graphene.

The final deadline for completed competition entries is midday on Friday 16 June 2023.

Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2023: introduction and overview

Join us on Tuesday 9 May and hear from Tony Walker, Deputy Director of the Masood Entrepreneurship Centre, who will give an overview of the competition, and share with you hints and tips as to what the judges will be looking for in your application.

You will learn about the support available to support you with your application and how to access this.

We're also pleased to welcome and introduce you to a previous winner of the competition, who can share with you their experience and how they have progressed with their idea since being involved with the Harari programme.

Key Dates*

• Monday 13 February - competition opens for expressions of interest
• Tuesday 9 May - information session for competition entrants
• Week of 29 May - meet with application experts from GEIC
• Week of 5 June - meet with commercialisation experts
• Friday 16 June - entry deadline, 12pm
• Wednesday 21 June – Finalists notified
• Monday, 26 June - Finalists invited to pitch to Mock Panel
• Monday 3 July – Mock Panel pitch
• Tuesday 4 July- Finalists invited to pitch in the Final Judging Panel
• Friday 7 July - Final Judging Panel 1-4pm.
• Friday 14 July - Winners Awards Event 3.30-5pm.

*timings may vary 

Grant Shapps, The Secretary of State for the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has recently been on a visit to the Middle East, which included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he met representatives from a partnership between Swagֱ�� and UAE’s Khalifa University.

The ambitious Swagֱ��-Khalifa partnership is part of the Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D) which is looking at ways to apply graphene and related advanced materials to technologies that will help make our world more sustainable, including water desalination, emission-busting construction materials, energy storage and lightweighting applications.

Grant Shapps visited the state-of-the-art research facilities and on his , the Secretary of State said: “Graphene can be used in everything from touchscreens to reinforcing steel. Made first in Swagֱ��, its importance is now being realised around the world. I enjoyed seeing how Khalifa University is further developing graphene uses for the future, in partnership with Swagֱ��.”

James Baker, CEO at Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “It was great to co-host the Secretary of State and the UK delegation on their visit to meet our partners at Khalifa University.

“It was a very positive meeting that focused on graphene products and applications. Our conversation covered the heritage of the right through to the creation of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, a Swagֱ�� facility set up in partnership with UAE-based Masdar to accelerate the commercialisation of graphene and related 2D materials.

“We also discussed our joint work with the RIC-2D programme and the ambitious commercial opportunities that are supporting the drive towards a sustainable future, including our latest project around creating membrane technology in support of clean water.”

The Kahlifa delegation meeting the Secretary of State also included Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President of Khalifa University; Dr Arif Al Hammadi, Executive Vice President; Dr Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development and Professor of Practice; Fahad Almaskari, Engagement Director; Fahad Alabsi, Associate Director, Commercialization, RIC-2D Research Center.

During Grant Shapps’ visit to the region the . The Clean Energy Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has now been signed by the two nations and will support the .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships tackling some of the planet's biggest questions. #ResearchBeacons

NERD is a standalone company, spun out from , formerly Tier 2 partners of the GEIC and responsible for the initial development of Concretene, a graphene-enhanced admixture for concrete that saves significantly on CO2 emissions and overall project costs.

In December, to help drive the programme of research and development required to bring Concretene to full commercial use.

The Tier 1 agreement provides for use of a dedicated lab within the Masdar Building, state-of-the-art concrete testing facilities and access to the unrivalled academic and engineering expertise in nanomaterials housed at Swagֱ��, the home of graphene.

Co-founder of NERD Alex McDermott is a civil engineering graduate of the University and is excited about his return to North Campus to deliver what he hopes will be the start of a new generation of sustainable construction materials.

“I’m a Swagֱ�� lad from Failsworth and I did my degree here, so it’s great to be back and helping to design solutions for an industry that urgently needs to decarbonise,” he says.

“We’re looking to build on the work we’ve already done with the GEIC in lab trials and real-world projects and take Concretene on to the next stage of full commercial rollout. There’s still a journey to go on - R&D in this area is challenging - but the partnerships we’re building with the University and with high-profile industry clients give us the best chance of success.”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “We have been working with Nationwide Engineering from the very beginning to help develop Concretene – and therefore delighted to welcome NERD to the GEIC as a Tier 1 partner. This is an important milestone in this ambitious project and one we can all be very proud of.

“In the past 18 months, we have rapidly gone from lab to pilot stage - and then scaled up to create ‘living labs’, including a pioneering pour just outside the GEIC. But we are still at a relatively early stage along the road to commercialisation.

“This new Tier 1 partnership will greatly help Concretene achieve its full potential to deliver a game-changing material to help us build more sustainably in the future – we look forward to taking this programme to the next stage of delivery.” 

NERD envisions a three-year journey to the roll-out of Concretene to the wider construction industry, alongside technical partner Arup – the globally renowned provider of engineering and design services for the built environment - and leading infrastructure bodies including Heathrow and Swagֱ�� Airports, Network Rail, National Highways and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

These early adopters will see immediate benefits through reductions in embodied carbon, while assisting in the programme of laboratory work and large-scale field trials that will ultimately prove the reliability and reproducibility needed for successful commercial deployment of Concretene.

Matthew Lovell, Director at Arup, said: “Continued innovation in the production of concrete and leaner design techniques are needed to support the construction industry’s journey towards net zero carbon emissions.

“Arup is extremely interested in Concretene’s potential to support transformative change in the built environment. Imagine what concrete with both enhanced engineering performance and substantially reduced carbon impact could contribute to our industry.”

Professor Bill Sampson, Chief Scientific Officer, GEIC, said: “I’m delighted to see Nationwide joining the GEIC as a Tier 1 partner. I look forward to working with them, with the support of academic colleagues from across the University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, to better understand and deliver the full potential promised by graphene-enhanced cementitious materials.”

Main picture: (l-r) Matthew Lovell, Director at Arup; Alex McDermott, co-founder NERD; Rob Hibberd, co-founder NERD; Dave Evans, Chief Financial Officer, NERD; Alan Beck, Head of Communications, NERD

, with its mission to enable cleaner water supplies for the world's growing demand, has developed an energy-efficient and highly versatile membrane coating based around a material called modified molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) to create an innovative water filtration solution.  

The technology comes from research led by  and , at Swagֱ��, working in partnership with innovation experts at the University’s (GEIC).  

This team has used a two-dimensional version of MoS_2, part of which is a natural crystal with physical properties that are complementary to those of , the world’s first 2D material, originally isolated at Swagֱ��. 

Molymem and its filtration application has been awarded an investment funding package of £500,400. Among the private sector investors are , Swagֱ�� Angels and NorthInvest.

Ray Gibbs, Chairman and Director at Molymem, said this new funding would enable the company to scale up and deliver on its mission. He said: “New 2D materials for membranes are needed to improve sustainability, accessibility and tackle one of the world’s greatest problems – delivering clean fresh water for all.”

“The application of 2D advanced materials into water filtration technologies will, we are confident, help provide solutions to this critical global challenge.”   

Working with businesses and utility companies Molymem has coated a variety of membrane systems and tested the rejection of various salts and other organic molecules, such as nitrates. The performance is equal to or better than existing commercial solutions - but at much lower cost, making the Molymem system a 'greener and cheaper' option.”

Dr Mark Bissett Chief Scientific Officer (Molymem Limited), Reader in Nanomaterials, Dept. of Materials (University of Swagֱ��) commented “It’s incredibly exciting to see our technology, which was developed here in the labs at the University of Swagֱ�� as a fundamental research project, be successfully spun out into a company and receiving this funding. Going forward I look forward to seeing our technology have real commercial impact and see our products improving sustainability in multiple industries.”

Richard Lydon, a leading filtration expert and senior advisor to Molymem explained: “Access to clean fresh water is one of the greatest problems we face in the world. Factors that impact on the availability of clean water include climate change, water quality, pollution, and population growth.

“At the same time, water and wastewater treatment plants across the world need to be upgraded to keep pace with legislation and the ever-growing demand for drinking water. This unique technology is an added value to existing membrane systems reducing particulate 'clogging' of the current filter, enabling improved life, reducing the use of chemicals and increasing flux (water flow). The Molymem platform is robust in any environment and can be tailored (through specific functionalisation of the coating) to reject target particulates such as nitrates, phosphates, PFAS/PFOS, dissolved organics, heavy metals and other pollutants, offering unique selling points to meet the needs of the water industry.”

Rajat Malhotra, Managing Partner, Wren Capital and a member of Cambridge Angels commented, “ We liked the sustainability aspect of Molymem and the strong management to apply novel technology into a significant market in need of new membranes to deal with the increasing threat of particulate pollution (especially nitrates) in the water course. We, therefore, wanted to lead a SEED funding round on behalf of Cambridge Angels who were subsequently joined by investors from Swagֱ�� Angels and NorthInvest. This first tie-up makes a strong strategic link between Swagֱ�� and Cambridge to enhance co-syndication between the investor groups and the hope of more to come.”   

