Departmental news
Annual Report 2022/23
Read our latest Annual Report 2022/23
New spin-out to make e-voting more secure, accessible and trustworthy
Researchers from the Systems and Security theme, Department of Computer Science have created a new spin-out company, SEEV Technologies Ltd, to build end-to-end (E2E) verifiable e-voting systems for future elections. An E2E verifiable voting system allows every voter to verify that their vote is properly cast-as-intended, recorded-as-cast and tallied-as-recorded while preserving the voter's privacy. SEEV (self-enforcing e-voting) is a new paradigm of E2E voting technology that enables voters to fully verify the tallying integrity of an election without needing any trustworthy tallying authority, hence the system is "self-enforcing".
This joint spin-out from the University of Warwick and Newcastle University is built on an ERC-funded starting grant ("Self-Enforcing E-Voting System: Trustworthy Election in Presence of Corrupt Authorities", No. 306994, PI: Professor Feng Hao) initially hosted at Newcastle University and later transferred to the University of Warwick. The company is co-founded by Professor Feng Hao and Dr Siamak Shandahshti (co-inventors), and led by Dr Stewart Hefferman (CEO). SEEV has been prototyped and successfully tested in several trials in the past, supported by an ERC Proof of Concept grant (No. 677124), a Royal Society International collaboration award (CA\R1\180226), and an Innovate UK Cybersecurity Academic Startup Accelerator Programme (CASAP). SEEV Technologies Ltd has received seed funding from Oxford-based Global Initiative to build SEEV systems for real-world elections.
A University of Warwick press release is here.
The Role of GNOSIS in the Growing Global Commitment to Space Sustainability
The Global Network on Sustainability in Space, GNOSIS, founded by and based at Warwick, supports the global scientific community to apply their knowledge to achieving sustainability in space. In the four years since the launch of GNOSIS it has grown to be a diverse global network of over 650 members from academia, the space sector and government, who work together to address the impact of debris and space weather on the rapidly growing spacecraft population.
Space sustainability leaders from across the globe, including the Chair of GNOSIS Katherine Courtney, were gathered in London on 28th June for a series of events hosted by the UK government and King Charles III.
Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement for Edgaras Purauskas
Edgaras Purauskas, Technician in the Department of Computer Science received the Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement. Edgaras was one of two recipients of these inaugural awards, which received over 40 nominations campus wide. Edgaras had a number of nominations for his "consistently exceptional work" and his "deep understanding of computer systems, software, and hardware". Many congratulations Edgaras and thank you for your extraordinary efforts!
Widening participation work experience week connects under-represented aspiring engineers with industry giants
The University of Warwick's commitment to widening participation and fostering inclusivity took centre stage during a week-long programme aimed at
inspiring 30 students from local schools to pursue careers in engineering. The initiative was organised by WMG at the University of Warwick and the University's Widening Participation Team which wanted to support under-represented students that might lack confidence or support when they consider a future in engineering.
Throughout the programme, participants gained valuable insights into various engineering pathways and learnt more about research and careers at WMG alongside partners like Tata Motors. WMG research and teaching staff mentored the students, providing them with a taste of what studying engineering involves through an engineering project.
Laboratory and workshop tours, facilitated by WMG apprentices and Tata Motors, gave participants firsthand exposure to the dynamic environment of an engineering workplace. The event culminated in a showcase where the students presented their projects, highlighting both their engineering skills and the knowledge they gained during the week.
The project was also supported by student ambassadors from across the University; Drishti, David, Ana, Brij, Sheerah, Diya, Michelle, Gabe and Chinmay, giving the young visitors to our campus an experience of what studying in Higher Education is like. The Widening Participation team also gave a session providing information, advice and guidance on how they might enter university study. Throughout the week, young people therefore had experiences and interactions all the way from undergraduate level through the University hierarchy to the Dean of WMG.
One participating student said: "Visiting the National Automotive Innovation Centre with Tata Motors has opened my eyes to what engineering is really like, and I would like to learn more about degree apprenticeships with the University of Warwick.”
Another said: "I would describe this programme to a friend as an unmissable and eventful opportunity which I would heavily recommend as it has boosted my skills and given me a greater insight into careers, apprenticeships and university as a whole which has inspired me to want to go to university.”
Professor Robin Clark, Dean of WMG said: “There is a clear pathway from this point to being professional engineers. There may be many routes – whether through an apprenticeship or through a taught degree programme – but the skills and experience needed for all those routes are the same: perseverance, determination, initiative, and curiosity. Having a product on display at this showcase also demonstrates plainly those qualities in the people who have made them.”
