A new interdisciplinary research centre for industrial biotechnology and biorefining was launched at Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) on 21 March. The Warwick Centre for Industrial Biotechnology and Biorefining (WCIBB) builds on existing strengths in chemistry, life sciences, engineering and manufacturing.

Industrial biotechnology and bioenergy are key research priorities for funding councils. The centre will establish new links with the growing UK biotechnology sector in biorenewables, bioplastics, and renewable materials for manufacturing.

WMG is very pleased to welcome a number of new academic appointments this month, who will take a leading role in some of our exciting research areas.

Professor Sridhar Seetharaman has joined WMG to take up the Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies, sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Tata Steel. Professor Seetharaman joins us from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he was the POSCO Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Co-Director of Center For Iron and Steel Research. Professor Seetharaman will be leading a new programme in the manufacture and application of advanced steels in low carbon technologies and setting up a new team, within WMG's existing Materials and Manufacturing theme, to work with Tata Steel to address the current international priorities of the low carbon agenda.

Professor Tony McNally has joined WMG to lead our developing research in the area of Nanocomposites. Professor McNally joins from Queen's University Belfast, where he was Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Polymer Processing Research Centre. The Nanocomposites team, based in WMG's International Institute for Product and Service Innovation, will span WMG's work in Digital Technologies, Materials and Manufacturing.

Dr Claire Dancer has also joined WMG this week to develop WMG's work in Nanocomposites. Dr Dancer joins from the University of Oxford, where she worked as a researcher in the Department of Materials, specifically looking at Manufacturing Methods for Metamaterials.

We also welcome Dr Kwabena Agyaping-Kodua who is joining WMG from the University of Nottingham where he has been Senior Research Fellow in Digital Manufacturing and Systems Engineering at the Precision Manufacturing Centre. As part of WMG's Digital Lifecycle Management team, Dr Agyapong-Kodua will be continuing to develop research activities in the digital manufacturing and systems engineering field, particularly within the remit of high value manufacturing.

A consortium of researchers led by WMG at the University of Warwick are to embark on a £3 million research programme called “Cleaning Land for Wealth” (CL4W), that will use a common class of flower to restore poisoned soils while at the same time producing perfectly sized and shaped nano sized platinum and arsenic nanoparticles for use in catalytic convertors, cancer treatments and a range of other applications.

A “Sandpit” exercise organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) allowed researchers from WMG at the University of Warwick, Newcastle University, The University of Birmingham, Cranfield University and the University of Edinburgh to come together and share technologies and skills to come up with an innovative multidisciplinary research project that could help solve major technological and environmental challenges.

WMG was proud to be an official supporter of the Motorsport Industry Association's (MIA) Summer Reception at the House of Lords on 2 July.

The MIA is the world's leading trade association for the motorsport, performance engineering, services and tuning sectors and the annual Summer Reception features the presentation of the prestigious and unique Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Motorsport Industry.

WMG at the University of Warwick is delighted to host the 2012 Viscount Nuffield / Mensforth Lecture, the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s premier manufacturing lecture. This year’s prestigious lecture, ‘Setting Premium Standards in Automotive Manufacturing’, will be given by Dr Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover.

This special event will take place at 18:30 on Thursday 15^th March at the International Manufacturing Centre, WMG’s headquarters on the University of Warwick campus. The lecture is free for anyone to attend. Register early at the IET website to avoid disappointment.

Drayson Racing Technologies and Lola will unveil an electric prototype racing car the “Lola-Drayson B12/69EV” at the Low Carbon Racing Conference at the NEC, Birmingham on Wednesday. As well as being unveiled in the Midland’s the car drew on specialist materials research by WMG researchers at the University of Warwick in Coventry.

Tata Steel RD&T and the Royal Academy of Engineering are jointly funding a new Chair for research into Low Carbon Materials Technology at WMG at the University of Warwick.

The two partners will put £600,000 into the new Research Chair.

Dr Kerry Kirwan has been awarded the Thornton Medal which is presented by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining to a speaker invited to present at either an Institute conference or another specially convened meeting.

Researchers from the Low Carbon Vehicle Technology Project are hosting an event that will discuss the practical issues with the systems integration of high voltage drive systems for electric and hybrid vehicles.

They will present the key architectural options and the state-of-the-art and system integration factors for the major high voltage components. The overall system integration of the high voltage driveline will be discussed and feedback presented from practical experiences on small volume projects.

The event is taking place on Wednesday 13 July.

Attendance is free, but you are requested to pre- register.

For more information and outline of the programme.

On Thursday 16^th June, we were very pleased to host a visit from Baroness Hanham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Baroness visited the Low Carbon Vehicle Technology Project which is accelerating the introduction of next generation low carbon vehicles through advances in key technology areas such as batteries, motors and materials.

Baroness Hanham enjoyed detailed discussions with project theme leaders as she walked around project theme demonstrations of some of the key technology advances in the programme. She then enjoyed a roundtable discussion with the team and some the LCVTP partner companies including Claytex, GRM Consulting and Alpha Adhesives, which are actively involved in the project and in implementing its developments.