The University of Manchester, UK, has received $28 million from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) to set up a state-of-the-art Multidisciplinary Characterization Facility. The new facility at Manchester will focus on the United Kingdom’s strategic development in advanced materials and manufacturing, and will provide the necessary expertise to accelerate innovation from the laboratory to market.
The facility will be operational by 2014, and will provide the Northwest and the United Kingdom with a distinct advantage in the global research and development into advanced materials and manufacturing. This will be supported by an additional inward ten-year investment of more than $155 million from founding partners BP plc; Rolls-Royce; AMEC; Sellafield; NNL; FEI Company; Xradia; Rapiscan Systems; AREVA; Westinghouse; EDF; and TiSiC.
Research and development into advanced materials, which underpins all manufacturing sectors, is essential to UK economic growth. Currently, UK businesses that depend on the production and processing of materials represent 15% of GDP, have a turnover of approximately $264 billion, and have exports valued at $77 billion.
