The WMG centre HVM Catapult team attended the esteemed MIA Energy Efficient Motorsport Conference, earlier this month.

The event showcases leading figures from motorsport, automotive and beyond to discuss current and future technology development, and explores the many opportunities for business growth and success.

At the conference, our Professor Dave Greenwood joined other experts for a lively panel discussion entitled 'What's in it for me? Electric Power in Motorsport and Automotive'.

In the evening, the MIA held its prestigious Business Excellence Awards. WMG sponsored the ‘Export Achievement Award,’ with AP Racing crowned much-deserved winners. The AP Racing team were presented with their award by the CEO of our WMG centre HVM Catapult, Archie MacPherson.

You can read more about MIA events here.

A new research project, Tucana, will focus on lighweighting technology, delivering stiffer and lighter vehicle structures with the help of experts from WMG, at the University of Warwick.

The research will develop world-leading cost effective, scalable carbon fibre composite solutions, with the view to boosting the performance of electric vehicles. The CO2 benefit of the project between 2023-2032, will be 4.5 million tonnes.

WMG will receive £4m, of the £18.7m government funding through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), to drive the development of innovative lightweight vehicle and powertrain structures, building on the UK’s leading-edge capability in this area.

Project Tucana will allow the true environmental credentials of electric vehicles to be realised by enabling wider adoption. Tucana will deliver this step-change by addressing structural performance at a design, material and volume manufacturing-level which is currently unmet across the industry.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the RT Hon Philip Hammond MP has announced today (Friday 10^th August 2018) that WMG, at the University of Warwick, has been awarded £100m in Government funding for WMG’s work in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

It forms part of a £780 million announcement of which £270.9 million has been awarded to the West Midlands (to WMG and MTC for their work in the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and the Energy Systems Catapult in Birmingham).

Tipton-based darkroom specialists Paterson Photographic Ltd have added daylight to darkness in their leading studio and theatre lighting equipment, thanks to LED technology support from WMG at the University of Warwick.

Having developed a global reputation for the quality of their darkroom equipment, they wanted to add to their product offering and re-enter the studio lighting market with a comprehensive range of Continuous Lighting units manufactured in their own UK factory.

Creating a studio lighting range that used LEDs with a colour temperature of 6000K (daylight) rather than the most common methods using fluorescent lighting would provide Paterson Photographic with a technological leap in their products.

The SME (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) support team at WMG at the University of Warwick provided technical and research support allowing the company to launch the first batch of LED-based daylight products with bespoke coloured filters at the 2018 Photography Show at Birmingham’s NEC. The new products are expected to generate sales in six figures for Paterson over the next year.

Plans for a very light rail service in Coventry moved a step closer today, as researchers from WMG, at the University of Warwick, unveiled early vehicle concept designs to representatives from Coventry City Council.

The project, funded by the Government’s Local Growth Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership and West Midlands Combined Authority Devolution Deal (which is subject to approval of the business case), is set to better connect the City. This will use a state-of-the-art rail system which will be cheaper, quieter and more environmentally friendly than anything currently available.

Councillors Jim O’Boyle and David Welsh will meet with Dr Nick Mallinson, Dr Darren Hughes and Dr James Winnett from WMG, at the University of Warwick, to showcase the latest plans which have been developed through an initial feasibility study.

World-renowned designer Sebastian Conran will be the guest speaker at a seminar on designing and manufacturing the future, part of the series of Design@WMG events hosted by WMG’s Experiential Engineering Group and WMG centre HVM Catapult.

Taking place on Wednesday 10th May in the International Manufacturing Centre, the talk entitled 'Form Follows Fabrication' will give attendees an insight into creating aspirational, innovative and successful user experiences, as Sebastian shares his experiences from 40 years in the design industry.

On Wednesday (22 March), our SME Group presented ‘Why Innovation Matters’ to SMEs across the Black Country.

The exclusive invite-only event took place at the NatWest Manufacturing Hub in Wolverhampton with speeches from Alison Rose, CEO of Commercial and Private Banking, and Richard Hill Head of Sector Automotive and Manufacturing at NatWest. Archie MacPherson CEO, WMG centre High Value Manufacturing Catapult and Paul Milne, Innovation Manager in our SME team, represented WMG.

Attendees were given a chance to hear first-hand about our SME Group’s specialist Product Innovation Accelerator Project. The Project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. It was developed to help manufacturing SMEs, based in Coventry and Warwickshire and the Black Country, develop new products, processes and access new technology through collaboration.

WMG is pleased to announce the appointment of Archie MacPherson, as the new CEO of the WMG centre High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult.

Archie joins WMG, bringing over 25 years' experience in manufacturing, having previously worked for IBM, ICL, Lucas Industries and Mettis Group serving the Automotive, Aerospace, Defence, Energy & Rail sectors. He has held leadership roles in organisations covering family, public and private equity owned structures. Archie was also a founding member of the Advanced Forming Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, and latterly CEO (of AFRC) from 2012 to 2016.

Archie, who previously studied at Harvard Business School, comments: “I’m passionate about helping companies to improve their

competitiveness, and I’m looking forward to using my expertise to help convert the art and science of innovation into tangible results.”

Researchers at WMG, University of Warwick have formed a new research partnership with battery technology innovators Faradion, and smart energy storage specialists Moixa Technology, to develop sodium-ion cells as a significantly lower cost alternative to lithium-ion batteries for solar energy storage. This collaboration is being part funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.

A significant proportion of the cost of current solar energy storage systems comes from the commonly used lithium-ion battery. However by using highly abundant sodium salts rather than lithium, Sodium-ion cells are anticipated to be 30% cheaper to produce. This makes solar storage more accessible and opening up the possibility of domestic renewable energy storage to a greater number of households and businesses worldwide. Developments in this area could lead to a CO₂ reduction of 500,000 tonnes each year.

WMG at the University of Warwick is to use a laser scan of 30 miles of Coventry roads to test driverless pods as part of a research programme launched this week.

WMG will work with RDM Group - the UK’s only designer and manufacturer of driverless Pods - in a project called INnovative Testing of Autonomous Control Techniques (INTACT).

The project, funded by Innovate UK, will enable Coventry based automotive innovation experts RDM to test its vehicles on one of the world’s most adaptable and advanced driving simulators at WMG.