Dr Maria Iliut, co-founder of The University of Manchester spin-out Grafine, shared her story via the #CitizensofMCR campaign from Marketing Manchester, revealing a personal insight into her life and career and the factors that led her to live and work in the city.
The #CitizensofMCR campaign has its own website and social media channels. To date more than 40 individuals have shared their stories, emphasising the diversity, sector strengths and characteristics of the city region.
Originally from Romania where she obtained her PhD, Dr Iliut came to Manchester for a Postdoctoral Research Associate Position in 2014 and remained in the city to further her career in advanced materials, working on initiatives supporting the commercialisation of graphene and other two-dimensional (2D) materials.
Her work to date includes formulating the graphene-enhanced rubber compound used in the development of a range of running and walking shoes produced by the UK company inov-8.
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She said: “Manchester is the home of graphene, so I really wanted to be here and work here. Graphene itself is so full of surprises and you never finish learning about it. You learn new properties every day. When you do a new experiment, you discover something new about it.
“I think Manchester is a city full of opportunities. You can find any kind of job you like and do it in a good way because it has the resources for that. Or you can create new jobs by developing new products or establishing your own spin-out company.”
Graphene was first isolated by scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov working at The University of Manchester in 2004. Their work earned them the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics and led to significant recent investment in infrastructure to support the commercialisation and industrialisation of 2D materials in Manchester.
New facilities include the £60 million Masdar Building which houses the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC), the National Graphene Institute (NGI) and the Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials Research and Innovation, which is due to open in 2020.
Talking about the factors that have helped Manchester to cement its reputation as the international home of graphene and 2D materials research, Dr Iliut added: “I would say, as a scientist, we have everything here to do science. We don’t need to go anywhere else. We don’t need to borrow stuff, we just have everything here.
“In five years, I have seen the NGI and the GEIC building rise from the ground. It happened so fast and I think it’s amazing for me as a resident of this city.”