David Levine, Principal of Swagֱ�� Angels said: "We're very excited to have participated in Molymem's recent raise. Swagֱ�� Angels was established specifically to fund early-stage, game-changing technologies and technology businesses and help support levelling-up for the North."

Jordan Dargue, Board Director of NorthInvest said: ''We were so impressed with the Molymem team's expertise and passion.  The technology is innovative and solves a real market problem so I was thrilled to be able to help the company access funding at this crucial stage.  What’s more, this round of investment for Molymem is a perfect example of how angel networks can collaborate to help Northern entrepreneurs access investment.  I’m so pleased for Richard and the Molymem team and look forward to seeing what the future holds. “

Notes to Editor

1) Richard Lydon is a leading figure in the filtration, separation and membrane markets and is providing valuable advice and guide the Molymem team as it embarks on its commercial journey in wider areas of the clean and deep tech market sectors.

 2) Molymem is a University of Swagֱ�� spin-out and has developed and patented a new class of novel nano-coating applied to membranes for ultra-high filtration performance. The 2D functionalised materials can be retrofitted easily to existing membranes, utilising existing infrastructure and a large installed base. The initial focus is in the demand-driven space of clean water, water reuse and species selectivity but with potential across numerous other industry sectors including air, gas cleaning and future clean energy sectors. Chosen routes to market will be via licence and royalty deals with Membrane suppliers, Original Equipment Manufacturers and System Integrators.

3) Cambridge Angels is a leading UK business angel network providing smart capital from entrepreneurs to entrepreneurs. The collaborative Cambridge-based group, actively mentors and invests in innovative teams and their ideas, equipping generations of entrepreneurs to generate returns and help realise their full potential. The group has a strong ethos of backing merit and supporting entrepreneurship. Cambridge Angels members, most of whom are successful entrepreneurs, invest in a wide range of start-up and scale-up businesses with a particular focus on deep-tech, and tools and technologies supporting healthcare.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Greater Swagֱ�� Combined Authority (GMCA), Innovation Greater Swagֱ�� and Innovate UK commits the parties to closer collaboration to support business innovation.

The agreement seeks to strengthen research and innovation clusters across Greater Swagֱ�� and to accelerate investments around long-term innovation developments.

The region’s universities will be at the heart of the city’s innovation ecosystem. Swagֱ�� will continue to build on its existing world class tradition of commercialisation of research in step with GMCA and Innovate UK. This past year alone has seen the University create ten new spin-out companies.

The parties have also agreed to work on a shared plan for the period to 2030, which will set out how the development of innovation assets in Greater Swagֱ�� will inform Innovate UK activities.

The agreement was signed by Mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, Andy Burnham, Innovate UK CEO, Indro Mukerjee, and Chair of Greater Swagֱ�� Business Board (GM LEP), Lou Cordwell, at a special event held today (Friday 2 December) at the (GEIC) at Swagֱ��. The GEIC is a facility which helps companies develop new technologies, products and processes that exploit the properties of .

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Swagֱ��, said: “This agreement will strengthen collaboration between Greater Swagֱ�� and Innovate UK, and in doing so help deliver a high-growth, high-wage economy powered by innovation.

“Going back to the first Industrial Revolution, Greater Swagֱ�� has a proud history of industry and innovation. More recently we pioneered the development of graphene, and have emerging strengths in areas like advanced manufacturing, health innovation and the digital and creative industries.

“Levelling up the country means rebalancing R&D spending so that regions can realise their potential. Innovation stimulates sustainable growth, which leads to better quality jobs and increased wages, raising the living standards of people across Greater Swagֱ��.”

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Swagֱ��, said: “This is another important step for Greater Swagֱ��’s innovation ecosystem which is all about partnership. Swagֱ�� will keep working to ensure that we are a globally- renowned hub for creating innovations that meet society’s greatest challenges.”

Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK, said: “Innovate UK is building strong regional partnerships across the UK to support local innovation and commercialisation. The agreement with Greater Swagֱ�� is a good example of that and our commitment to levelling up the UK.

“I am pleased to be working closely with Mayor Andy Burnham, Cllr Bev Craig and Lou Cordwell to help deliver growth and productivity through innovation across Greater Swagֱ��.”

Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Swagֱ�� City Council and GMCA Portfolio Lead for Economy and Business, said: “Our agreement with Innovate UK will help businesses and residents in Greater Swagֱ�� benefit from the opportunities presented by innovation.

“Business innovation creates good jobs in more places. It drives economic growth, accelerates our transition to net zero, and helps reduce health inequalities. We look forward to working with Innovate UK to strengthen Greater Swagֱ��’s innovation ecosystem.”

Professor Richard Jones, Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement, at Swagֱ�� (and independent science advisor for Innovation GM), said: “The partnership will provide an innovation blueprint for Greater Swagֱ�� – and therefore is a major milestone in boosting the economic development and prosperity of this city-region.

“Swagֱ�� has been a driving force in getting this project launched so it was fitting that the agreement was formally signed in the University’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. This facility demonstrates how new science and innovation can be commercialised, so attracting new investment; supporting some of this region’s great innovative businesses; as well as creating new commercial opportunities on our own doorstep.”     

Through Innovation Greater Swagֱ��, the city-region is pioneering a new approach to strengthening and broadening its innovation ecosystem – the network that comprises businesses of all sizes, universities, local and national government, funding providers and investors, and entrepreneurs.

Greater Swagֱ��’s outlines how sustainable growth powered by innovation could deliver a £3.8bn economic benefit and over 100,000 jobs across Greater Swagֱ��.

Greater Swagֱ�� was one of three areas in the country chosen to develop an Innovation Accelerator. Launched as part of the Levelling Up White Paper, Innovation Accelerators will support businesses and research in Greater Swagֱ��, the West Midlands and Glasgow city-region with a share of £100m of Government funding.

This followed the , published in July last year, which set out Government’s vision to make the UK a global hub for innovation by 2035, and .

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, and Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President, Khalifa University (pictured above) officially signed a contract between the two institutions during a VIP visit by a Swagֱ�� delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Senior officials from both universities were present at the signing (pictured below).

This international partnership will further accelerate Swagֱ�� and Abu Dhabi’s world-leading research and innovation into graphene and other 2D materials. The Research & Innovation Center for Graphene and 2D Materials (RIC-2D), based in Khalifa University, is part of a strategic investment programme supported by the Government of Abu Dhabi, UAE. 

Growing international partnership

This partnership will support expediting the development of the RIC-2D at Khalifa University as well as help building capability in graphene and 2D materials in collaboration with Graphene@Swagֱ��, a community that includes the academic–led National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the commercially-focused Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), a pioneering facility already backed by the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company Masdar.

The historic agreement will bring together the vision of the two universities to tackle some of the globe’s biggest challenges, such as providing clean drinking water for millions of people and supporting a circular ‘green economy’ in all parts of the world.

Graphene – originally isolated at Swagֱ��, the global ‘home of graphene’ – has the potential to deliver transformational technologies. The focus of the Khalifa–Swagֱ�� partnership will be on key themes, with a priority to meet the most immediate of global challenges, including  climate change and the energy crisis. These flagship areas are:

●&�Բ�����;         Water filtration and desalination – graphene and 2D materials are being applied to next generation filtration technologies to significantly boost their effectiveness and efficiency to help safeguard the world’s precious supply of drinking water

●&�Բ�����;         Construction – graphene is helping to develop building materials that are much more sustainable and when applied at scale can expect to slash global CO2 emissions

●&�Բ�����;         Energy storage – applications are being developed across the energy storage sector to produce more efficient batteries, with greater capacity and higher performance, and other energy storage systems vital to a circular ‘green economy’

●&�Բ�����;         Lightweighting of materials – the use of graphene and 2D materials to take weight out of vehicles, as well as large structures and infrastructure, will also be a key to building a more sustainable future.

The investment is expected to be allocated towards joint projects. The full scope and budgets for projects under this new framework agreement remain to be determined in the months ahead. The proposal will see dedicated space for the Khalifa University’s RIC-2D within the GEIC, which is based in the Masdar Building at Swagֱ��, to deliver rapid R&D and breakthrough technologies. Researchers from Khalifa University will have dedicated lab space in the GEIC where they can work alongside Swagֱ��’s applications experts and access in-house facilities and equipment.

Knowledge exchange

As well as the research and innovation activity, the RIC-2D programme will support the development of people, including early-career researchers who will benefit from the real-world experience of working on the joint R&D programme. Also, there will be opportunities for post-graduate students, including the exchange of PhD students and researchers (see Fact File below).

Professor Sir John O’Reilly, President, Khalifa University, said: “This Khalifa University-University of Swagֱ�� collaboration is greatly to be welcomed. It has all the hallmarks of a most successful approach to inspiring and nurturing outstanding research, innovation and enterprise in graphene to be taken forward to the benefit of the wider community.”

