Engineers and teaching staff from WMG and the School of Engineering are proud to be representing the University of Warwick at the annual Imagineering Fair at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena this weekend (14-15 November).

About Imagineering

Each year thousands of people enjoy hundreds of activities developed and laid on by some of the UK’s major manufacturers, engineering organisations and education establishments. Visitors can learn about the importance of modern engineering in our everyday life and how things are designed and made. Youngsters are also able to meet successful real-life young engineers.

WMG will be joining colleagues from the University of Warwick this Friday (16 October) and Saturday (17 October) to showcase its fascinating work as part of the University’s Festival of Imagination. The Festival has been organised to mark the University of Warwick’s 50^th anniversary.

We are currently putting the finishing touches to a state-of-the-art solar tree which will be unveiled at the Festival. Solar trees are artificial sculptural structures that convert the sun’s energy into electric current using photovoltaic (PV) cells. The tree has been created using CAD and brought to life through 3D printing. Once in position in the Butterworth Hall, Warwick Arts Centre, the tree will reach an impressive 6ft in height.

Staff from WMG, alongside colleagues from the School of Engineering were pleased to take part in the Cheltenham Science Festival which took place recently (2-6 June 2015).

WMG is to be part of the new revolutionary EPSRC UK-RAS Network, which brings together the UK’s core academic capabilities in robotic innovation under national coordination for the first time.

Robotics and autonomous systems has been recognised by the government as one of the eight great technologies that support UK science strengths and business capabilities. WMG’s research focus is on the Smart and Connected Vehicle aiming to understand and inform the trust in autonomous control and the security of driverless cars.

The 2nd annual WMG Doctoral Research and Innovation Conference, entitled ‘Innovation through Collaboration’, is an excellent opportunity to showcase research from both academia and industry across themes in design, materials, manufacturing, systems and business transformation.

Organised by doctoral students, the conference will be held in the International Digital Laboratory on 30th June - 1st July, with an evening social event on the 30th.

Papers and poster presentations will take place across a wide variety of topics and awards will be presented in each theme.

Abstracts should be submitted online by 31st March.

Leading West Midlands SMEs were at WMG, University of Warwick, for an awards night which recognised Impact and Innovation.

The Innovation Feast took place over two days on the 10th and 11th December with a number of practical workshops and speeches delivered by leading industry figures including the chairman of the Midlands Assembly Network and managing director of PP Electrical Systems Ltd Tony Hague, manufacturing expert Will Stirling, managing director of Coventry based Sprue Safety Products Ltd Nick Rutter, innovation specialist at WMG Dr David Bott and customer engagement pioneers Rant & Rave Ltd. In total 14 companies and six interns were also celebrated for their contribution to economic growth in the West Midlands.

Birmingham based Barkley Plastics won the Impact award having increased turnover by over £1 million through their collaboration with WMG. The company’s former technical director Maurice Cassidy also won a special recognition award for his contribution to innovation in the West Midlands.

WMG has taken part in a high profile event attended by global leaders in the engineering industry aimed at promoting cutting-edge technology and celebrating 50 years of the Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) was among the partners of the ‘Driving Technological Change within British Manufacturing’ event in the build-up to the British Grand Prix last weekend.
Around 240 delegates attended the one-day event which attracted industry leaders and organisations to discuss a wide range of topics in a series of seminars and question and answer panels.

Mark Amor-Segan, Principal Engineer within the Energy & Electrical Systems team at WMG, facilitated a seminar on Energy Capture and Storage, focusing on the electrification of vehicles within motorsport and automotive, looking at optimum configurations to achieve best performance. The session also included Sylvain Filippi, Chief Technical Officer for the Virgin Racing Formula E Team and Paul Bostock, Senior Manager, Hybrids and Electrification at Jaguar Land Rover.

WMG has secured the 100th job in the region since the launch of a dedicated innovation support programme for businesses in our International Institute for Product and Service Innovation in September 2012. Alongside this, we have created another 45 jobs and helped establish 7 new businesses.

The innovation programme helps West Midlands SMEs solve specific manufacturing, product development and business process challenges that they may have. It also offers a range of interactive workshops; collaborative networking events and specialist internships, helping SMEs embed the skills and processes they need to innovate and to grow their businesses.

The 100th job was secured at Coventry based Region Services Limited (RSL) market leaders in developing and supplying public information systems, such as interactive terminals, broadcast screens and smart ticketing machines.

On Wednesday 15 January, WMG welcomed members of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) project team for a series of events held in the International Manufacturing Centre.

The Bloodhound SSC is a jet and rocket powered car and is being designed and built to achieve 1,000 mph (just over 1,600 kph) - which would break the land speed record by 33%, the largest ever margin. The project is being directed by Richard Noble OBE, who also attended and spoke during the event on Wednesday.

During a busy visit, the Bloodhound team were a feature of an Engineering Careers afternoon which was run in collaboration with the School of Engineering. In the afternoon, 95 pupils from 8 local schools in Coventry and Warwickshire visited the university to find out more about the variety of exciting careers offered through studying Engineering.

Phones and tablet computers are to be part of a new highly personalised heating and energy economy system thanks to an idea by Midlands company JSJS Designs Ltd, WMG and the Estates Office at the University of Warwick which has just won £495,000 in support from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board.

JSJS Designs Ltd and WMG will use the funding to work with The University of Warwick’s Estates Office to retrofit an innovative wireless Heating Micro-management System (HMS) to the University’s Social Sciences building. The novel system hands control over to both the building management team and the building’s occupants who will individually be able to use their smart phones and tablet computers to control heating at a room-by-room level.

The project will allow JSJS Ltd to test this technology on a large complex building and help them scale up the application of a technology that in the past has only be available to much smaller and simpler domestic properties.