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University of Warwick technology helps solve over 300 murder cases

Over 300 murder cases have been solved over the last decade using cutting edge 3D imaging technology from WMG at the University of Warwick.

The technology, which can produce images with resolutions 1000 times more detailed than a hospital CT scan, has been used in murder cases by 30 police forces across the UK to view injuries in incredibly high detail.

Professor Mark Williams with WMP's Detective Superintendent, Mark PayneThis has helped to convict the guilty, as well as prove innocence. The technology is so advanced that it can show the difference between a wound inflicted with force, versus the typical profile of one delivered by natural causes. Cases have included strangulation, stabbing, blunt force trauma and bone fractures.

The technology was first used in 2014 when West Midlands Police approached WMG’s Professor Mark Williams. They asked him to help with their investigation into the grisly Birmingham canal murder, where a body was discovered in a suitcase in a Birmingham canal.

Professor Williams comments: “We were able to help the Police by examining a charred piece of evidence thought to contain human bone.

“We discovered that it was a perfect jigsaw fit to another piece of bone in the suitcase, and, using the very high-resolution scanning technology, we were able to show the tool marks on both pieces in micro scale (one 50th of a millimetre).

“These matched the characteristics expected for the type of saw the offender had disposed of, alongside the victim.”

This microscopic level of detail led to the conviction of murderer Lorenzo Simon, who was jailed for 19 years.

This marked the start of a productive research partnership for WMG with West Midlands Police, who have now used the technology in dozens of murder cases. Now, 30 police forces in the country have used the cutting-edge technology.

The technology has also been used in other high-profile cases, including to rule out foul play. In one case where a 64-year-old had fallen, 3D model printing of the skull of the deceased showed exact matches with the geometry of the doorhandle, suggesting a fall. This resulted in the cause of death being ruled as accidental.

The high-resolution scans were also used to help convict Tipton murderers Nathan Maynard-Ellis and David Leesley, who dismembered their victim. The scans helped prove the deliberate nature of their behaviour after their crime, including the direction and variation of their cuts. Both were convicted and will serve a life sentence.

Read more about WMG’s Metrology and 3D Imaging research here: Metrology and 3D Imaging (warwick.ac.uk)

Fri 15 Mar 2024, 11:31 | Tags: HVM Catapult Metrology Research

New award wins shine light on the importance of industry-university partnerships

WMG at the University of Warwick has secured funding, alongside other departments at the University, for eight new Innovate UK funded Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) projects, designed to rapidly inject innovation capacity within UK industry.

With over 500 applications and just a third of projects awarded a slice of the £5 million, WMG was successful because of its strong industry ties and robust business relationships.

Like regular Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, which have been funded by successive governments for almost 50 years, AKT projects provide organisations with a specialist academic teamPicture shows example of industry-university partnership including a postgraduate student. The WMG team will:

  • Identify innovation blockers
  • Evaluate an innovation concept
  • Find solutions to immediate as well as longer term challenges
  • Accelerate new thinking and processes
  • Develop new business models and expand capacity

One WMG industry partner set to benefit is Jaltek Systems Ltd. The team at Jaltek will be using the funding to continue with the integration of robotics technology into processes.

Andy Dowling, Head of WMG’s SME Business Development team said: "These awards are testament to the University's continued drive and success in establishing collaborative relationships with industry through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme. As only 35% of the AKT applications were awarded Innovate UK funding, we are proud of our achievements and are looking forward to working on this set of exciting projects."

Picture shows Jaltek Systems LimitedSteve Blythe of Jaltek Systems Ltd said: “We are continually looking to improve productivity through training, improved processes, and automation. We saw good practice using cobots (collaborative robots) in other businesses and reached out to WMG to support our plans. The funding for the AKT will help us further our activity in this area.”

The 16-week long projects will start from April 2024 and WMG will be recruiting talented graduates to join the team. For more information contact: wmgsme@warwick.ac.uk.

