We were very pleased to welcome to WMG, Professor Alex Halliday FRS, Head of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences at the University of Oxford.

Professor Halliday, who is Physical Secretary and Vice President of The Royal Society, met with Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya FRS and John Leighfield, previously Chairman of Council at Warwick and currently Chair of the Governing Body of the WMG Academy for Young Engineers. They enjoyed a wide ranging discussion on the opportunities in research and education.
 
The discussion was followed by a visit to WMG’s research laboratories, including presentations on WMG's work within the areas of Nanocomposites and Energy Innovation.

On Tuesday 2nd of March, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya was pleased to welcome Alastair Campbell, former Chief Spokesman and strategist to Tony Blair, to WMG, at the University of Warwick to speak about his recently published book - Winners: And How They Succeed.

Alastair Campbell embarked on this book because he is fascinated by what it takes to win. How do sportsmen excel, entrepreneurs thrive, or individuals achieve their ambition? Is their ability to win innate? Or is the winning gene something we can all develop?

Drawing on the experience of an astonishing array of talented people - from elite athletes to top managers, from rulers of countries to rulers of global business empires - Alastair used his own skills and experience, to get to the heart of success.

WMG was pleased to welcome Mr Ranjan Mathai, Indian High Commissioner to the UK, to visit WMG on Thursday 19th February.

Meeting with Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Mr Mathai was interested to understand the breadth of research undertaken by WMG, how the Group develops partnerships with industry and the significant economic benefits of such partnerships.

Mr Mathai also took a tour of WMG’s facilities including the new Energy Innovation Centre, as well as viewing materials and manufacturing research activity in the International Manufacturing Centre and visiting the International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing.

Mr Ratan Tata GBE, Chairman of Tata Trusts and Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons today officially opened the WMG Academy for Young Engineers in Coventry.

Hosted by Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Chairman of WMG, and Mr John Leighfield CBE, Chairman of the WMG Academy Trust, Mr Tata officially opened the Academy in front of an audience of over 300. Guests included companies working closely with the Academy such as Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors, Bosch and National Grid, civic leaders and the partners from the University of Warwick.

The WMG Academy, which opened its doors to over 230 students in September 2014, is already a huge success. Within a month of opening, a team of students triumphed at the Coventry City Council Debating Competition and won a trip to the House of Lords.

The WMG Academy has promised, from its inception, to blend business and education, to prepare students for the world of work and offers a unique curriculum which teaches engineering and business skills alongside standard qualifications.

Yesterday, WMG was pleased to host a visit from George Bastin, Senior Warden and Master-designate of The Ironmongers' Company and former Master Mr Sam Apsley.

The visitors met with members of WMG’s Advanced Steels Processing Research Centre including Professor Sridhar Seetharaman (RAEng/Tata Steel Research Chair in Low Carbon Technologies) and Professor Barbara Shollock (Tata Steel Research Chair in Advanced Characterisation and Coatings) and were interested to understand the innovative research being undertaken in the area of iron and steel manufacturing.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya met with the visitors for a discussion on the challenges and opportunities in the area of steels and in engineering and manufacturing more broadly.

The visitors also undertook a tour of WMG’s research facilities including lightweighting research across multiple materials areas as well as research in the areas of metrology and product evaluation technologies and how these are applied to the characterisation and understanding of materials including steels.

Today WMG was pleased to welcome Mr Fikri Işık, Turkish Minister for Science, Industry and Technology, and a delegation including the Head of the Turkish Research Council (TUBITAK), the director of the ICT Industrial Zone in Turkey and the president of Turkish employers' organisation (TIM), Mehmet Buyukekşi.

Meeting with Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Mr Işık and the delegation were interested to understand the breadth of WMG’s collaborative industrial education programmes and technology transfer activities, and the economic benefits produced by such partnerships.

During their meeting, Mr Işık and Professor Lord Bhattacharyya signed a memorandum of understanding which covered agreement on joint industrial training in innovation, technology and the development of research programmes. They also discussed a possible collaboration to develop an Innovation and Technology transfer centre in Turkey in affiliation with WMG to provide similar services for Turkish industry.

The delegation also took a tour of WMG’s impressive facilities including the new Energy Innovation Centre, as well as viewing materials and manufacturing research in the International Manufacturing Centre and the Metrology and Product Evaluation Technologies research centre. The delegation also met with Professor Sujit Banerji, Executive Director of WMG Education, to find out more about WMG’s industrially-focused professional and executive education provision.

Today, WMG was pleased to host a visit from Dr Susan Close MP, Minister in the Government of South Australia. Dr Close is Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation as well as the newly created portfolio of Automotive Transformation.

Dr Close visited WMG as part of a research trip to key facilities in Europe, along with a delegation of government and business leaders from South Australia who hold an interest in advanced manufacturing and innovation.

Meeting with Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Dr Close and the visitors were interested to understand the breadth of research undertaken by WMG, how the Group develops partnerships with industry and the significant economic benefits of such partnerships.

The visitors also undertook a tour of WMG’s impressive research facilities including the Energy Innovation Centre, the International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing and research within the International Manufacturing Centre such as Product Evaluation Technologies and Lightweighting and systems engineering research in the International Digital Laboratory.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya welcomed the Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP to WMG’s International Manufacturing Centre where he hosted an industrial roundtable.

Invited regional SMEs and representatives from Jaguar Land Rover attended the roundtable where Mr Miliband was keen to hear first-hand the challenges that both SMEs and global companies face and what they saw as the opportunities for manufacturing in the West Midlands region. Also taking part in the discussions were Shabana Mahmood MP, Shadow Minister for Treasury, and Liam Byrne MP, Shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Chairman of WMG, welcomed Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP, Shadow Home Secretary, and David Jamieson, West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner to the International Manufacturing Centre on Friday 14^th November.

Ms Cooper and Mr Jamieson met with Professor Tim Watson, Director of the WMG Cyber Security Centre, and discussed how current and future technology can help the police to tackle a variety of cybercrimes and what impact this could have on police resources. Professor Watson also highlighted the expertise within the Cyber Security Centre and the work they do to help protect people within the cyber–physical environment. The visit included a simulated hacking incident, which demonstrated the techniques used by cyber criminals and the effects that this type of crime can have on their victims.

On Thursday 6th November, Dr Vince Cable, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), was welcomed to campus by Professor Lord Bhattacharyya (Chairman of WMG) along with Dr Gerhard Schmidt (Chairman) and Tony Pixton (CEO) of the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, Professor Stuart Croft (Provost of the University of Warwick) and Jerry Hardcastle (Chair of the Automotive Council Technology Group).

Dr Cable was visiting to officially launch the new Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) Hub which is based on the University of Warwick campus. The APC helps forge partnerships between those who have good ideas and those who can bring them to market. The services provided by the APC enable projects which provide profitable growth and sustainable opportunities for the partners involved and contribute to the UK’s economic prosperity.

Read the APC's Press Release on the Launch: Vince Cable opens £1billion centre for cleaner greener vehicles