£2.5M funding and 40 research posts for Swansea coatings centre

Research on generating energy through developing new coatings for materials is to receive £2.5M of funding, creating 40 research doctorate posts at Swansea University from September 2015, David Willetts, UK Government Universities and Science Minister announced on January 8. The funding means that Swansea can set up a centre called COATED2, which will train researchers on how to develop new functional coatings for products.

For example, new coatings on steel and glass mean that everyday buildings can generate, store and release energy, effectively turning a building into its own power station. COATED2 is a £6.5M project, including the £2.5M of funding to be led by Dr James Sullivan and Dr Dave Penney from the College of Engineering at Swansea University. Major companies work with the Swansea team, including Tata Steel, BASF, the world’s largest chemical company and NSG Pilkington, one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of glass.