To find out more about WMG’s SME Programmes visit: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/for-industry/sme-support/

Thu 07 Mar 2024, 12:20 | Tags: SME HVM Catapult Partnerships Research

Warwick to benefit from £2.54 million funding into “phenomenal” metamaterials

A £2.54m grant will enable a new network driving research into metamaterials, headed up by a researcher from The University of Warwick.

Metamaterials have phenomenal potential. They are artificial 3D structures comprised of at least two different materials. This combination and the structure give metamaterials properties beyond those of the materials used to make them. These properties may be electromagnetic, acoustic, magnetic, mechanical/structural, thermal, or chemical.

Metamaterials could transform our economy in a digital age, helping to address society’s challenges by contributing to manufacturing in areas of sustainability, health care, communications, defence and security, computation techniques, and the space and aviation industries.

Now, thanks to funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a branch of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), 13 universities and five organisations will lead on enhancing the UK’s capabilities in creating novel and innovative metamaterials.

Picture shows UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus graphicThe UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus will build on the work of the UK Metamaterials Network, which was established in 2021. It will be co-led by Dr Claire Dancer, Reader, WMG at The University of Warwick, and Professor Alastair Hibbins, Director of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation, alongside a team of co-project leads from across the UK.

The EPSRC grant will run for over four years, from 1st March 2024, and will help develop game-changing breakthroughs. It will build the UK’s skills pipeline, driving through generation-after-next technology and high-value products.

Warwick will lead on researching manufacturing challenges for metamaterials, such as co-processing challenging combinations of materials and establishing routes for scaled-up production of metamaterials currently made by non-scalable processes, building on the University’s strong expertise across the materials manufacturing sector and existing High Value Manufacturing Catapult activities at WMG.

Dr Dancer said: “We’re really excited by this additional funding from EPSRC. Not only are we now able to continue supporting our community, but we are now going to be able to offer pump-prime funding for a number of priority projects that are strategically important to us. That’s across fundamental science, manufacturing, and industrially relevant research – ultimately strengthening the role that metamaterials play in the UK’s science and technology portfolio, driving further investment into our area, and ensuring the UK benefits from our academic excellence on the global stage.”

Professor Alastair Hibbins, project lead of the NetworkPlus, and Director of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Metamaterial Research and Innovation said: “The scope of metamaterials is huge; metamaterials as a concept provides the opportunities to control information and energy through careful structuring of conventional materials. But of course, ‘information’ and ‘energy’ are very general terms and cover an enormous range of devices; what we really mean is heat, fluid-flow, light, vibration, sound, radar, relevant to technologies such as communication, computing, electronics, health, sustainability, and defence. This breadth in science and application has meant that the excellence in our academic community has been incredibly diverse but not joined-up.

“For the last few years, Dr Claire Dancer from WMG at The University of Warwick, and I have co-led the Network, and with the funding and support from EPSRC and The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), we’ve been working incredibly hard to forge a new UK ecosystem for metamaterials where we work together to support each other, and drive work into areas that require multidisciplinary approaches to solve global challenges.” 

The UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus will drive an increase to UK research in this vital technology area. It will bring together experts from academia, industry, and government to accelerate progress towards the UK’s technological priorities. It has an essential role to play in maintaining and growing UK leadership in discovery science on the global stage.

The NetworkPlus will formally launch at the Metamaterials UK Conference and Forum 19th-23rd May 2024.

For more information, visit: http://metamaterials.network

About the UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus

The UK Metamaterials NetworkPlus aims to develop the UK’s potential as a thriving, innovation driven, research and industry base. To do this the NetworkPlus aims to:

 

- Bring together the current and next generation of academic, start-up and industry leaders in the UK, and open the field beyond its traditional boundaries;

- Provide a reliable nexus for information, experts and cutting-edge science and technology;

- Support pilot and explorative projects to initiate research areas which are new to the UK or strategically important;

- Support the development of close links between government, academics and industry, providing a strong advocacy for metamaterials activities;

- Work to create a strong regulatory framework and shape international norms and standards;

- Showcase metamaterials potential, growing its potential in the UK.