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President & Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, said: “We look forward to a long and productive partnership with Khalifa University that will realise the potential of graphene to address global challenges including water and energy security and, above all, sustainability.”

Dr Arif Sultan Al Hammadi, Executive Vice-President, Khalifa University, said: “We are delighted to enter into this partnership with Swagֱ�� and encourage innovation in graphene through a pipeline of projects, as well as focus on transferring technology towards commercialization. Through this agreement, we will continue to not only focus our research activities on existing flagship projects in water filtration, construction, energy storage and composites but also expand to new areas. This combination of virtual and in-person collaborations will also include exchange of PhD students and sponsored labs within the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) at Swagֱ��.”

Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Swagֱ��, said: “Our excellent relationship with our partners in Abu Dhabi, including Khalifa University and Masdar, has been vital in the success of the world-leading graphene research and innovation activities at Swagֱ��, especially in driving forward the commercialisation of 2D materials in our facilities based in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. This new investment will deliver a game-changing step change in our lab-to-market ambitions - and will accelerate the translation of graphene in an unprecedented way.”

Professor Hassan Arafat, Senior Director, RIC-2D, said: “The overarching goal of RIC-2D is to be a catalyst for economic growth in the UAE, by enabling industrial and public entities within the country to utilize graphene and other 2D materials in new technologies that add economic value and solve pressing societal challenges such as water scarcity and greenhouse emissions. Therefore, the center will support a range of fundamental and translational research projects, in addition to commercialization and technology transfer activities. Graphene@Swagֱ�� has accumulated significant experience doing the same in the UK over the past decade. Hence, they were naturally identified as one of RIC-2D’s most strategic partners.”

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, explained: “We have built a unique model of innovation for advanced materials in Greater Swagֱ�� by successfully attracting regional, national and international investment.

“The RIC-2D programme will be a significant funding boost for UK-based graphene research and commercialisation. It is set to significantly accelerate the work that is already happening in our ecosystem and help with the application and commercialisation of 2D materials at a rate much faster than you would normally expect for a revolutionary new material like graphene.

“This provides an opportunity to fast-track technologies that are urgently needed to tackle immediate challenges like climate change or the energy crisis. Swagֱ�� and Khalifa University will play a key role in connecting our ambitions by synchronising new research with key industry and supply-chain companies across a range of sectors.

“Our lab-to-market model will link up fundamental research with applied research and ultimately be part of a pipeline delivering new, market-ready technologies.  The programme will also provide industry-standard equipment and capabilities for the rapid scale-up and pilot production of prototypes.”

Graphene@Swagֱ��’s world-class facilities and resources are supported by internationally renowned academics and industry-experienced engineers and innovation experts, working across a very broad range of novel technologies and applications.

James Baker added: “Together, these experts will focus on industry-led 2D material development and look to help companies design, develop, scale-up and ‘de-risk’ the next generation of innovative products and processes,”

Fact File - joint R&D programme

The joint R&D programme between Swagֱ�� and Khalifa University  will provide a pipeline of projects from the near to long-term to ensure that RIC-2D development activities remain world-leading and are based upon a strong scientific foundation.

Part of the R&D programme will focus on Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 1-3 – i.e. early stage research and development - beyond which the research teams will collaborate with applications experts at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) in a bid to transfer the technology for commercialisation.

The shared R&D platforms are designed to support existing flagship projects, including those involved with water filtration, construction, energy storage and composites – but there will be an expectation to develop new streams. Finally, the R&D programme will produce high quality academic publications that will add to the prestige and international reputation of RIC-2D.

The joint programme will be a combination of virtual and in-person collaborations, through the exchange of PhD students and researchers and having Khalifa University sponsored labs based within the GEIC.

About Khalifa University of Science and Technology

Khalifa University of Science and Technology, the UAE’s top-ranked research-intensive institution, focuses on developing world-leading critical thinkers in science, engineering and medicine. The world-class university endeavours to be a catalyst to the growth of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s rapidly developing knowledge economy as an education destination of choice and a global leader among widely acknowledged international universities.

For more information, please visit:

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

Watercycle’s patented filtration process can selectively extract lithium from sub-surface waters, such as those found in the South West of the UK. Given lithium’s essential role in battery technologies, the ability to obtain it from water cost-effectively and establish a domestic supply of the mineral is vital for the UK’s Net Zero strategy. 

is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the environmentally responsible extraction of lithium from geothermal waters and hard rock in the historic mining district of Cornwall.

Earlier this year, Watercycle Technologies became a Tier 2 Partner of the University's , allowing for access to lab space, state-of-the-art equipment and engineering and academic expertise at the UK’s leading institute for R&D and commercialisation of applications around graphene and 2D materials.

The ‘Smart’ grant is Innovate UK's responsive funding programme. It has focused eligibility criteria and scope to support SMEs and their partners to develop disruptive innovations with significant potential for rapid economic return to the UK.

Under the terms of the agreement, Watercycle will deliver a containerised filtration system to extract lithium from Cornish Lithium’s project in Cornwall at a pilot scale. The project, which includes an environmental impact assessment, is anticipated to complete in October 2023.  

Watercycle CEO Dr Seb Leaper said: “Having already proven that our proprietary filtration membranes and systems work in lab conditions, we are excited to be working with Cornish Lithium to demonstrate their scalability and accelerate the creation of a resilient, domestic lithium supply chain in the UK.  

"This agreement marks the next step in our development strategy as we look at the commercialisation of our technology, which is capable of treating a wide range of water types and can deliver dramatic reductions in costs, carbon emissions and water consumption compared with current processes.”

Watercycle co-founder and CTO Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim added: “It is great to be working with like-minded partners, Cornish Lithium and Innovate UK, which, like us, are focused on making a positive impact on the global transition through advancing innovative technologies. 

"Lithium is a critical element with EV demand set to grow 418% from 468 GWh this year to 2.4 TWh by 2030 and we are delighted to be part of that chain, offering a British solution to the challenge of primary lithium production, which is the first link within the wider EV supply chain.”

Dr Rebecca Paisley, Lead Geochemist at Cornish Lithium, said: “Cornish Lithium is keen to support projects from UK-based universities and the companies commercialising them, which we believe have the potential to be both game-changing and contribute to the UK’s Net Zero strategy. 

"Working with Watercycle in the development of a pilot system aligns strongly with our Research and Innovation strategy, as well as our continued efforts to trial multiple DLE technologies at pilot scale in Cornwall to establish the most effective and responsible process flow sheet. We have a good relationship with the Watercycle team and look forward to progressing the project over the next 12 months.”

For more information, visit . To discover how Swagֱ�� Innovation Factory helps academic and student inventors create social, economic and environmental impact with their work visit .

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

In the UK, the space sector is worth over £16.4 billion per year and employs more than 45,000 people, while satellites and space tech underpins £360 billion per year of wider economic activity. Globally, projections reveal that the space economy

To optimise opportunities in this booming market, organisations such as the European Space Agency are looking to build space habitats, including a and ultimately . However, these types of ambitious projects will require breakthroughs in new materials to help construct resilient structures and infrastructure.

In response to this challenge, Dr Vivek Koncherry - a University alumnus and now CEO of Graphene Innovations Swagֱ��, a start-up based at the - is looking to build pressurised vessels that will create a modular space station for Low Earth Orbit. These pioneering vessels are to be made from graphene-enhanced carbon fibre as the addition of this 2D material will lightweight the habitat, as well as lending its thermal management properties to help regulate extremes of temperature.

Dr Koncherry has been working closely with global architects SOM, who have been studying the complexity of space habitation for many years as they look to .

As space explorers of the future look to go beyond the Earth’s orbit, travelling from a graphene space ship to begin building bases on the Moon – or even Mars – Dr Koncherry’s colleague Dr Aled Roberts, also part of the GEIC, is conducting research to develop bio-based building materials.

Dr Roberts, who is also part of the , explains that one of the biggest challenges for “off-world habitat construction” is the transportation of building materials, which can cost upwards of £1m 'per brick’. Until the conceptual can be built, one solution, says Dr Roberts, could be using local resources, such as lunar or Martian soil to make building materials. This thinking has led to proposed products like (aka extraterrestrial regolith biocomposites), a material using the local planetary soil and a bio-based binder to make sturdy bricks to build space habitats.

To support this lunar or Martian construction work, artificial intelligence (AI) researchers at Swagֱ�� - who are expert in developing autonomous systems and resilient AI-powered robots - have helped develop sophisticated software to enable ‘co-bots’ to aid astronauts in exploration, in construction and in monitoring these new structures.

This work has been led by Professor Michael Fisher and his colleagues that form the . A specialism at Swagֱ�� involves designing and building AI-powered autonomous robots that can work in the harshest of environment, such as space, and can reliably undertake a wide range of tasks “on their own”.

