As well as academic and technical staff, the GEIC aims to engage with a large number of engineers and innovative SMEs, and has already announced new partners for the initiative.

The GEIC complements the National Graphene Institute’s (NGI) international research focus by concentrating on multi-faceted industry-led applications development. The key areas within the new building include; pilot productions, characterisation and material development.

During the visit The Duke took in an exhibition of the latest graphene products and prototypes including; pioneering graphene-oxide membranes for water filtration, graphene composite battery panels, an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle made with graphene-enhanced carbon fibre, and a modified BAC Mono sports car with graphene-enhanced composite bodywork.

Speaking at the opening ceremony HRH The Duke of York said said: "It is a great pleasure to be back at The University of Manchester and to come and see the next stage in the development of graphene.

"The question I've been asking is, 'how do people who are in manufacturing or other businesses know what graphene can do for them?' or more accurately, 'what can the new 2D materials do for them?'

"This is an excellent place for businesses who may suddenly find that graphene or a 2D material is in their interest, and just from my short visit today, the ideas seem to be limitless in how you can apply them. This is going to be a huge industrial transformation which could benefit both humankind and industry and it starts here. I wish you all every success."

Further information

The University of Manchester is also home to the National Graphene Institute, which opened in 2015 and is a 7,825 square metre research facility funded by a £38m grant from UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and £23m grant from the European Regional Development Fund.

Professors Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov discovered graphene at the University of Manchester in 2004 by isolating and extracting 2-D crystal graphene from graphite using adhesive tape. The pair were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics.

Established in 2012, the UKRPIF has provided over £680m of capital funding to 43 research projects across the UK in its first five rounds, attracting more than £1.7bn in double-match funding from non-public sources. Round six of UKRPIF competition is currently underway, with £220m of capital funding available until 2021, taking the total government investment in the fund to £900m.

Read more on Research England’s website.