One of Gloucestershire's most high-profile businesses has announced a key appointment underlining its commitment to research and development.

Listed Cheltenham-headquartered advanced materials engineering company Versarien has revealed it has appointed Dr Stephen Hodge as the company's head of research.

Dr Hodge was previously a postdoctoral research associate in the Cambridge Graphene Centre at the University of Cambridge, a teaching fellow in the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Graphene Technology and bye-fellow at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

He graduated from the University of Bath with a MChem in Chemistry and then obtained his PhD in Nanomaterials Chemistry at Imperial College London, before joining the Cambridge Graphene Centre in 2014.

Neill Ricketts, chief executive officer and co-founder of Versarien, said: "I am delighted that Stephen has been appointed to the newly created role of head of research.

"He has been working at the forefront of graphene and other 2d materials development for some time and his leadership of our R&D function will ensure that Versarien remains at the very cutting edge of the development of 2d materials and their applications."

Dr Hodge's research interests cover the large-scale development of nanomaterial-based dispersions, inks, coatings and functional 2d and 3d architectures for their incorporation into flexible electronics, sensor applications and energy storage/generation devices.

He will be primarily responsible for overseeing all the company's graphene and other 2d materials research and development activities, including the company's participation in the recently announced Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre at the University of Manchester.

He will be based as an industrial visitor at the Cambridge Graphene Centre, additionally fostering the training of students in graphene technology and developing joint projects.