Previous research in this field has looked to support improved capability of NASA’s Astronaut-Rover teams and the Swagֱ�� team continue their collaboration with NASA. Future manned missions to the Moon and Mars are expected to use autonomous rovers and robots to assist astronauts during extravehicular activity (EVA), including science, technical and construction operations.

“An important feature of the Swagֱ�� work is to develop and apply systems making sure these robots are trustworthy and do what we expect,” explained Professor Fisher.

Once a space habitat has been built, its human occupants will need to survive in their new environment - and NASA researchers have identified hydroponics as a suitable method for growing food in outer space. Swagֱ�� agri-tech experts are looking at the future of food production, which includes the application of hydroponics in vertical farming production.

Dr Beenish Siddique, founder of (below) , a UK government-backed enterprise which is also based in the GEIC, is leading a team to develop a pioneering a hydrogel called GelPonics.

This growth medium conserves water and filters out pathogens to protect plants from disease, while automated technology includes the use of a graphene-based sensor that allows remote monitoring and management of the irrigation management system. This process is much less labour intensive and ultimately the GelPonics system is designed to be used in the harshest of environments.

Combining two strengths – advanced materials and trustworthy automation – to create a USP for space

Space is a fast-growing opportunity for exponential market growth - and provides an arena for the UK engineering sector to apply its world-leading expertise. The R&D being pioneered by experts at Swagֱ�� to deliver revolutionary innovation in space habitat technology provides a model approach.

Swagֱ�� has combined two of its key engineering strengths – advanced materials and autonomous systems – to find a unique proposition on space tech innovation.

Dr Vivek Koncherry says: “If you want to implement nanomaterials - or indeed the next generation of advanced materials - into space application you will also need automation.

“In Swagֱ��, everything comes together – you have expertise in both advanced materials and automated systems. The skilled people we need to work with are based in the same place, which creates a unique proposition.”

Dr Koncherry has built a pilot digital manufacturing line, designed to handle materials of the future by integrating robotics, AI and IoT systems in his state-of-the-art Alchemy Lab based in the GEIC (above). He has an ambition to grow the manufacturing base in Greater Swagֱ�� and from this provide a model to underpin the UK’s national capability to making advanced products.

"Dr Koncherry adds: “Space is at the tipping point of being accessible to the commercial mainstream - the opportunities this provides are boundless. Just like in the original industrial revolution, Swagֱ�� now finds itself with the right innovation at the right time to capitalise on the space revolution.”

To find out more about Swagֱ��’s contribution to the space sector read: 

Joe Wilson, Nathan Lumb and Dr Paul Wiper ran an 11km leg from their workplace, the GEIC) as part of the event, a 7,000km non-stop relay from Glasgow – which hosted the – to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which will stage the next edition. 

The Graphene Harriers took up the baton at 05:40 BST for Stage 57 of the relay, from the GEIC to Stockport Railway Station. 

The GEIC was chosen as a milestone on the Running Out of Time route because of the pioneering applications of the nanomaterial graphene into a diverse range of net-zero applications, including sustainable building materials, lightweight composites, next-gen battery technologies and improved recyclability of materials.   

The baton handover took place on the service road outside the centre, where the parking bay is made with a type of graphene-enhanced concrete, Concretene, laid in 2021 as part of a number of ‘living lab’ trials into this innovative and emissions-busting new building material.

Our volunteer runners were eager to get on the road, despite the early-morning call. “Nothing beats running first thing in the morning - even at 5am!” said Joe, Reception and Administrative Assistant at GEIC. “It sets the rest of the day on the right path and it’s a great feeling, getting your exercise done before most people, who are now starting their day!”

The trio wore inov-8 running shoes – featuring award-winning tech developed with the National Graphene Institute to improve wear and comfort. This technology has recently been shortlisted for a .

“As team we are all very aware that we are in a race against time in finding solutions that will help tackle climate change,” said Application Manager, Paul.  

“We were very proud to play our part in the Running Out of Time relay challenge and to help in delivering a message on climate change to key decision-makers.” 

Project manager Nathan is part of the GEIC business development team, working with industrial partners to deliver schemes aimed at sustainability, such as Concretene. He added: “It’s a good example of GEIC teamwork, and not just those of us running – it’s created conversations in the office. It demonstrates the work that we are all doing towards better solutions.” 

You can watch a film that spells out all that graphene and the GEIC team are doing to address climate change: 

Firstly the assembled finalists and guests heard from Physics alumnus and founder of global flash-memory giant, SanDisk, Dr. Eli Harari joined the awards event as a guest speaker, live from the USA. He described the aim of the competition, since it started in 2013, to encourage students, researchers and visionaries toward innovation and risk taking. He also highlighted Swagֱ��’s development as the ‘Graphene City’ and how this was reminiscent of the early years and potential of Silicon Valley and concluded with  advice for the competition finalists.

Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award Winners

The award winners were announced and presentations made by chair of the judging panel Professor Luke Georghiou, Deputy-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Swagֱ��.

First prize of £50,000 was awarded to Dr. Aled D. Roberts, Research Fellow  (School of Natural Sciences) and his team (Aoife Taylor, Helen Park and Sunny Vowles) at . This venture is developing  a green, bioinspired alternative to ceramic tiles that not only avoids energy-intensive firing, but also consists of captured carbon dioxide in the form of  carbonate minerals.

Professor Luke Georghiou presenting first prize to Aled Roberts and Aoife Taylor.

Taking inspiration from natural materials such as pearl and seashells, then using natural chlorophyll resources to give colour, they have developed a bio-based composite (biocomposite) material that will incorporate graphene to meet strict performance requirements necessary for commercialisation - by improving flexural strength and hydrophobicity.

The Graphene Bio-tiles (GBT) stand out from the competition by having a far lower (and potentially negative) carbon footprint compared to conventional ceramic tiles.

Aled commented: “Our team was immensely humbled and honoured to have won the 2022 Harari Graphene Enterprise Award. We honestly weren’t expecting to win, given the strength of the competition this year, and we were speechless when the announcement was made. Now that its sunk in, we’re really excited for what we’ll be able to achieve with this transformational amount of funding. We plan to use the prize money to expand from my cellar and kitchen into some proper laboratory facilities – my wife isn’t too happy about the 50-tonne hydraulic press that currently occupies the living room, or when I accidentally made a poison gas in the microwave. We’re also looking forward to dedicating our full effort to developing our materials, rather than being limited to evenings and weekends. We’re also excited to obtain some high-quality characterisation of our materials at the (GEIC) in Swagֱ��, as we have largely depended on favours from friends and free testing done at trade-shows to date.”

In second place and claiming the £20,000 prize was Joseph Neilson with G-Sense, using atomically thin monolayers of graphene as the strain sensing element in transparent, precise, stretchable, and wide-area strain sensing applications from aerospace to fitness tracking. This technology opens new opportunities for making air and road travel safer, reducing glass waste, and delivering unprecedented transparent sensing functionality for an increasingly interconnected world. 

Joseph commented: “I am incredibly grateful towards all the organisers, and to Eli and Britt Harari for funding the award, which presents excellent opportunities for innovation breakthroughs using graphene. I am also grateful for the staff at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre, for all their help and fruitful discussions over the past few months. I was elated, and a little bit shocked, to win the £20,000 prize, which will allow us to upgrade our deposition equipment, scaling up the maximum area of G-Sense films from 25 square centimetres to over 600 square centimetres. With the support of and , we are confident that we can secure additional investment to fund the future of G-Sense and grow the business’”.

This year also saw the inclusion of an additional prize that celebrates the University's position leading the world on sustainable development. The first winners of the £10,000 Eli Harari Sustainability award were Omar Haroun and Gergana Ivanova from . Nanograft aim to develop a neuroprosthetic device that allows amputees to feel the ground as they walk with their prosthetic leg. The device takes pressure input from an insole equipped with sensors and transmits this signal to the severed leg's nerves. By stimulating the nerves once again this technology could potentially help to alleviate phantom limb pain more effectively as well as improve the comfort and quality of life of the patient.

Omar commented: "The team at NanoGraft are wholeheartedly delighted to receive the first ever Sustainability Award for the 2022 Harari Graphene Enterprise Awards at AMBS. As undergraduate Material Science and Engineering students at Swagֱ��, this award exists as a celebration of the academic excellence of our institution. Looking back at all those who have won this prestigious award, and where they are now, this strengthens our resolve to follow in their footsteps and push the boundaries of neuroprosthetics."

Introducing the Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2022 Finalists

The three winning teams were selected by a panel of professional judges from a shortlist of five finalists all seeking to secure funding to drive their ideas forward. Watch the video to find out more.

The award is co-funded by the North American Foundation for Swagֱ�� through the support of Dr. Eli Harari and his wife, Britt. It recognises the role that high-level, flexible, early-stage financial support can play in the successful development of a business targeting the full commercialisation of a product or technology related to research in graphene and 2D materials.

