WMG News - Latest news from WMG

In July our SME team welcomed a group of interns as part of the 2017 Summer Internship Programme. They are working with local SMEs on a range of projects covering design and manufacture, tool development, electronics, materials testing and characterisation, and lean methodologies.

Over the past five years, we have delivered 110 internship projects and will deliver another 25 as part of this year’s programme. The interns work alongside our team of experts, giving them valuable work experience, and in turn our SMEs get to work with talented up and coming undergraduates, and access to the state-of-the-art research facilities at the University of Warwick.

If your company is interested in our Internships Programme contact Jen Manerova, Internships Officer, on 02476 523 776 or email: wmgsme@warwick.ac.uk for more details.

Researchers at the Institute of Digital Healthcare in WMG, University of Warwick have been awarded an Innovate UK grant to assist Sweatco Ltd to further develop their app for users to earn more rewards from a broader range of exercise activities.

Sweatcoin, a digital currency generated by physical movement captured on a smartphone, has been a huge success, having already converted more than 80 billion of its users’ physical steps into virtual coins in reward for their exercise (walking and running). For now, Sweatcoin’s proprietary algorithm verifies outdoor movement using a number of other sensors, including GPS, to prevent potential ‘gaming of the system’.

The company now wants to expand the app to allow users to earn digital currency while cycling and when inside buildings, including activities such as running on a treadmill or simply walking around whilst at work. With the help of an Innovate UK grant, they are working with researchers in the Institute of Digital Healthcare in WMG at the University of Warwick to develop a solution, while blocking any methods to cheat through the use of computer validation techniques.

WMG, at the University of Warwick hosted a visit from the leader, and deputy leader, of Coventry City Council who were keen to see for themselves the significant investment in automotive research within the City.

Cllr Duggins and Cllr Khan were given tours of the National Automotive Innovation Centre and Energy Innovation Centre, both lead by WMG, where research and development focuses on energy, batteries and autonomous vehicles.

The Energy Innovation Centre is going through significant expansion, which will see WMG to continue to provide a unique facility for industry and academia to develop innovative energy storage technology. The focus is on novel cell materials and chemistries through to ‘2nd life’ and battery recycling, which will keep the UK at the forefront of energy research.

The National Automotive Innovation Centre is a long-term partnership with Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Motors European Technical Centre providing a critical mass of research capability for the automotive sector. Together teams will collaborate to develop breakthrough designs, technologies and processes making vehicles smarter, lighter and greener.

Cllr Duggins, Leader of Coventry City Council said “To say the National Automotive Innovation Centre is incredible is an understatement. I’m sure there are a lot of people in the City who are not aware of the impact such a centre will have on the City. It will provide major employment and there is no question it is a leading centre, not just for Coventry, but for the UK. The building itself is iconic and a major landmark. This proves what can be done when partners deliver and shows the benefits to the community generally.”

WMG doctoral graduate, Pinar Satilmis has received a Faculty of Science Doctoral Thesis Award for her PhD project “High Fidelity Sky Models”.

Pinar’s thesis, “High Fidelity Sky Models” involved investigating innovative ways to simulate light, to accurately replicate real world lighting and cloud illumination in virtual environments. Pinar investigated a number of different methods including generating animated virtual environments to model changes in skylight in real time and using machine learning to predict light values.

Autonomous vehicles will learn some of the swarming skills, as used by birds and insects, thanks to a new research programmes involving WMG at University of Warwick.

WMG at the University of Warwick will receive just over half a million pound from Innovate UK for its part in the £2m programme in which it will partner with autonomous pod manufacturer RDM Group, and Milton Keynes Council to create Swarm Intelligence for autonomous pods.

The concept is based on fusing together existing information from other autonomous vehicles a fleet of pods to allow each pod to locally decide the most appropriate action for the group as a whole – similar to how insects and birds currently behave.

This means that pods can highlight any unexpected behaviour to a supervisor, as well as enabling ‘platooning’, where vehicles follow each other when possible to minimise the number or individual vehicle movements. The technology also enables the system automatically adapt its behaviour to meet the demand so that Pods can be optimally distributed within a city to the areas where they are most likely requested.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Chairman, WMG, University of Warwick comments “I’m delighted to hear that the Government have announced plans to establish a centre for battery research in the UK. Not only will this support the Industrial Strategy, it will help change the perception of Britain from labs to manufacture.”

