On Wednesday 28th January 2019, Neill Ricketts, CEO of Advanced Materials specialist Versarien plc, attended the opening of the Korean Studies Unit at Coventry University. Neill attended the event with the South Korean Ambassador, Enna Park, along with various senior academics from the Coventry University Group.
Versarien plc have an ongoing collaboration agreement (August 2018) with South Korea’s Axia Materials. This agreement is to develop graphene enhanced composite materials and smart graphene devices using both Versarien’s proprietary Nanene graphene nano platelets and graphene inks for use in Smart Building and Electric Vehicle Applications. This relationship is fully supported by the UK Government’s Department for International Trade.
Neill and Ambassador Park sat together throughout the celebrations at St Mary’s Guildhall in the centre of the city. The following picture was taken whilst the Ambassador was making her speech.
Ambassador Park made reference to Brexit and expressed her relief that the UK would soon have the potential to form closer ties with leading industrial nations such as South Korea (currently ranked 11th according to GDP figures).
She also spoke at length about the debt of gratitude that her nation has for the UK and particularly the people of Gloucestershire following the Battle of Imjin River where a few hundred soldiers from a Gloucestershire regiment held back thousands of Chinese soldiers who were attempting to take Seoul. It is worth noting that Versarien plc has its headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.