Dr Koncherry, who is based at the University‘s world-class materials innovation accelerator, the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), is developing a range of products exploiting breakthrough nanomaterial technology.

But to get this innovation to a mass market, Dr Koncherry recognises that manufacturing systems also need to keep pace – so he has built a pilot digital manufacturing line in the GEIC designed to handle materials of the future by integrating robotics, AI and IoT systems. 

“The first industrial revolution in Swagֱ�� was world famous for its textiles and weaving technologies and we are at the start of the next industrial revolution – but this time we are to use advanced materials and advanced manufacturing processes,” he said.  

“So, if you want to implement nanomaterials or the next generation of materials into the marketplace you will also need automation and the next level of advanced manufacturing to remain competitive at a global scale.

“In Swagֱ��, everything comes together – you have expertise in both advanced materials and automated systems. The skilled people we need to work with are based in the same place, which creates a unique proposition.”

This “unique proposition” has, in fact, already helped Dr Koncherry attract inward investment from North America, with $5 million (£3.6m) being put into his start-up Graphene Innovations Swagֱ�� (GIM).

Dr Koncherry and his team at GIM (including robotics expert Jinseong Park, pictured top) are developing a range of products, including mats and floor coverings made from recycled materials (such as rubber from car tyres) to pioneering pressurised vessels made from a graphene-enhanced composite material. These components can be applied to hydrogen storage on earth or creating a habitat for living in space.  

Dr Koncherry has an ambition to grow the manufacturing base in Greater Swagֱ�� and from this provide a model to underpin the UK’s national capability to making advanced products.  

To find out more about Dr Koncherry’s pioneering work and also how graphene-based composite technology is a key to lightweighting in sectors including aerospace and automotive, watch the film below:

Direct lithium extraction (DLE) is a vital process in the push towards self-sufficiency for the UK and Europe in lithium, a key component in modern battery technology.

Led by Sebastian Leaper, a former PhD student from the Department of Materials at Swagֱ��, has taken Tier 2 membership of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), with lab space and access to advanced 2D materials facilities and expertise in prototyping. 

The pre-seed funding round has been led by , an investor focused on innovations around sustainability. 

Recovery from battery recycling

Watercycle Technologies has already demonstrated that its solutions can extract lithium from UK-based brines and can recover it from lithium batteries during the recycling process. This investment will allow the business to further develop their prototype solutions and test them at scale at live extraction and recycling locations.

The technology also shows the potential to refine the lithium up to battery-grade, which will allow the processing of battery-grade lithium to occur at production sites around the world. Together, these capabilities could significantly improve the environmental footprint of lithium production for EVs.

Dr Sebastian Leaper, CEO of Watercycle Technologies Limited, explains: “Our lives are increasingly dependent on the ebb and flow of lithium ions. They store and transport an ever-greater portion of the energy we need for our devices, cars and power grid and enable us to transition away from fossil fuels. 

“Access to significant quantities of low-cost, low-carbon lithium is fundamental to tackling climate change and we at Watercycle Technologies are striving to make this possible,” he adds. "We are very grateful for the support of Aer Ventures in this journey, as they share our ambition to help build a sustainable, circular economy for future generations to enjoy."

Chris Rowley, Managing Partner of Aer Ventures, said: “Watercycle Technologies is exactly the type of business we exist to support. With a sustainable vision and a proven technology, the business has the potential to solve one of our major environmental problems – the need for critical minerals to support the transition to Net Zero. 

"With serious commentators such as the International Energy Agency estimating the world could require over 50 times more lithium by 2040 than it produced in 2020, the innovation Watercycle Technologies provides has never been more essential and we are pleased to support the business in taking this game-changing technology to market.”

Andrew Wilkinson, CEO of , said: “This new University of Swagֱ�� spinout has amazing potential to significantly reduce the cost and environmental impact of lithium production. It also enables countries with access to lithium-rich brines and recycled batteries, like the UK, to become self-sufficient in this strategically vital raw material. Although initially focusing on the extraction of lithium salts, Watercycle Technologies’ membranes and systems can easily be adapted to extract other high-value materials and be used in applications such as desalination.”

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

The company, chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill and led by Chief Executive Duncan Johnson, is expected to begin deploying capital and making its first investments in innovative start-ups over the coming weeks.

Northern Gritstone has attracted funding commitments from a broad and diverse base of investors encompassing local authority pension funds, high net worth individuals, institutional investors and real estate investors active in the tech and science ecosystem of the region.

These include Greater Swagֱ�� Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, M&G, Columbia Threadneedle, Lansdowne Partners, Bruntwood and Greater Swagֱ�� Combined Authority as well as Andrew Law, the CEO of Caxton Associates, and Keith Breslauer, Managing Director and founder of Patron Capital, both in a personal capacity.

With plans to raise £500m overall, having hit this initial fundraising milestone the company will continue to welcome further backers over the coming months. Now that the first close has been achieved, Northern Gritstone plans to begin making its initial investments into its proprietary pipeline of world class science and innovation based businesses located in the North of England.

Having launched in July 2021, Northern Gritstone was founded by the Universities of Leeds, Swagֱ�� and Sheffield to support the commercialisation of science and IP-rich businesses originating from these three research-led institutions. Many of these opportunities are in the UK’s most exciting emerging sectors such as advanced materials, health technology, cognitive computation and AI.

Northern Gritstone was founded with the philosophy of ‘profit with purpose’, combining attractive returns for shareholders with wider positive, societal and economic impact, including supporting Levelling Up and high-skilled job creation in the north of England.

It announced the appointment of its first Chief Investment Officer, Marion Bernard, in December and this month has added James Hadley to its leadership team as CFO, who brings more than two decades’ experience working in the financial services sector, including most recently as CFO at a tech-focused venture capital investor.

In its fundraising Northern Gritstone was advised by Lazard Venture and Growth Banking led by Garri Jones. Its legal advisers are Macfarlanes and Pinsent Masons.

Swagֱ�� Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Luke Georghiou – who is responsible for business engagement and commercialisation activities at the institution – said: "Northern Gritstone will transform the investment landscape for our spin-out companies and for the North of England more generally. 

"Our academic entrepreneurs, supported by the University’s Innovation Factory, have produced record numbers of spin-outs in the past two years. This huge potential can now be far more easily realised as the investments will enable them to scale-up businesses which are there to solve the world’s problems. 

“These include new treatments for devastating medical conditions, transformative applications of data analytics to farming and exploiting the amazing properties of graphene across multiple applications to name just a few.”

Commenting, Northern Gritstone Chairman Lord Jim O’Neill said: “The strong endorsement of Northern Gritstone we’ve seen from investors is testament to the huge scale of the opportunity in northern England’s world class science and innovation hubs and the spin outs they are producing. By investing in Northern Gritstone, asset managers are directly buying into the brightest prospects for Britain’s future economy.

 “Today marks a significant milestone as Northern Gritstone continues to build its investor base allowing the company to deliver its philosophy of Profit with Purpose which underpins all we seek to do.”

Northern Gritstone Chief Executive Duncan Johnson added: “There is rightly huge excitement about the innovative, science-led spin outs emerging from our leading research universities and the ecosystems they support, and this has been reflected in our conversations with investors so far. We are greatly encouraged by both the size of our first close, and also the range and quality of investors that the Northern Gritstone proposition has attracted.

“Whilst fundraising will continue, this first close and the backing that Northern Gritstone has received from investors so far, allows us to begin making our first investments shortly. It also importantly enables us, alongside our friends and colleagues in the wider northern venture ecosystem, to accelerate the development of a northern innovation hub to rival the UK’s Silicon Fen and ultimately Silicon Valley.” 

Vector Homes, Genvida and Watercycle Technologies have signed new Tier 2 agreements, while Bullitt – designers of rugged tech for phones – and aerospace giant Airbus have re-signed, also as Tier 2s.

Our Affiliate Partner scheme is growing as well, with HDH Accountants added to the list.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “These partnerships demonstrate some of the range of our application work here at the GEIC: from sustainable construction to DNA sequencing and advanced membrane technology.

“We look forward to working with our new partners and also with those renewing terms. As much as we like getting new partners, it’s just as important to ensure our existing partners are seeing success in projects and wanting to take that work forward.”

Vector Homes

Swagֱ��-based uses graphene-enhanced recycled materials to produce the unique standardised components of its houses. The company’s products will have greatly reduced embodied carbon and will not contribute to deforestation, quarrying and mining.

The housing systems can be extended flexibly and are optimised for rapid maintenance, modification and technology incorporation.

Projects already lined up at the GEIC aim to take advantage of the expertise of the engineering staff and state-of-the-art equipment to push the technology forward alongside the firm’s supply chain.

Nathan Feddy, CEO and co-founder (pictured), said: “We are delighted to be joining the GEIC at the centre of Swagֱ��'s world-leading advanced materials ecosystem. This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to develop the materials and systems that will enable us to achieve our goal of cutting carbon emissions and the costs of construction.”