“Coventry and the sub region has a significant contribution to make in the delivery of the UK’s national industrial strategy, being in a strong position to lead the advancement of battery development, and vehicle electrification and autonomous vehicles. It will be at the heart of the drive to make the city a smart motor city.”

“Building on our automotive heritage, together with the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, we are keen to develop and expand battery R&D, which will see the creation of these skilled jobs which will also be a trigger for other development by the private sector.

“Having a 37 year track record of working jointly with industry to innovate, and as leaders, for 15 years, in battery development, WMG are poised to continue to drive forward battery innovation and help create growth and employment in the UK.

The full announcement from the Business Secretary Greg Clarke MP can be heard here.

Students from WMG at the University of Warwick, who designed and built a submarine, were the UK champions at the 2017 International Submarine Race (ISR) in Washington DC, USA.

The human-powered submarine – Godiva 3 – achieved the fastest times and won more awards than any UK team in the competition, scooping the ‘Best Use of Composites’ and the ‘Best Design Outline’ awards.

Godiva 3 also achieved third place internationally in its class for speed, reaching 2.52 knots.

The Warwick Submarine team is made up of seven Engineering students from a variety of disciplines across the University.

The team has access to world-class engineering expertise and facilities from both WMG and the School of Engineering - both academic departments at the University of Warwick.

Over the past few months, the team has gone from developing an original concept for the submarine to constructing its parts, conducting thorough analyses, working with sponsors, and now taking part in a major global competition.

During the ISR, the team had to deliver a presentation to the panel of judges, submit a design report of their submarine, and race it in time trials on a 100 metre underwater course.

Dr Reuel Khoza, a distinguished thought leader, businessman, President of the IoDSA, and change agent at the forefront of transformation in the South African political economy, received a warm welcome from staff and students at WMG today, some 12 years after his own graduation here.

Hailed as a role model in his native South Africa, in respect of the duties and responsibilities that a citizen can and should take on in the public and national interest, Dr Khoza returned as the Honorary Speaker at this year's graduation.

Professor Lord Bhattacharrya, Chairman and Founder of WMG, said: "I am delighted that Reuel is back with us today. We worked together very closely in the early 2000s when Reuel was with me combining his Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Business Leadership with the challenge of his Chairmanship of Eskom and the writing of his first book. A remarkable combination by a remarkable man.

Dr Khoza plans to take up an exciting new engagement building links between WMG and South Africa.

A partnership led by WMG at the University of Warwick, with the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), Tata Steel, and the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) is using a stream of neutrons from ILL’s nuclear reactor in a new project to examine the safety critical welds in cars made with boron steel.

Press-hardened boron steel is an ultra high-strength steel used across a variety of industries, with a particularly important application in the automotive industry. A large proportion of car manufacturers use boron steel for structural components and anti-intrusion systems in automobiles, as it provides high strength and weight-saving potential, allowing for stronger yet lighter cars, with increased passenger safety.

In the automotive industry, a major joining method for boron steel components is “resistance spot welding”, with several thousand welds being made on a single car. Spot welding exposes the boron steel sheet directly underneath the electrodes” to very high temperatures, causing the metal to exceed melting temperature and then rapidly solidify upon cooling. This results in a heat-affected zone, where surrounding material contracts and its microstructures are altered.

Assistant Professor John Low has been awarded an EPSRC First Grant to develop a more modern approach to design and manufacture automotive energy storage, targeting Lithium-ion battery and supercapacitor devices.

The project will focus on ‘a designer approach to structuring electrodes’ for improved energy storage performance so that low-carbon plug-in and electric vehicles can travel a longer distance per charge. The new electrodes are expected to gain a significant improvement in the final ‘usable’ energy density (Wh/kg) and ‘usable’ capacity (Ah) at device cell level.

The new and improved energy storage devices will be designed, manufactured and tested at our state-of-the-art battery prototyping WMG Energy Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick.