Departmental news

Congratulations to Dr Joy Malala, Assistant Professor at Warwick Law School who has been awarded Warwick's Research Development Fund (RDF) Strategic Award to support her project titled, ‘Between Life and Debt: Minding the Dignity Gap in the UK Consumer Credit Market’.

The future of farming could involve robots– as farmers seek to address labour shortages and increase crop yields.

Warwick Crop Centre and WMG are working in close collaboration to combine their robotics expertise and plant science expertise to investigate how they can apply autonomous robotics to greenhouses and croppable fields.

Press Release (25 August 2023)

15 students joined the ‘Coding with Sophie’ launch session at Limbrick Wood Primary School after school club, and completed their six session programme just before the summer holidays.

The ‘Coding with Sophie’ programme has been developed by Dr Rebecca Nealon and Dr Farzana Meru, with the aim to improve coding literacy and to inspire children to consider coding (and more broadly STEM) in their future, as well as empowering teachers and parents to support children in their coding journey.

A team from the Astronomy and Astrophysics group led by Dr Lauren Doyle attended the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham in June and were one of the most popular stands with students returning again and again to engage with their stall.

The future of farming could involve robots– as farmers seek to address labour shortages and increase crop yields.

Researchers at WMG at The University of Warwick are investigating how they can apply autonomous robotics to greenhouses and croppable fields.

Continuous and repetitive monitoring of crops is vital for fruit and veg production, as the sooner that pests, diseases and infrastructure issues can be spotted, the sooner they can be rectified.

This means that growers get the information they need to make quick decisions that save their crops and reduce losses.

A state-of-the-art Crop Monitoring Robot (Crombot) is proving that robots could become the perfect helper to support growers – especially when faced with labour shortages. Crombot is an autonomous four-wheeled robot, able to navigate itself around a green house, avoiding other workers and even following specific workers on command.

Crombot’s robotic arm has a camera on the end which allows it to carry out all the required monitoring duties, and can even identify the ripeness levels of strawberries, letting the grower know which areas of the greenhouse is ready to be picked.

Other developments by the group include "Spot", an autonomous four-legged robot dog supplied by Boston Dynamics, for use in agriculture. Spot is designed to work in difficult and hazardous environments, and this innovative robot system has proven itself so far to be very impressive in handling a variety of greenhouse and outdoor environments.

Benefits of this system include being able to walk up and down steps, over heating rails and other obstacles as well as tackling muddy fields.

By working in close collaboration with the University’s School of Life Sciences (SLS) at the Warwick Crop Centre on the Innovation Campus Stratford-upon-Avon, the WMG team have been able to combine their robotics expertise with the plant science expertise of SLS to create this extremely promising research.

This has laid the foundation for the group to now explore new capabilities such as automated planting and harvesting.

Harry Boyce, Project Engineer at WMG at the University of Warwick added: “Our research with Crombot aims to address growers’ scepticism of new technology and, most importantly, cost. It will unlock the potential for adoption of robotics solutions in horticulture, and facilitate a UK offering to a huge global market.

Alex Keller, Principal Engineer at WMG at the University of Warwick, said: “Boston Dynamic’s Spot robot could be an ideal solution for an agricultural monitoring robot, but it is currently very expensive and further research is needed to understand if Spot could progress to challenges such as harvesting and more.

“This is why we are continuing to develop our in-house robotic capabilities, so that we can help industry to create robotic solutions that are affordable and realistic for the grower, which still deliver high impact and high return on investment.

“We hope to hear from growers who would like to be involved in this research – finding out how they can incorporate robots in their practices too.”

Find out more about WMG here https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/ or contact wmgbusiness@warick.ac.uk.

Notes to Editors

University of Warwick press office contact:

Annie Slinn

Communications Officer | Press & Media Relations | University of Warwick

Email: annie.slinn@warwick.ac.uk

Researchers from Warwick and Manchester finally solve long-standing puzzle of why graphene is so much more permeable to protons than expected by theory.

Professor Paul Goddard has been announced as the winner of the 2023 Brian Pippard Prize from the Institute of Physics (IOP) Superconductivity Group.

The Pippard Prize is named in honour of Professor Sir Brian Pippard, and is awarded on an annual basis by the IOP Superconductivity Group to a scientist working in the UK who has made a significant contribution to the field of superconductivity in the last few years.

The SME Group at WMG, University of Warwick, has embarked on two major projects with Bellagio Stone and Radius Systems thanks to over £200k in funding from Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme.

A KTP is a three-way collaboration between a company, an academic institution (in this case WMG at the University of Warwick) and a graduate or postgraduate. KTPs are designed to help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity through shared knowledge, technology, and skills.

Bellagio Stone’s two-year project will create a new cultural management and leadership framework within the business following a recent merger, enabling it to push productivity and prepare for future expansion. Bellagio will transform its operations in the stonemasonry industry, capitalising on a range of long-term growth ambitions.

Radius Systems manufacturers of innovative plastic pipeline solutions will work on a two-year project with WMG to analyse, design and implement a process control system to reduce process variation in the continuous manufacture of water, gas and hydrogen infrastructure pipes.

Simon Broome, Innovation Manager at WMG who works with SMEs to secure KTP funding said: “We are delighted to announce these major new KTP projects. Both Bellagio Stone and Radius Systems have showed a fantastic appetite to grow their businesses and engage with the University to achieve their goals. We are excited about the potential ahead and are now in the process of recruiting the KTP Associates who will deliver the projects in the businesses.”

Mike Boyden, Operations Director at Bellagio Stone Ltd said: “We are really excited to have been awarded the funding to begin the KTP project in conjunction with WMG. We have worked on a number of really successful projects with WMG in the past and feel the KTP has great potential to help develop our business further. Having recently completed a business merger, this targeted approach of supporting specific hurdles we are facing, will help unite both businesses and really drive improvements in productivity, purchasing power and overall efficiencies. We are really grateful to all the team involved with supporting the application and look forward to getting started.”

Allen Clarke Technical Director at Radius Systems Ltd said: “We are delighted to be awarded the funding through Innovate UK and the opportunity to further work with WMG. We have many ideas and initiative to further enhance our manufacturing processes and drive or business to the next level. The scheme will give us great insight into our chosen technical subjects whilst enhancing our World class manufacturing and Industry 4.0 philosophy. Thank you to all involved with this venture and looking forward to getting started in Autumn 2023.”

Find out more about WMG’s SME programmes here: WMG SME Group | How can we help you? (warwick.ac.uk)

Last month, the Met Office reported that July was the UK’s sixth wettest on record, and unsurprisingly the UK had 19% fewer hours of sunshine than average over the month, with 140.3 hours in total.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School say that light is the most important environmental cue for synchronising our biological clock and regulating sleep, which if interrupted can have a detrimental effect on our mood and wellbeing.

Read the full news piece

Congratulations to the first apprentices to complete a Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprenticeship at WMG, University of Warwick, who graduated at the end of July. Of the 68 graduates, an impressive 44% achieved a first class degree.

Established in 2019, the BSc Digital and Technology Solutions (DTS) Degree Apprenticeship has been developed in collaboration with employers in the engineering sector. The programme brings together academia and industry to empower early talent to become confident technology solutions professionals.

As technology advances and the digital skills gap in the UK widens, employers are seeking new ways to innovate and adapt. Apprentices on the DTS Degree Apprenticeship spend four years studying and working, developing the high-quality skills that companies need for business growth. Apprentices graduate with the ability to deliver technology solutions to develop new products and services, and increase productivity using digital technologies.

WMG is passionate about supporting organisations with their workforce strategies, whether that be upskilling employees or recruiting new talent. The Degree Apprenticeship team has built strong employer partnerships to provide programmes that equip employees with the specialised skills that businesses need now, and for the future.

Edward Stone, Senior Careers Cohort Lead at JLR, commented on the impact of DTS apprentices on the business: “At JLR we have been involved from the inception of the DTS Degree Apprenticeship programme, working closely with WMG in its development and application for our business. The knowledge and skills being developed by our apprentices play a key part in closing a critical skills gap fundamental to the ongoing success of JLR as we undertake the transformation of our business to meet the ever-changing challenges of the automotive industry.”

Reflecting on this important milestone for our graduates and for the DTS Degree Apprenticeship programme, Professor Gill Cooke, Pro-Dean (Education) at WMG said: “I am delighted that DTS has had its first graduating cohort; WMG colleagues have completed some incredible work to enable our students to graduate on the course across various discipline streams. Well done to our first graduates!”

Associate Professor and Course Lead for the DTS Degree Apprenticeship programme, Dr Alaa Al Sebae, added: “I was filled with joy when witnessing the first cohort of graduates walking across the stage with smiles and pride. Their dedication and hard work over the past four years studying while working have set an exceptional standard for future learners. We are truly proud of their accomplishments and have no doubt that they will continue to shine brightly in their current and future careers.

“We hope to maintain close connections, and that they visit frequently as guest speakers to inspire future cohorts. Congratulations once again to our graduates, and may you move forward to make a positive impact in the world!”

Associate Professor and DTS Degree Apprenticeship Founding Course Leader and Course Designer, Dr Freeha AzmatLink opens in a new window, said: “It was a huge pleasure to welcome the first DTS cohort to WMG four years ago, and I am so excited to see all of them progressing to the next stage of their careers now.

“The continuous effort and hard work of apprentices, close collaboration between employers and the University team from course inception to the delivery phase has made this programme successful. Congratulations to all.”

For more information about WMG Degree Apprenticeships, please contact the team or visit the website.