Genvida

Hong Kong-based combines nanoscience and biotechnology, focusing on fourth-generation DNA sequencing technology. Its globally patented SONAS® platform (a solid-state nanopore sensor array-based technology) resolves the bottleneck in DNA sequencing and single-molecule sensing.

SONAS® streamlines each step in genome sequencing, from smart sample preparation to rapid and precise sequencing and single-molecule identification in a fully automated ‘lab-on-a-chip’. This enables real-time and on-site diagnostics with a cloud-based bioinformatics suite.

Dr Ka Wai Wong, co-founder and Vice President of R&D at Genvida, (pictured) said: “Our partnership with the GEIC seeks to unleash the power of fourth-generation DNA sequencing and single-molecule sensing with graphene and 2D materials integrated solid-state nanopores.”

Watercycle Technologies

Led by UoM alumnus Seb Leaper, Watercycle Technologies is a spin-out company from the University of Swagֱ�� developing water treatment and mineral recovery systems for a range of industries, including mining, desalination, textiles and others. The company is currently focusing on direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology to help reduce the environmental impact of established lithium extraction processes such as mining and chemical conversion.

• Watercycle Technologies in Swagֱ�� Evening News

HDH Accountants

Salford-based specialise in the technology and manufacturing sector, advising firms on business growth strategy with individually tailored plans. The firm joins our Affiliate Partner scheme, looking to build relationships within the growing innovation community at the GEIC.

Anthony Hurley, Managing Director of HDH, said: “Joining the GEIC has been an amazing experience – we’ve met some amazing people and businesses and have been genuinely blown away by the opportunities and innovation happening here. 

"We’ve already worked with several GEIC partners, providing everything from start-up advice, monthly finance and tax support through to supporting grant applications. Joining the GEIC has been great for our business and I’m looking forward to learning more and working with lots of other talented people in the future!”
 

Graphene@Swagֱ�� offers a range of options for industrial engagement. You can explore the benefits of different membership grades on  or fill in the to get in touch directly. A full list of our partners is available on .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

The awards event, held on Monday 14 March at the Samsung KX venue in London’s King’s Cross, was a precursor to the main CogX Festival, an annual conference held every summer in the capital, focusing on advanced technology, data science and AI.

The winners were decided by of academics and tech industry experts, who ran the rule over entries in six categories: Recognising Leadership, Best Innovation, Best Tech Product, Global Goals, Outstanding Research and Achievements and Best Climate Innovation.

Among 24 prizes on offer in the Innovation categories, four went to graphene-related products and projects, all four being part of the Graphene@Swagֱ�� community, as follows:

Best Climate Change Innovation in Carbon Emissions and Clean Energy

- low-carbon concrete developed by Nationwide Engineering Group and Swagֱ��’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre and Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering.

Best Innovation (Food Tech):

- technologies around vertical farming to minimise water waste, energy consumption and cost, led by Dr Beenish Siddique.

Best Innovation (Diagnostics): 

Dr Rob Wykes at - for work around epilepsy using graphene to develop flexible, highly sensitive neural probes.

Best Innovation (Space):

Graphene Space Habitat – design concept and composites technology for space habitation by Dr Vivek Koncherry and global architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

Chief Executive of Graphene@Swagֱ�� James Baker said: “I’m really pleased for the companies and groups involved in these projects. Sometimes we haven’t been as quick as we might to put ourselves forward for these sorts of awards, so it’s great to see to see recognition for the hard work that’s gone into all of these innovations. I look forward to us playing our part in the conference in June.”

Dr Rob Wykes said he was delighted to win the award. “Dissemination of this collaborative scientific work to a larger audience through the CogX platform will bring to the public’s attention the advantages of graphene-based brain interface devices,” he added.

“This work specifically highlights the innovation of graphene micro-transistor arrays, and their superior ability to record a wide range pathological brain signals associated with several common neurological conditions, in particular epilepsy. We believe that future clinical translation of this technology will result in a diagnostic tool that promises to improve patient management and treatment options.”

In addition to the awards, CogX invited Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation, to explain how the UK tech community can help the humanitarian crisis in eastern Europe. Bornyakov was introduced by Chris Philp MP, Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, who gave opening remarks and a call-to-action for the UK community.

The CogX Festival runs from 13-15 June. Find out more about how you can get involved at .

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material, is a game-changing UK discovery and its properties make it one of the most important breakthroughs in recent memory. Graphene is a wonder material, with incredible electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties.

Prizes of £50,000 and £20,000 will be awarded to the individuals or teams who can best demonstrate how their technology relating to graphene or other 2D materials could be applied to a viable commercial opportunity. This year will also see the inclusion of an additional prize that celebrates the University's position leading the world on sustainable development, more to follow!

Applications will be judged on the strength of their business plan to develop a new graphene-related business. The award then becomes seed funding to allow the candidate to take the first steps towards realising this plan. It recognises the role that high-level, flexible early-stage financial support can play in the successful development of a business targeting the full commercialisation of a product or technology related to research in graphene.

Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2022: introduction and overview

Join us on Tuesday 10 May and hear from Tony Walker, Deputy Director of the , who will give an overview of the competition, and share with you hints and tips as to what the judges will be looking for in your application.

You will learn about the support available to support you with your application and how to access this

We're also pleased to welcome and introduce you to a previous winner of the competition, who can share with you their experience and how they have progressed with their idea since being involved with the Harari programme.

The final deadline for completed competition entries is midday on Friday, 10 June 2022.

Key Dates*

• Monday, 14 February - competition opens for expressions of interest
• Tuesday, 10 May -
• Week of 23 May - meet with application experts from GEIC
• Week of 30 May - meet with commercialisation experts
• Friday, 10 June - entry deadline, 12pm
• Wednesday, 15 June – Finalists notified
• Monday, 27 June - Finalists invited to pitch to Mock Panel
• Thursday, 30 June - Finalists invited to pitch in the Final Judging Panel
• Monday, 4 July - Final Judging Panel
• Friday, 8 July - Winners Awards Event

*timings may vary 

This new investment recognises AEH's breakthrough contribution to a more sustainable future by using a unique hydrogel - branded GelPonic and developed in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) - as a growing medium that is biodegradable and fully sustainable.

The pioneering technology will reduce the use of fresh water in agriculture and therefore enable nations like the UK to grow a wider range of indigenous foods – so reducing  “food miles” – while enabling better yields for farmers in developing nations, where poor quality soils and limited rainfall put pressure on water supply and productivity.

Investment in Greater Swagֱ��

Terra Sana's investment will provide AEH with capability to fully develop its vertical farming system and to set up a manufacturing facility in Greater Swagֱ��. The new funding is for an initial sum of £1.5m with a follow-on option to subscribe for £2m in 18 months – and it builds on a £1m investment already made by Innovation UK to AEH.

CEO and founder Beenish Siddique said the new funding was welcome as it will accelerate already established sales opportunities for its GelPonic systems on a global basis. Beenish added that this major investment could provide a boost to female entrepreneurs. 

AEH is based in the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), the world-leading materials innovation accelerator based at Swagֱ��. The company was initially supported through the programme, and the move to the GEIC came after AEH Director Dr Farid Khan arranged initial match funding for the subsequent £1m Innovate UK grant.

Ray Gibbs, Chairman of AEH, said: “Setting up AEH in the GEIC gave the company a platform to fast-track its product development. Fundamentally, the government-backed grant awarded in 2020 has been vindicated, with the original investment now being trebled with private sector funding. What’s more, this private backing is new investment coming into Greater Swagֱ�� and the UK from North America and offers us both UK and international sales opportunities for our GelPonic products.“

Richard Willett, an investor in Terra Sana, has taken a board position in AEH along with Professor Robert Field, Director of the Swagֱ�� Institute of Biotechnology, at Swagֱ��, who will sit on the technical advisory board.

Richard said: “We are delighted to invest in AEH with Beenish as the visionary behind the company. This international partnership will open new overseas market opportunities, including the fast-growing North American market, where Terra Sana has strong links and already established orders. The AEH gel offers significant opportunities in improving soil in impoverished regions and we see enormous potential in the North American vertical farming market that is forecast to reach over $6,500 million by 2028 [1].”

Notes to editors

1)     

About Terra Sana (TS)

TS is a newly formed Canadian company set up to invest in and operate highly advanced indoor growing facilities, biotechnology and vertical farming. It aims to incorporate revolutionary and scalable products and systems that will make an effective, measurable and sustainable impact on solving the global challenge of scarce water and food shortages against a forecast growth in world population to 10 billion by 2050. It is setting up hi-tech greenhouse growing in Mexico designed to meet food produce orders secured from the USA.