 

Co-project leads for the award are based at the University of Exeter, the University of Warwick, the University of Cambridge, the University of Sheffield, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of St Andrews.

 

Members of the leadership team are also based at Sheffield Hallam, Queen Mary University, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), MBDA Systems, Imperial College London, Manchester Metropolitan, the University of Nottingham, M. Ventures, QinetiQ, Durham University, and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL).

 

Media contact

University of Warwick press office contact:

Annie Slinn 07876876934

Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | University of Warwick Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk

Mon 04 Mar 2024, 13:38 | Tags: Materials Partnerships Research

New national initiative to educate the public on automated vehicles (AVs)

Today (Wednesday 21st February 2024), WMG at The University of Warwick, has launched the Partners for Automated Vehicle Education United KingdomPicture shows Professor Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Transport delivering a keynote at the PAVE UK launch event (PAVE UK) with the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Transport, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), and Transport for West Midlands, as its founding partners.

The PAVE UK initiative aims to build public confidence in self-driving technology through a programme of education and engagement, supporting the UK Government’s ambition to safely deploy self-driving vehicles on the road and its aim to make the UK the leader in artificial intelligence (AI).

Picture shows Anthony Browne, Technology and Decarbonisation Minister - keynote speaker at the PAVE UK launch eventy’s launch event.PAVE UK is the country’s first non-governmental organisation that advocates for and delivers public education and engagement programmes on automated vehicles. It launched today at the Royal Automobile Club in London, with Anthony Browne MP (Technology and Decarbonisation Minister), and Professor Sarah Sharples (Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Transport), as the keynote speakers. Over 100 technology developers, safety campaign groups, regulators, innovators, and industry leaders discussed how to ensure the public is engaged in the self-driving technology journey and how to accurately communicate AV safety messages with different stakeholders in society.

Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Verification & Validation at WMG, University of Warwick said: "At WMG, we strive to enhance the safety of self-driving technology and ensure it is safe to operate on the roads. In taking a people first approach, the public should be paramount in the safety conversation and part of the journey during the development and deployment of self-driving vehicles on UK roads.

“PAVE UK will translate technical information into clear, comprehensive and accurate messaging to help communicate safety to the public in an inclusive and accessible manner. Future technology users and other road users will be equipped with the knowledge of benefits and limits of this new transport technology. PAVE UK will also bring together the self-driving ecosystem to tackle the technological challenges, speak honestly and accurately about system capabilities and limitations, and encourage innovators to put the public at the heart of this.”

PAVE UK will work closely with the entire UK Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) ecosystem, to carry out education and engagement programmes, such as research-based educational materials packs, school outreach activities, community outreach, an online video library, webinars, and an online educational app. The programme will be delivered by WMG at the University of Warwick.

Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister for Industry and Economic Security, said: “The UK automotive sector is at the cutting edge of exploiting new innovative technologies. These have the potential to create jobs, grow the economy and accelerate how we reach net-zero.

“This government has shown time and time again that we're committed to creating the right conditions to boost UK advanced manufacturing, and the PAVE UK initiative will help cement the UK as a world leader in self-driving technology."

Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Anthony Browne said: “Self-driving vehicles have the potential to transform our transport sector, and PAVE UK will be a big part of this by raising awareness and embedding confidence in people throughout the country. In the meantime, we’re making sure that these vehicles are safe to use on our roads. Our Automated Vehicles Bill sets a rigorous standard for safety, whilst making sure that this country is where businesses can develop and deploy their cutting-edge technology.”

Organisations and schools wishing to participate in the programmes can contact PAVEUK@warwick.ac.uk

Ends

Note to editors

Additional quotes

Tara Andringa, Executive Director, PAVE said: "When PAVE was founded in 2019, it was a bet on the power of knowledge: we believed that if the public understands the facts of autonomous vehicles, we will see greater public trust in this incredibly promising technology. Our campaign both seeks to demystify automated vehicles– to explain how the technology works – and to help the public understand how these technologies could help to improve the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of our transportation system.

