SPECIFIC led by the University’s College of Engineering with Tata Steel as the main industrial partner, aims to develop functional coated steel and glass products that will transform the roofs and walls of buildings into surfaces that will generate, store and release energy.

Dr Ian Mabbett of the SPECIFIC project said: “We first exhibited here two years ago when the project was at a very early stage. Then we showed A4 sized examples of functional coatings that either generate, store or release energy for buildings.

“Things have certainly moved on since then and this year we can show that we have kept a fast pace and have now developed pilot facilities producing larger demonstrators of functional coatings that will enable us to assess their performance on buildings. This rate of progress highlights that Innovation and Knowledge Centres backed by TSB and EPSRC, can create powerful industrial, academic and government partnerships.”