About AEH Innovative Hydrogel Limited;

AEH is a start-up founded in late 2018 by entrepreneur Dr Beenish Siddique, who developed a food-based fully recyclable hydroponic gel. Beenish won initial funding from the Eli and Brit Harari Graphene Enterprise competition.  The initial focus on the novel hydrogel growing media is designed to reduce food production costs, improve quality and lower environmental impact. This award winning agri-tech business had a major breakthrough in 2020 when it won a £1m+ grant from Innovate UK to develop a new GelPonic system for vertical farming, offering significantly reduced costs, carbon emissions and water consumption. AEH is based in the University of Swagֱ��’s . 

Its technical validation is being performed by the UK backed organisation. CHAP brings together scientists, farmers, advisors and pioneers to advance crop productivity and yield around the world. 

Professor Robert Field has been appointed to the AEH Technical Advisory Board and heads up the .

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

GIIM, a company dedicated to the acceleration and deployment of graphene research, will be headquartered at the (GEIC), part of Swagֱ��, United Kingdom.

The partnership with the GEIC enables GIIM to equip a private lab in the facility, with access to highly specialised applications labs and equipment, plus the unique academic and engineering expertise of the world-leading graphene and 2D materials community at the University.

GIIM is part of the global group . (GII), led by entrepreneur investors Tom Hirsch (CEO and Growth Officer) and Mark Diamond (Chairman).

Now CEO UK and Europe of GIIM, Dr Koncherry was formerly a post-doctoral Impact Research Fellow in the University’s Department of Materials. His two start-ups were spun into the GEIC: (recycled rubber flooring) and Graphene Space Habitat, designed by global architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill ().

Dr Koncherry benefited from the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Bridging the Gap programme and his work led him to win first prizes at the Eli Harari Graphene Enterprise Awards and the EPSRC Future Composites Manufacturing Hub researchers’ competition in artificial intelligence and internet-of-things. This background fuelled the creation of GIIM, with its first base at the GEIC lab, and the proposed establishment of a larger manufacturing facility in Swagֱ��.

GIIM joins the GEIC with the backing of around $5 million (£3.6m) of overseas investment, with a further significant investment in the pipeline for advanced manufacturing capability for construction material in . This funding is subject to the development of new graphene-based products – which is set to include sustainable building materials made from recycled materials – and the investment package is being led by GII (Graphene Innovations Inc) [1].    

With the funding the Swagֱ��-based GIIM plans to hire at least 10 people in the first half of 2022, with plans for further appointments later in the year ….

“The accelerated research and global commercialisation of graphene-based products like batteries, solar cells, hydrogen fuel tanks, space habitat, recycled rubber, and sustainable construction materials using advanced robotics, conducted by GIIM’s elite team, will truly put Swagֱ�� on the world map as the epicentre for commercial graphene research and innovation.” Tom Hirsch (CEO, GII).

"We are excited to see how this international investment into GIIM can help create Swagֱ��-based, high-value, sustainable jobs in the UK that in turn can create global impact and address important strategic areas like international space exploration at a large scale. This further supports the Swagֱ�� region in general as a hotbed of graphene activities and international sales to benefit the UK economy.” Mark Diamond (Chairman, GII).

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Dr Vivek Koncherry, an example of the exceptional talent that exists at Swagֱ��, who we have supported initially as an SME/Spin-in company through our Bridging the Gap programme and now through investment as a key Tier 1 partner to the GEIC. We look forward to further developing this relationship and supporting the GIIM business in its acceleration of graphene-enhanced products and capabilities to the market.” James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��.

“GIIM’s partnership with the GEIC further adds to Greater Swagֱ��’s credentials as a globally unrivalled concentration of graphene expertise. We’re looking forward to welcoming the diverse talent GIIM will attract to the city region and to supporting this exciting wave of innovation. Not only will it revolutionise technologies internationally, but it will also help us to explore habitation beyond Earth in a sustainable way.” Tim Newns, Chief Executive of MIDAS Greater Swagֱ��’s inward investment agency.

“At GIIM, we believe anything is possible for creating global impact through our innovative work. I am grateful to the support of James Baker, Swagֱ��, Greater Swagֱ�� and the new colleague’s Tom Hirsch, Mark Diamond and others for facilitating the work done as a run-up to the successful stage where we are at today.” Dr Vivek Koncherry (CEO, GIIM UK and Europe).

 is one of Swagֱ��’s  - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons.

Notes to Editors

[1] Graphene Innovations Inc (GII) is a global graphene investment and entrepreneurship company that will lead on bringing products developed by GIIM to North American markets. Greater Swagֱ��-based GIIM will focus on new product development in the UK and be responsible for retailing these products to UK and European markets. 

The graphene depth neural probe (gDNP) consists of a millimetre-long linear array of micro-transistors imbedded in a micrometre-thin polymeric flexible substrate. The transistors were developed by a collaboration Swagֱ��’s and UCL’s Institute of Neurology along with their Graphene Flagship partners.

The paper, published today in , shows that the unique flexible brain probes can be used to record pathological brain signals associated with epilepsy with excellent fidelity and high spatial resolution.

Dr Rob Wykes of Swagֱ��’s team said: “Application of this technology will allow researchers to investigate the role infraslow oscillations play in promoting susceptibility windows for the transition to seizure, as well as improving detection of clinically relevant electrophysiological biomarkers associated with epilepsy.”

The flexible gDNP devices were chronically implanted in mice with epilepsy. The implanted devices provided outstanding spatial resolution and very rich wide bandwidth recording of epileptic brain signals over weeks. In addition, extensive chronic biocompatibility tests confirmed no significant tissue damage and neuro-inflammation, attributed to the biocompatibility of the used materials, including graphene, and the flexible nature of the gDNP device.

The ability to record and map the full range of brain signals using electrophysiological probes will greatly advance our understanding of brain diseases and aid the clinical management of patients with diverse neurological disorders. Current technologies are limited in their ability to accurately obtain with high spatial fidelity ultraslow brain signals.

Epilepsy is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide, with up to 30% of people unable to control their seizures using traditional anti-epileptic drugs. For drug-refractory patients, epilepsy surgery may be a viable option. Surgical removal of the area of the brain where the seizures first start can result in seizure freedom; however, the success of surgery relies on accurately identifying the seizure onset zone (SOZ).

Epileptic signals span over a wide range of frequencies –much larger than the band monitored in conventionally used scans. Electrographic biomarkers of a SOZ include very fast oscillations as well as infraslow activity and direct-current (DC) shifts.

Implementing this new technology could allow researchers to investigate the role infraslow oscillations play in promoting susceptibility windows for the transition to seizure, as well as improving detection of clinically relevant electrophysiological biomarkers associated with epilepsy.

Future clinical translation of this new technology offers the possibility to identify and confine much more precisely the zones of the brain responsible for seizure onset before surgery, leading to less extensive resections and better outcomes. Ultimately, this technology can also be applied to improve our understanding of other neurological diseases associated with ultraslow brain signals, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke and migraine.

The paper: Full bandwidth electrophysiology of seizures and epileptiform activity enabled by flexible graphene micro-transistor depth neural probes. Nature Nanotechnology, 2021.

Competitors from across the UK gathered to test their skills, with a crime-scene experiment being set up in the Great Hall in the Sackville Street Building (pictured below) and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) offering a hub room and lab spaces for both sets of contestants to demonstrate their technical skills.

The competitors completed two days of experiments under close scrutiny from judges and VIP guests from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Science Council and WorldSkills.

Regional qualifiers

Previously, two of our apprentices competed in the WorldSkills Regional Competition for Laboratory Science in June. Both Sam Davies and Thomas Sherratt (pictured below) have been on the Technical Apprenticeship Programme for three years and are in their second-year of their Laboratory Science degrees. They completed a range of experiments from organic synthesis to separation techniques. Thomas (left) qualified for the National competition.

The results of the National Finals were broadcast live on Channel 4 on Friday 26 November as part of the Steph’s Packed Lunch programme, hosted by Steph McGovern. Although Thomas was not a medal winner, getting to the position he did was a significant achievement, and he will continue to be a skills champion for apprentices at the university.

The winners of the two categories hosted at the GEIC were both from Wales: Paige Tynan from Wrexham Glyndwr University (Forensic Science) and Joel Farrant from Coleg Gower (Laboratory Technician). Congratulations to both and to all the competition's medal winners and contestants. A full list of medallists can be found at .

Find out more about technical apprenticeships at Swagֱ�� and how you can get involved at

Victrex, Molymem and Survitec have signed up to become Tier 2 partners, offering access to labs, world-leading equipment and expertise in engineering solutions for graphene and other 2D materials.

Ivan Buckley, Director of Business Engagement for Graphene@Swagֱ��, said: “We’re delighted to welcome our new partners to our growing list of industrial collaborations.

“The GEIC was created to help companies take innovation rapidly from lab to market and these product areas and services – from advanced polymers and membranes to life-saving equipment and advice on R&D finance – show the range of possibilities across graphene and other 2D materials that we are able to accommodate with our engineering and business expertise.”