“While countries and regions have adopted different regulatory approaches to automated vehicles, the challenge of AV education is global in nature. Given the tremendous leadership from the UK both in its approach to AV policy and to civic engagement on the technology, we are incredibly excited for the influential role PAVE UK will play in leading public education. The PAVE ecosystem is thrilled for the launch of PAVE UK, and we will work together to build an engagement campaign that will create a template for AV education worldwide."

Automated Vehicles Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3506

About WMG, University of Warwick

WMG is a world leading research and education group, transforming organisations and driving innovation through a unique combination of collaborative research and development, and pioneering education programmes.

As an international role model for successful partnerships between academia and the private and public sectors, WMG develops advancements nationally and globally, in applied science, technology and engineering, to deliver real impact to economic growth, society and the environment.

WMG’s education programmes focus on lifelong learning of the brightest talent, from the WMG Academies for Young Engineers, degree apprenticeships, undergraduate and postgraduate, through to professional programmes.

An academic department of the University of Warwick, and a centre for the HVM Catapult, WMG was founded by the late Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 to help reinvigorate UK manufacturing and improve competitiveness through innovation and skills development.

About PAVE UK

PAVE UK aims to bring the conversation about automated vehicles (AVs) to the public so that future users and technology developers can play a role in shaping our future.

By arranging education and engagement programmes around AVs, our goal is to increase the public’s awareness of the capabilities and limitations of the technology and build up societal acceptance and trust in this new transport innovation. We also aim to develop a correct user attitude to foster the safe deployment of AVs.

We strongly believe that by fully and transparently equipping the public with CAM technology knowledge, we could then achieve the potential benefits of the technology.

 

Media contact:

Annie Slinn

Communications Officer (Sciences)

Annie.Slinn@warwick.ac.uk

 

Gabbie Lau

WMG Marketing and Communications Officer (Verification and Validation Research Group)

Gabbie.Lau@warwick.ac.uk


Professor Alok Choudhary: Impact of the Red Sea crisis on global supply chains

Picture of Professor Alok ChoudharyExpert comment from Professor of Supply Chain Management, Alok Choudhary.

“The ongoing Red Sea crisis might have far-reaching consequences on the global supply chain, trade, and economic dynamics. Serving as the shortest sea route connecting Asia and Europe, the Suez Canal transports 17,000 ships annually, representing 12% of the world's total trade volume and $1 trillion worth of goods.

“The implications of this disruption on trade are significant. Rerouting ships an additional 3500 nautical miles is expected to result in significant delays, causing logistical challenges for major companies. The increased shipping and logistics costs incurred due to longer travel times are likely to be passed on to consumers, leading to a potential spike in prices for a wide array of goods, from everyday consumer items, oil and gas to crucial components for industries such as automotive and manufacturing.

“The ripple effect on production cycles is a cause for concern, as delays in delivering key components may lead to further disruptions. In particular, the automotive and consumer goods industries may face challenges in maintaining production schedules if crucial components do not reach their destinations on time.

“One of the most immediate impacts could be felt in the oil market, with potential consequences for global oil prices. The disruption in the timely transportation of both refined and crude oil through the canal may contribute to an increase in oil prices. This could have a cascading effect on economies, particularly in regions heavily reliant on oil imports, and may be reflected at fuel pumps worldwide.

“Here in the UK, the rise in oil prices could pose a challenge to economic stability and may halt falling inflation. Higher shipping and logistics costs, coupled with potential delays in the delivery of goods, might contribute to inflationary pressures. This could have broader implications for the UK economy, impacting consumer spending and overall economic growth.”

Read more about Supply Chain research at WMG here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/research-areas/supply-chain

Mon 15 Jan 2024, 10:44 | Tags: Supply Chains WMG Comments HVM Catapult Research Our People

Warwick Agri-Tech ploughs the future of farming and forestry with robotics

Picture shows Professor David Greenwood and Leader Engineer, Emilio Loo MonardezThe University of Warwick announces Warwick Agri-Tech to help the future of farming with automation – addressing issues such as labour shortages, food insecurity and loss of biodiversity.

