Businesses to benefit from advanced digital, materials and user focussed design expertise

Over 70 SMEs from across the West Midlands attended WMG’s International Digital Lab, last week, to find out about WMG’s latest SME focussed centre – The International Institute for Product and Service Innovation. The event showcased the broad range of product and service technology and expertise that will feature in the new building when it opens in September 2012. The event was opened by Dr Mark Swift, Head of SME Programmes at WMG and featured a key note address from Professor Tim Jones, Pro Vice Chancellor for Knowledge Transfer, Business Engagement and Research at the University of Warwick. Three West Midlands based SME directors also talked about their experiences of working with the WMG SME team, including Maurice Cassidy of Barkley Plastics Ltd, Tom Parnell, of SigLead Europe Ltd and Geoff Henderson of Digital Native Academy Ltd.

WMG is looking to make a number of key academic appointments across its full range of research activities in Digital Technologies, Materials and Manufacturing and Operations and Business Management, in order to enhance and expand its capabilities in these developing areas.

The new posts cover a range of research, teaching and knowledge transfer activities, working with partners in diverse business sectors such as automotive, aerospace and defence, digital, healthcare, finance, energy and pharmaceuticals.

The Group are currently looking for world class individuals who want to make a real impact in their field. The following roles are available:

• Jaguar Land Rover Chair in Simulation of Complex Hybrid and Electric Powertrain Systems 
• Royal Academy of Engineering / TATA Steel Research Chair in Low Carbon Materials Technologies
• Professor of Innovative Manufacturing
• Professor of Cyber Security
• Associate Professor in Service Systems
• Associate / Assistant Professor in Tropical Diagnostics (in collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine)

Other key academic positions in Cyber Security, Digital Product Lifecycle Management, Hybrid and Electric Vehicles and Nanocomposites will also be announced shortly.

WMG's International Institute for Product and Service Innovation is three quarters through its build programme and on schedule as planned. Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and University of Warwick, it is due for completion this summer, with official launch expected for September 2012. IIPSI is WMG’s fifth building and will be dedicated purely for the use of SMEs in the region, highlighting WMG’s continuing dedication to business support and innovation.

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.

WMG at the University of Warwick and the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) invite you to a FREE one day knowledge dissemination workshop on Smart Digital Media, Effective Skills Access and R&D Funding opportunities.

This interactive workshop will be held at the International Digital Laboratory, University of Warwick on Tuesday 27th March 2012, 08:30-13:00.

WMG has an extensive portfolio of equipment and resources, which are available for companies to use for testing and research. The equipment, which can often be difficult for companies to access elsewhere, is coupled with a very broad technical capability available from staff within the WMG. Companies are able to use the equipment in a variety of ways from a fully-funded, free-of-charge basis, through to a facility day-rate charge.

Our facilities are state-of-the-art and, in all but the most exceptional cases, are provided with expert technician support. All are offered at competitive rates, where applicable. Some of our equipment, such as the Vehicle Energy Facility, a Science City Research Alliance funded project, is unique in terms of being available for use within the public arena.

Contact us for a copy of our WMG Equipment and Capability Directory, or for a quotation.

Visit our business pages for more information.

Work is soon to begin to build a £5 million home at the University of Warwick for a £12 million programme designed to help Midlands SMEs access some of the world's leading product and service design technology.

The Coleshill office of Willmott Dixon has been chosen to undertake the £5 million project to house the new International Institute for Product and Service Innovation (IIPSI) at WMG at the University of Warwick. The company’s surveyors were on site for the first time this week.

Midlands small and medium sized manufacturing companies are facing increasing demands from customers for lighter weight components made with the very latest, unfamiliar, and even exotic, metal alloys.

The cost of learning how to use such new materials is a real burden and a potential barrier to new business. But that technical support is already available for free from WMG at the University Warwick who are to mount a special event to showcase those resources for Midlands SMEs on Wednesday 20th July 2011 from 9.30 – 4.30pm

We were very pleased to welcome a cross-party group of nine MPs to WMG for a stimulating debate on manufacturing with some of our staff who are involved in programmes in the aerospace, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors.

The MPs visited as part of the Industry and Parliament Trust’s ‘Made in Britain Programme’ which aims to get parliamentarians right inside the dynamic, diverse and innovative world of manufacturing in the UK.

The UK’s technology base was given a major boost today when Tata Motors’ European Technical Centre (TMETC), a wholly-owned UK-based subsidiary of Tata Motors, announced that it will be expanding its partnership with WMG at the University of Warwick. TMETC plans to increase their team of highly skilled engineers working on the campus by 40% over the next two years.