“We look forward to working closely with our new and existing partners to build fruitful partnerships and successful products and applications.”

Victrex

Lancashire-based Victrex is a manufacturer of high-performance materials, specialising in thermoplastic polymers.

The company focuses on six core markets - aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics, manufacturing and engineering, and medical - and is looking to address sustainability challenges with advanced materials engineering across those sectors. 

Dr John Grasmeder, Chief Scientist at Victrex, said: “Victrex is delighted to have partnered with Graphene@Swagֱ��, as this will enable us to work together to accelerate innovation and create global opportunities for sustainable, graphene-containing high-performance materials. We look forward to a successful collaboration with the GEIC and its partners.”

Molymem

A spin-out from Swagֱ��, Molymem has developed a membrane technology using 2D material molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), aimed at a range of industrial processes for purification, reducing fouling and minimising the use of harsh chemicals for cleaning.

Molymem co-founder Dr Mark Bissett is also a senior lecturer in nanomaterials at Swagֱ��. He said: “As a University of Swagֱ�� spin out, it is logical for Molymem to be based within the GEIC as this allows us access to facilities to scale up our technology.

“We have been working with the GEIC for over two years now, and are working with a variety of commercial partners to use our technology to solve their specific needs in filtration and the removal of pollutants from water.”

Survitec

Survitec and the GEIC have partnered in order to promote new and novel materials for use in life-saving equipment. This partnership will allow Survitec to continue to achieve its vision as being the most trusted company for critical safety and survival equipment.

“We’re excited to have kicked off multiple projects with the team at the GEIC and look forward to realising some of the opportunities we have identified together to ultimately satisfy Survitec’s purpose of ‘existing to protect lives’,” said Martin Whittaker, Survitec CEO (Aerospace and Defence).

“As demand for new and novel materials increases in support of 6^th-generation aircraft and other next-generation platforms, the partnership with GEIC epitomises Survitec’s commitment to working closely with world-leading academic and industrial institutions.”

Meanwhile, Counting King - an expert in finance and tax credits for R&D - has taken affiliate membership and Applied Graphene Materials - a producers of high-quality graphene nanoplatelets and dispersions - has taken advantage of our deal that allows members of (also a Tier 2 partner) to enjoy certain benefits of GEIC membership.

Graphene@Swagֱ�� offers a range of options for industrial engagement. You can explore the benefits of different membership grades on  or fill in the to get in touch directly. A full list of our partners is available on .

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Concretene uses graphene – the revolutionary 2D material discovered in Swagֱ�� – to significantly improve the mechanical performance of concrete, allowing for reductions in the amount of material used and the need for steel reinforcement. This can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30% and drive down costs, meaning Concretene is both greener and cheaper for developers.

At Mayfield, it has been used to create a new 54x14-metre mezzanine floor, which will become a roller disco at the popular Escape to Freight Island attraction in Mayfield’s vast site, a former railway depot.

The installation is the first ever commercial use of Concretene in a suspended slab and marks an important step towards testing and developing it as a widely-used building material, allowing it to be used as a substitute for concrete on an industrial scale.

The Concretene pour builds on Swagֱ��’s reputation as a city of world-leading innovations dating back to the Industrial Revolution, and reinforces Mayfield’s return to prominence in the city amid a .

• MP attends showcase for Swagֱ��'s emissions-busing concrete
• GEIC hosts first exterior pour of graphene-enhanced Concretene
•  (YouTube video)

The material has been developed by the University of Swagֱ��’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and Nationwide Engineering, an innovative company co-founded by a former University of Swagֱ�� civil engineering graduate, Alex McDermott.

“This is a huge milestone for the team, as not only is this our first commercial, third-party use of Concretene, but also the first suspended slab as used in high-rise developments.”

“As world leaders in graphene-enhanced concrete technology, the interest from the international building industry has been beyond expectations, as looming legislation is forcing significant carbon reductions throughout construction.”

“Our partnership with the University has fast-tracked the development of Concretene, going from lab to product in 18 months,” added Nationwide Engineering co-founder Rob Hibberd.

Less material, less time

Concretene has great potential to address the construction industry’s need to lower emissions, by reducing the amount of concrete required in construction projects by as much as 30%. It also offers efficiency savings by slashing drying time. Pours of Concretene to date have achieved the equivalent of 28-day strength in just 12 hours.

James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ�� at the University, said: “We’re delighted to play a part in this exciting project at Mayfield, showcasing how our research can translate into real-world outcomes for sustainability that can be adopted by business and make a major contribution to the city region’s ambitions for net-zero by 2038.

“This Swagֱ��-based technology can also contribute to levelling up by positioning our region as a global R&D centre for sustainable materials for the construction industry – attracting investment, creating new businesses and offering high-wage jobs.”

Arlene van Bosch, Development Director, U+I, added: “Our ambition is for Mayfield to become an exemplar sustainable neighbourhood, where people and planet come first. Innovations such as the use of Concretene are central to realising our vision – we want to push the boundaries of design and construction to create the most environmentally-friendly place possible.

“It’s been brilliant to collaborate with Nationwide Engineering, the GEIC and our partners at Broadwick Live and Escape to Freight Island, who are doing an amazing job of making Mayfield the beating heart of Swagֱ��’s cultural life.”

The pour of the suspended slab at Mayfield marks a significant step towards testing and developing Concretene as a widely-used building material, allowing it to be used as a substitute for concrete on an industrial scale. Graphene for the pour at Mayfield was provided by , a Tier 1 partner of the GEIC.

Leading cause of emissions

Production of cement for concrete is one of the leading causes of global CO2 emissions, producing around 8% of total global emissions.

Most commonly, graphene is a material extracted from graphite but it can be derived from many different products, including recycled plastics or biomass. This makes Concretene a game-changer in the race to lower the industry’s whole-life carbon footprint.

The use of graphene in concrete produces 6.3kg of CO2 per tonne of concrete – a 21.94kg reduction per tonne compared to traditional steel reinforcement. The total estimated reduction in CO2 emissions for this floor slab compared to a traditional concrete solution is 4,265kg.

Advanced materials is one of Swagֱ��’s research beacons - examples of pioneering discoveries, interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-sector partnerships that are tackling some of the biggest questions facing the planet. #ResearchBeacons

Chris Clarkson, MP for Heywood and Middleton, was on a fact-finding mission to the (GEIC) at the University on Tuesday 5 October.

The MP watched a demonstration of the newly developed graphene-enhanced concrete – called Concretene, developed by the GEIC and industry partners – being poured into specially designed moulds to help create the world’s first set of benches using the breakthrough concrete mix. The unique ‘G’-branded benches will form part of a ‘living lab’ at the GEIC, as well being located in public spaces on the University campus.

“The work done by the GEIC, Swagֱ�� and partners like Nationwide Engineering show that British innovation is not just alive and well, but leading the world." said Chris Clarkson.

"Applications like Concretene promise to be a game changer, reducing costs, emissions and building times in construction. It was a privilege to join the team to learn more and I’m passionate about making sure that Swagֱ��’s graphene revolution is at the heart of levelling up our region.”

Concretene is expected to transform the construction industry – one of the biggest contributors to global CO² levels - and to help the UK establish leadership in advanced materials for the built environment.

This follows breakthrough research by Swagֱ�� engineers who added tiny amounts of graphene to concrete and have with industry partners Nationwide Engineering that this allows for removal of up to 30% of material from a build project without impacting on its strength or integrity. This means Concretene is not only much greener but also cheaper to use.

We were delighted to showcase this technology to Chris Clarkson, especially as Britain is looking demonstrate its commitment to achieving a zero-carbon economy on the eve of the UK hosting the COP26 climate change summit,” said James Baker, CEO of Graphene@Swagֱ��.

“The new Swagֱ��-based technology can also contribute to levelling up by positioning our region as a global R&D centre for sustainable materials for the construction industry – attracting investment, creating new businesses and offering high-wage jobs.”

The breakthrough product has been developed both at the GEIC and the University’s (MACE) in partnership with Nationwide Engineering, an innovation-led construction company co-founded by a Swagֱ�� graduate.

Alex McDermott, an alumnus of MACE and co-director of Nationwide Engineering, said: “Our partnership with the University has fast-tracked the development of Concretene, going from lab to product in 18 months. We’re ahead of everyone else in the world with the scale-up of this technology, and we need investment to accelerate the accreditation process so we can roll it out across the building supply chain, stay ahead of the competition and bring real benefits to UK plc.

He added: “It’s very important we are based in Swagֱ�� - this is the home of graphene and there’s nowhere better in the world to lead this research.”

• In early September, the Concretene team laid a concrete slab outside the GEIC as part of ongoing research to monitor performance of the new concrete in real-world conditions and to help certify the product in readiness to scale further and deploy in major build projects in the UK and beyond. Additional commercial pours are scheduled for the autumn in Swagֱ�� and further afield as the product gains momentum in the industry.