Warwick Agri-Tech, will also support the UK to meet climate targets while enabling the production of enough nutritious food for the growing population. It will combine two world class faculties at WMG at The University of Warwick and the School of Life Sciences (SLS), working with the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to spearhead automation in areas such as horticulture, crops and forestry.

Robots will be a key tool for farmers as food production comes under increasing pressure. There is a constant demand to grow enough high quality, nutritious food to feed an expanding human population, and to do so in a way that won’t harm the planet.

According to scientists, the UK will need to produce 50% more food by 2050, while reducing land consumption by 50%. This is further challenged by labour shortages, a broken food system and the fact we are overusing the Earth’s biocapacity (the capability of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to absorb waste).


The University of Warwick is in a unique position to tackle these issues and develop farming technology, with expertise in both automation and life science.

Warwick Agri-Tech was born out of an initial project which developed a crop monitoring robot (Crombot) to move autonomously up and down glasshouses and check fruit for ripeness. Officially launching today, with a visit from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Warwick Agri-Tech will continue its research on several key projects:
· An Autonomous Logistics Project – developing an autonomous vehicle to help horticultural companies to optimise their product handling logistics.
· A Smart Tree Production System – Warwick Agri-Tech is working with J&A Growers, who are the leading UK growers of quality bareroot trees and hedging, to autonomously sort and grade sapling trees. This will ensure resilience against labour shortages and is scalable in the face of the UK’s ambitious tree planting targets.

· Autonomous Precision Application – creating an autonomous, AI-based weed control robot, to reduce utilisation of herbicides by over 90% - improving soil health and biodiversity.

The University’s leading crop research centre at based at the Innovation Campus, Stratford-upon-Avon is a leading, 200-hectare agricultural research site. Scientists at the University will collaborate directly with industry partners and the Government to drive implementation of new technology in the farming sector.

Professor Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser, said: “Seeing the innovation going on here is really inspiring – I firmly believe that Agri-Tech in the UK has a huge future and I look forward to seeing new ways of working being trialled here at Warwick become mainstream agricultural practices in the future.”

Professor David Greenwood, Director for Industrial Engagement, and CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG, said: “The emerging needs of the agriculture sector have provided a perfect opportunity for The University of Warwick to bring together our expertise in manufacturing automation with our expertise in life sciences, so we can simultaneously develop robots suitable for use in greenhouses and fields, and ways of growing crops which take advantage of the opportunities of automation. As the UK struggles with availability of agricultural labour, and high food prices, this promises to unlock nutritious and affordable food for all.”


Professor Miriam Gifford, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, said: “Warwick Agri-Tech will benefit from the entrepreneurship of WMG and the history of excellence in agricultural innovation from the School of Life Sciences’ Warwick Crop Centre, plus the combined stakeholder groups to inform and enable outputs. The fresh food industries need automation urgently. Warwick Agri-Tech will grow rapidly into research and innovation space screaming for workable solutions and expecting substantial funding initiatives.”


More information about Warwick Agri-Tech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXC3jzqrga0

Fri 22 Dec 2023, 12:43 | Tags: HVM Catapult Automation Systems Research

“The ultimate second opinion”: AI just as good as doctors at analysing X -rays, shows new study

AI can analyse X-rays and diagnose medical issues just as, or more, accurately than doctors, a new study led by the University of Warwick has found.

The AI, which has been trained on 2.8 million historic chest X-rays from over 1.5 million patients, scans X-Rays for 37 possible conditions.

It was just as accurate or more accurate than the doctor’s analysis at the time the X-ray was taken for 35 out of 37 conditions (94%).

The AI software can scan X-rays as soon as they are taken for possible conditions and flags any abnormalities. It will then give a percentage chance of each of the abnormalities being present. The AI also understands the seriousness of the different conditions and will flag the more urgent ones to doctors accordingly.

