The opening of a new facility at Cardiff University will "further enhance Wales' reputation as a world centre of expertise", Welsh Assembly Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, Andrew Davies has said.

The £7.5 million MicroBridge facility at the University’s Manufacturing Engineering Centre (MEC) will enable engineers to produce microscopic components for industry and will enable precision engineers in manufacturing to work to the same micro-scales as those in electronics.

The Centre won funding for MicroBridge from the Department of Trade and Industry, Welsh Assembly Government and industry. This investment builds on the Centre’s track record in micro-tooling. It will enable engineers to work with any materials, which could lead to even greater reductions in the size of products and associated benefits. For example reducing materials usage and parts will save both labour and transport requirements and dramatically lower overall costs.

Dr Roger Carline, Department of Trade and Industry said: "The University’s MEC is unique in the UK. MicroBridge is a strategically important project for the United Kingdom. Global estimates of turnover in nanotechnology are in the region of a trillion dollars by two thousand and fifteen. Hopefully, organisations such as MEC will allow the UK to win a good slice of this pie. 5% would represent $50B per year for the UK with all the jobs and benefits that would entail."

Mr Davies said: "Nanotechnology is widely forecast to be a key factor in future global trade and investment, with more than 300 companies in Europe already involved in nanotechnology as their primary area of business."