The meeting - which takes place at the Robinson College Auditorium, Grange Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AN - will hear about the research being carried out in the University of Cambridge, how UK research sits in the world arena and about a new European Graphene Alliance.
Taken from graphite, (‘pencil lead’) graphene is being heralded as the new miracle material. It is the strongest material in the world; so strong that ‘an elephant balancing on a pencil on a sheet of the material as thin as cling-film’ (Prof James Hone, University of Columbia) wouldn’t break it. It could be used for an enormous array of applications, similar to the way plastics and carbon-fibre is used currently. However, its conductive properties mean that it has wide ranging applications in electronics. And its flexibility means that one day you may be able to fold your iphone...
Two scientists in Manchester, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 in recognition of their work with teams in universities across the UK, including Cambridge. Cambridge Network is very pleased that one of those scientists from Cambridge, Prof Andrea Ferrari (pictured), will be talking to us about his work and the applications of graphene for the future.
But whilst the Nobel Prize winners are based in the UK, IP intelligence company CambridgeIP has identified that UK academic institutions hold far fewer graphene patents than their peers in China, South Korea and the USA, which raises serious questions about how the UK can reap commercial returns on investment for current research.
The Cambridge Nokia Research Centre is working with key companies across Europe interested in turning graphene science into technology. Their planned consortium, a ‘Graphene Alliance’ aims to formulate and sharpen a technology roadmap across Europe. Dr Stefano Borini will talk about this alliance.
Find out more about the speakers and book your place here.
Further reading from the University of Cambridge:
'Graphene in a pencil trace':
The University has produced a short video ‘Introducing graphene’ which can be seen at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/graphene-the-future-in-a-pencil-trace/
'Graphene goes plasmonic':
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/graphene-goes-plasmonic/
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