To verify the accuracy of the AI, a sample of over 1,400 X-Rays it had analysed were cross examined by a group of senior radiologists, who compared the diagnoses made by the AI with the historical diagnoses by radiologists at the time.

The AI is a collaboration between Warwick, King’s College London and several NHS sites funded by a Wellcome Trust Innovator Award. The programme also uses a large language model to understand the historical reports written by clinicians – the same underlying technology used by other AI programmes, such as ChatGPT.

Giovanni Montana, Professor of Data Science at WMG at the University of Warwick, and lead author, suggested that the AI tool could either be used as a screening tool for radiologists, or to offer “the ultimate second opinion”, avoiding human bias.

Professor Montana commented: “This programme has been trained on millions of X-rays and is highly accurate. It eliminates the elements of human error, which is unavoidable, and bias. If a patient is referred for an X-ray with a heart problem, doctors will inevitably focus on the heart over the lungs.

“This is totally understandable but runs the risk of undetected problems in other areas. This AI eliminates that human bias – it’s the ultimate second opinion”.

Co-author Professor Vicky Goh of King’s College London, and immediate past Chair of the Academic Committee at the Royal Society of Radiologists commented: “Current AI programmes available to us in the NHS only have a limited scope. Comprehensive AI programmes like this will be the future of medicine, with AI acting as a co-pilot for busy doctors.

Picture shows X-raydar example“With the acute shortage of radiologists in the UK, programmes like this will facilitate interpretation and reduce delays for diagnosis and treatment”.

There is also the possibility that the AI could look at the X-Rays where no abnormalities are found, which is around half of all of them, and flag this to doctors in a way which could improve efficiency for the NHS. By allowing AI to weed out X-Rays with no abnormalities found, radiologists will have more time to focus on challenging and more critical tests.

A recent poll by the Royal College of Radiologists found that shortages of radiologists were leading to longer wait times, and delays in treatment, at 97% of the UK’s cancer treatment centres.

This AI software – entitled X-Raydar – is designed to help reduce the workload for doctors and cut delays. Remarkably, the research group has open sourced the entire software for non-commercial uses to speed up the pace of research development in this domain.

The software can be seen in use in a video here.

 

Wed 13 Dec 2023, 18:19 | Tags: Research Data Science

University of Warwick teams up with Ca’ Foscari University in Venice to create museum exhibitions of the future

The University of Warwick is collaborating with Ca' Foscari University of Venice to analyse Roman artefacts in a history project which could change the face of museums for the 21st century.

Warwick is working with historians at Ca’ Foscari to scan and analyse artefacts from ancient Roman and pre-Roman Venice, including in 3D and VR forms.Picture shows WMG scanning

Researchers hope that these artefacts, scanned into 3D and virtual reality (VR), could revolutionise how people experience historical items, including in museums.

Rather than studying items in glass cases, artefacts could instead be scanned and produced using 3D printing or VR technology so visitors can hold and experience history in a whole new way.

This is especially vital when the items themselves are fragile or extremely old, meaning the originals can’t be held or examined by the public.

The collaboration between Warwick and Ca’ Foscari is focused on over 30 items related to religion from the Roman settlement of Altinum – the ancestor of the city of Venice.

Altinum is larger than Pompeii but remains mostly unexcavated, with researchers suggesting a trove of artefacts may be there waiting to be discovered.

The items themselves are from the Roman period and before, including from the Venetii natives who were assimilated into the Roman Empire over centuries.

The artefacts are being analysed by historians at Ca’ Foscari, with engineers at Warwick using cutting edge imaging technology to scan the items in incredibly high definition.

This helps historians read writing from the period and is especially vital when some artefacts have been damaged or are fragmented.

Academics at Warwick and Ca’ Foscari presented their findings at a conference in Venice on Friday (24th November), highlighting the potential of the combined arts knowledge of Ca ‘Foscari and the technology of WMG.

