Landmark reached in construction of research powerhouse

A Cardiff University powerhouse for Welsh scientific research has been ‘topped out’ by Bouygues UK

The new home of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute has reached an important landmark in its construction where Education Minister Kirsty Williams, Bouygues UK Chief Executive Rob Bradley and Cardiff University Vice-Chancellor Professor Colin Riordan ‘topped out’ the facility by adding their signatures to a beam on the building’s highest point.

The University’s Translational Research Facility, a high-tech centre designed by HOK London Studio will house researchers and industry involved in compound semiconductor and catalytic science.  The Catalysis Institute is improving the understanding of catalysis, working with industry to develop new catalytic processes and promoting the use of catalysis as a sustainable 21st century technology.

Institute Director, Professor Duncan Wass, welcomed the ceremony. “The Translational Research Facility will provide the Cardiff Catalysis Institute with bespoke facilities that allow us to build on our outstanding track record for developing fundamental academic research that fulfils the needs of industry.”

The 'topping out' event came on top of the new that a consortium led by the University’s Centre for High Frequency Engineering and the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult has won £2.4m in Welsh Government SMARTExpertise funding to develop high-frequency electronic devices for ‘next generation’ technologies – from 5G and radar to satellite systems. Eleven industrial partners have pledged a further £2.8m of support.

The building is due to open on the Cardiff Innovation Campus in 2021.