WMG at the University of Warwick has been tasked with delivering two significant parts of a project to create one of the world’s most advanced environments for connected and autonomous driving.

Announced on June 1^st, the globally unique UK Connected Intelligent Transport Environment (UK CITE) project is worth a total of £7.1m and has won funding from the government’s £100 million Intelligent Mobility Fund. The fund, which has been established to accelerate research and development in connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, is administered by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) and delivered by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Care for patients with multimorbid chronic conditions could be transformed by a new cloud infrastructure to be developed at the University of Warwick’s Institute of Digital Healthcare based at WMG, as part of a European project.

The system called C3-Cloud, which is led by the Institute of Digital Healthcare aims to transform current care models which are mostly fragmented, addressing chronic conditions in isolation. The researchers have been awarded EUR 5 Million to lead pilots of the system in three countries. Funded by EU Horizon 2020, 12 partners in seven countries are combining their expertise to improve care provided to patients with multimorbidity.

Patients with multimorbidity, have two or chronic conditions such as diabetes, dementia and arthritis which makes treatment more complicated and has become more prevalent among older adults as mortality rates have declined and the population has aged.

WMG, University of Warwick, has joined forces with the University of Oxford and Imperial College London to launch ‘Autonomous Driving Challenge 2016’, for all ages.

The Challenge aims to encourage the next generation of designers and engineers to really push the boundaries of robotics. There will be a range of prizes in different age categories: ages 4-8, 9-12, 13-17 and 18+. Participants must design and create their own vehicle, make a racetrack and ‘teach’ their vehicle to drive freely around it.

Carsten Maple, WMG’s Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering, said: “As founding members of the EPSRC UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network we are pleased to be working in collaboration with Imperial College London and the University of Oxford to coordinate Autonomous Driving Challenge 2016.

WMG, University of Warwick is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Matthew Higgins as an Associate Professor, in the area of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles research.

Dr Higgins has spent the last seven years, working in association with some of the UK’s leading defence and telecommunications companies.

He progressed through a number of roles including Research Assistant, Research Fellow, and Senior Teaching Fellow, before being promoted in 2012 to the position of Assistant Professor. His research focused primarily on Optical, Nano, and Molecular Communications. Whilst in this position, Dr Higgins set up the Vehicular Communications Research Laboratory, which aimed to enhance the use of communications systems within the vehicular space.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya was pleased to welcome Lucy Powell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education to WMG.

Ms Powell was interested to learn more about WMG’s education programmes, particularly how we collaborate with industry to deliver these.

After meeting with Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Ms Powell was given a tour of the Group’s R&D facilities. Starting in the International Manufacturing Centre’s Engineering Hall with Professor Jennings, they discussed WMG’s research into smart and connected vehicles. Ms Powell heard about how the team produced a laser scan of 30 miles of Coventry roads to test driverless pods through a research project with RDM. She also had the opportunity to speak with Engineering Doctorate researchers Joseph Smyth and Robert Courtney. Ms Powell then met with undergraduates working on national and international student competitions including Formula student, Warwick Rail Challenge and Warwick Sub.

Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering, Carsten Maple, from the Cyber Security Centre at WMG, University of Warwick has been appointed as the Chair of the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing UK (CPHC).

The Council of Professors and Heads of Computing aims to promote public education in computing and its applications, and to provide a forum for those responsible for management and research in university computing departments. Professor Maple has been the Vice-chair since 2014 and takes over the reins from Sally Smith.

Professor Maple comments: “There is widespread recognition that developing talent in Computing Sciences will play a vital role in the economic and societal development of the United Kingdom. The Council, through the committee and its membership of over 800 Professors and Heads of Department from over 100 institutions, will play a key role in providing this talent. I am proud to lead this effort over the next two years".

In his role at WMG, Professor Maple is also the director of the Cyber Security Centre working with organisations in key sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, financial services and the broader public sector to address the challenges presented by today's global cyber environment.

Researchers from the University of Warwick’s Institute of Digital Healthcare (IDH) are using data to help discover why some pregnancies fail.

The initiative is part of the National Tommy’s Centre for Early Miscarriage Care and Research (NEMC) which is the first in the UK - and the largest in Europe. The University of Warwick has been chosen as a partner, together with the University of Birmingham and Imperial College London. The NEMC is funded by Tommy's, the baby and pregnancy charity

The team at IDH is led by Professor Theo Arvanitis, Chair in e-Health Innovation and Head of Research. He said: “Around 250,000 miscarriages occur every year, and roughly a third of women suffer more than one of these traumatic events. We'll also be creating a national database, initially by taking information from all three centres.

Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Strategy, Jan Godsell, will be representing WMG at a special Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum in London, on Wednesday 27 April.

Professor Godsell will join other experts in the field to discuss priorities for the UK food supply chain including issues of integrity and assurance, and how best to ensure a fair price for suppliers to large supermarkets. Also up for discussion will be improving awareness, of and compliance with, the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.

Two major investments in the automotive industry in Coventry will create world class facilities for the automotive industry in a resurgent “Motor City” Coventry, and both will be built in the year that will mark 120 years of motor manufacturing history in the City. The first British motor car was made in Coventry in 1897 by The Daimler Motor Company Limited but the company that is playing a central role in Coventry’s resurgence as a “Smart Motor City” is Jaguar Land Rover who is key to two major motor developments in the city both of which will be complete, or well underway, by 2017.

Coventry is undergoing a resurgence placing it at the heart of the rebirth of Britain’s car manufacturing industry, emulating the successes of the past. The City will be key to the future of the country’s economic success.