Picture of Venice artifactProfessor Mark Williams, Head of the Centre for Imaging, Metrology and Additive Technology (CiMAT) at WMG commented: “This is an excellent example of universities working together, including across the arts and sciences. This scanning technology has truly exciting possibilities, including for the future of historical learning and we were delighted to be able to assist our Venetian colleagues in bringing a small section of their history to life”.

Associate Professor Lorenzo Calvelli, a historian at Ca’ Foscari University, said: “These artefacts represent the very beginnings of Venice from over two millennia ago, and we are very pleased to be able to bring this history to a wider audience, both here in Italy and in the UK.

“It has been excellent to meet and collaborate with colleagues from Warwick, and I am very excited about our future plans to dive deeper into the treasure trove of artefacts that is waiting for us in Altinum”.

Altinum developed over the course of the Roman Empire into a booming trading hub, particularly know for valuable amber and horses which were prized across Europe. Eventually, refugees from Altinum are believed to have contributed to the founding of Venice in the wake of the fall of the Roman Empire.

Professor Rachel Moseley, Chair of the Faculty of Arts at Warwick, commented: “This is an excellent example of science and the arts working together to create exciting new possibilities.

“Every day, we see scientific advances allowing us to delve deeper into history in a way which recently we would have thought was impossible. Equally, the arts give science that grounding and philosophy to make these advances tangible to the public.

“I’m delighted that our new base of Warwick Venice Centre has brought all these excellent researchers together and is already encouraging collaboration in a hugely positive way.”

Mon 27 Nov 2023, 14:01 | Tags: Metrology Partnerships Research

Millions awarded to University of Warwick to turbocharge UK’s battery production

A new cutting-edge battery materials scale-up facility, to support the development of battery supply chain in the UKThe University of Warwick has been awarded millions of pounds to boost British production of crucial materials for electric car batteries.

The £12 million in funding has been awarded by the Faraday Battery Challenge to the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG at the University of Warwick, and CPI at NETPark (North East Technology Park), in County Durham.

It will be used to create the new Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre (AMBIC).

The Centre will bridge the gap between academic research and battery production and will focus on how batteries can be made to work more efficiently, as well as on equipment and skills development.

The Centre is needed to help the UK develop the electric vehicle batteries of the future, with reduced costs, more sustainable materials and improved performance.

Electric vehicle batteries make up around half the cost of a new electric vehicle, so reducing the cost of their production is crucial to lowering the cost of EVs to parity with combustion engine vehicles.

The funds are part of a wider investment strategy by the Faraday Battery Challenge and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult to ramp up Britain’s battery production and infrastructure to boost the UK’s domestic battery supply chain.

Professor David Greenwood, CEO of the WMG High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre said: “Cathode and anode active materials make up more than 50% of the valuea new cutting-edge battery materials scale-up facility, to support the development of battery supply chain in the UK of an automotive battery cell.

“For the UK to take its great academic research into production, and to capture the billions of pounds of resulting economic value in the UK, we need facilities which allow Britain to scale up and fully evaluate new materials. This investment, alongside the combined skillsets of CPI and WMG will provide that capability for the UK.”

The funds are specifically to help turbocharge the scale up of battery materials manufacturing within the UK. Only by producing batteries on a wider scale domestically can the EV industry make sure there is no bottleneck in supply and demand. By strengthening UK supply chains of battery materials, WMG is working with UKBIC and others to create a more resilient supply chain.

Thomas Bartlett, Challenge Deputy Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge, said: “AMBIC will bring together two emerging regions of battery innovation and manufacturing; the North-East and Midlands, under one facility to de-risk and accelerate battery materials scale up in the UK.

“Through the Faraday Battery Challenge’s £12m investment in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult we will establish a truly world-class facility to support the growth of a battery materials supply chain. With AMBIC and previous investments in cell, module and pack scale-up at UKBIC and R&D in the wider ecosystem, the UK will now be in a position to support businesses from “powder to pack” and from lab to commercial scales.”

Katherine Bennett, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: “The next generation of battery technologies are critical to the green energy transition and a major opportunity for UK manufacturing. Realising that potential will require combining our collective expertise and this investment from the Faraday Battery Challenge is a brilliant example of that in action.

