Autonomous pods born in Coventry are now able to swarm together in a world first, thanks to research by WMG at the University of Warwick in partnership with Aurrigo and Milton Keynes council.

With the concept of driverless pods now more realistic than futuristic, the vehicles are one step closer to being put to use, as they can now help each other to drive and navigate through pedestrian areas around people.

Industry specialists, researchers and staff – past and present – gathered at Warwick’s Wellesbourne campus on 18 December to mark 70 years of crop research on the site.

The meeting heard from a range of speakers who relayed past successes and described work on future developments. Invited keynote speaker and expert in food policy, Professor Tim Lang, spoke about the importance of vegetables in the UK and Sue Kennedy from Elsoms Seeds gave a commercial perspective on vegetable genetics and breeding – past, present and future.

On the 28th November 2019, Steve Berry OBE, Head of Highways Maintenance, Innovation, Resilience, Light Rail and Cableways at the UK Department of Transport will give the keynote address at the Very Light Rail Conference being held at The Slate on the University of Warwick’s campus. He will speak about the potential for Very Light Rail to transform local public transport.

Engineers and researchers at WMG, University of Warwick, are working alongside Transport Design International (TDI), based in Stratford, to develop a battery-powered, lightweight, rail-based vehicle to operate in Coventry.

The WMG team, including engineers Darren Hughes and Andrew McGordon, are using their automotive engineering and battery expertise to assist TDI with the design of the vehicle for Coventry City Council, and now have a 3D simulation of the vehicle.

The public science festival, Pint of Science, is coming to Coventry for the first time this year, with experts from the Universities of Warwick and Coventry talking about their research work in a selection of pubs and venues around the city.

● Head down to your local pub to hear talks on everything from making sunscreen to levitating diamonds
● More than 30 scientists to appear in city watering holes, as the world's largest festival of public science talks arrives in Coventry
● Coventry to join nearly 300 cities around the world taking part in this global festival from the 14 – 16 May
● Tickets on sale now at pintofscience.co.uk/events/coventry

This year, we've worked with Coventry University and Coventry City Council to run the biggest Go Green Week our region has ever seen. Be a part of Go Green Week 2017 and help make Coventry and the University cleaner, greener and healthier for everyone.