“In CPI and WMG, the Advanced Materials Battery Industrialisation Centre has two centres that are at the very forefront of chemical processing and battery cell development; together they can turbo charge battery materials scale-up.”

Frank Millar, Chief Executive Officer at CPI, said: “The Advanced Materials Batteries Industrialisation Centre will enhance the UK’s existing competitive advantages in batteries technology, and it stands to become a catalyst for the UK to address some of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. By giving innovators the opportunity to harness our expertise we can tackle issues such as climate change, while growing a sector that will be vital to the future of the economy.”

Mon 27 Nov 2023, 11:42 | Tags: HVM Catapult Partnerships Research Battery Scale-Up

Warwick’s Wonka explores the world of pure imagination

Professor Alan ChalmersProfessor of Visualisation, Alan Chalmers, an expert in flavour simulation at WMG at the University of Warwick, discusses the most famous creations of Willy Wonka ahead of the film premiere this December.

“While we may not have discovered the source of snozzberries, our research invites everyone to wonder about the extraordinary possibilities within the science of flavours” – Professor Chalmers.

Professor Chalmers is the creator of an exciting new flavour experience in a virtual way, with the opportunity to taste almost anything in a sip. The process takes samples of food for analysis, to accurately simulate a real flavour by extracting its tastes, aromas, and mouthfeel. His research has placed him as Warwick’s Willy Wonka.

“We can take a person on a journey through the vast flavour space from the start flavour to a variant that they enjoy”.

Three-course meal bubble-gum:
“Flavour is just the sensation of the taste, aroma and mouthfeel of food or drink in your mouth. If you take the real food or drink and analyse them to extract these components – then they can simply be authentically simulated with UK Food Standards Agency food-safe chemicals.

“So, you take a fork full of roast turkey, gravy, Brussel sprouts and a bit of roast potato … and analyse it with specialist devices to extract exactly what the taste, aroma and mouthfeel components are for this food ensemble. Once you have this “recipe” you simply recreate this exact flavour with the food-safe chemicals – with a specific food-safe chemical for each component, for example, sucrose is used to simulate the sweetness component.

The correct combinations of these chemicals can then be embedded in chewing gum … and voila – as you bite down on the chewing gum – you will experience the same flavour – as if you just had eaten the real roast turkey, gravy, Brussel sprouts and roast potato.”

Lick-able Wallpaper:
“This would be quite straightforward to do. You simply need to embed the food-safe chemicals for each of the components of the desired flavour into the wallpaper – and as it is licked – so the flavour will be perceived.”

The Everlasting-gobstopper:
“I could imagine a ball of eg hard plastic which is impregnated with a sweet flavour. The sweet won’t get smaller - but at some point the sweet flavour will have to be replenished. This will depend how often the gobstopper is sucked and how hard! I could imagine the centre of the plastic ball contains the liquid and this is drawn out as the person sucks. The liquid could be replaced when required.


“Not sure it is a sweet I would want – I think I will stick to chocolate!”

ENDS

Notes to editors
For further information please contact
Bron Mills
bron.mills@warwick.ac.uk
07824540720

The technology was not originally created with inspiration from the infamous chocolatier. The theory behind the invention is that changes in a person's taste and smell senses could be an early indication of Alzheimer’s before signs of memory loss arise. The easy-to-use low-cost dispenser could be used by a nurse as part of an annual health check, in pharmacies, care homes, community centres and even in the home. Researchers hope to achieve UK-wide screening services where members of the public can take a simple smell and taste test. Those who perform poorly can then be referred for further tests which could result in an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Professor Chalmers said: “At the moment, people who present with symptoms of memory loss are referred for MRI scans and spinal fluid tests to confirm a diagnosis. By the time memory loss occurs, things are often too late; pioneering drug treatments only perform well in the early stages of degeneration.

Mon 20 Nov 2023, 12:59 | Tags: Visualisation Research Digital Technologies Warwick News

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