Dr Phil Jemmett, Widening Participation Coordinator at WMG said: "This work experience model has been in our minds since 2019 and this is the first time we've been able to run it at full scale. Students have been working with our engineers on group projects all week and have gone on a journey through engineering and rapidly prototyping equipment.
“Each challenge links to WMG research and to challenges in the real world that could help make our planet's future more sustainable. With the skills we have seen in these students this week I have no doubt that our STEM industry is in safe hands in the future. They have been amazing."
The University of Warwick's initiative reflects its dedication to providing equal opportunities in engineering education. By empowering less privileged local students and challenging misconceptions about the field, they are nurturing a diverse talent pool that will shape the future of engineering.
Find out more about WMG's Outreach programme here
Ends
Notes to editors
For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Bron Mills, Bron.mills@warwick.ac.uk, +447824 540 720
Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement for Tom Orton
Tom Orton, Research Development Engineer in the Department of Physics received the Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement. Tom was one of two recipients of these inaugural awards, which received over 40 nominations campus wide. Tom had a number of nominations for his “exceptional ability as an outstanding technician” and his job “providing a sustainable, environmentally friendly and financially valuable resource” through the liquid helium recovery system. Many congratulations Tom and thank you for your extraordinary efforts!
The Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement celebrates the fantastic work our technical staff do across research, teaching and within our infrastructure, without which Warwick would not operate. Any member of staff or student to nominate a technical member of staff for achievements big or small, or to celebrate work that is unsung but still immensely important. Nominations are always open, with quarterly panels and award presentations.
Find out more about the Warwick Technician Commitment Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Former Law Student Bience Gawanas is awarded Honorary Degree at 2023 Graduation Ceremony
The University of Warwick recently announced new honorary graduates as part of the summer 2023 graduation ceremonies. At today’s ceremony (Friday 21st July) former Law student Bience Gawanas will be awarded one of these honorary degrees in recognition of her outstanding contributions and achievements.
5 papers accepted to FOCS 2023
Five papers from the Theory and Foundations (FoCS) Research Group and the Centre for Discrete Mathematics and its Applications (DIMAP) have been accepted to the 64th IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS 2023), the IEEE flagship conference in theoretical computer science that will be held on November 6 - 9, 2023 in Santa Cruz, California, USA:
- "Chasing positive bodies" by Sayan Bhattacharya, Niv Buchbinder, Roie Levin, and Thatchaphol Saranurak.
- "Dynamic (1+epsilon)-approximate matching size in truly sublinear update time" by Sayan Bhattacharya, Peter Kiss, and Thatchaphol Saranurak.
- "Polynomial-time pseudodeterministic construction of primes" by Lijie Chen, Zhenjian Lu, Igor C. Oliveira, Hanlin Ren, and Rahul Santhanam.
- "Approximating edit distance in the fully dynamic model" by Tomasz Kociumaka, Anish Mukherjee, and Barna Saha.
- "Traversing combinatorial 0/1-polytopes via optimization" by Arturo Merino and Torsten Mütze.
Professor David Greenwood on UK Gigafactory announcement from TATA Sons/JLR
Reactive statement from Professor David Greenwood, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and Director of Industrial Engagement at WMG at the University of Warwick
“This is fantastic news and secures the future of our UK auto industry which would otherwise have been lost by 2035. Furthermore, this secures the supply chain meaning we’ve kept those jobs for everyone across the country.
“This announcement means that the UK is now above “critical mass” for supply chain companies and therefore sets the UK up to be an attractive place for businesses in the supply chain to invest to supply upstream and downstream materials needed for electric vehicle production. As one of the UK’s biggest academic institutions working in the area of battery and electric vehicle innovation, this is great news for all 250 of our researchers – we will now see the results of our work used in UK based industries and benefiting UK taxpayers rather than being exploited by competitors abroad.
“This is the culmination six years work here at Warwick Manufacturing Group - we helped the UK government set up the Faraday Battery Challenge which was a key part of the then Government’s industrial strategy. That investment has now borne fruit. Clearly, we now need to define our future vision and strategy as the global industrial landscape evolves at breakneck speed.
“This means the Prime Minister has realised he must provide sufficient investment to ensure the country is a competitive runner in the global race to dominate the markets created by the massive green transition needed to avert climate catastrophe.”
Battery recycling
Researchers at the University of Warwick estimate that by 2040 339,000 tonnes of batteries are expected to reach the end of their life in the UK alone.
Prof David Greenwood adds: “While we are busy building all these electric cars, we also need to think about what happens at the end of their useful life. Batteries contain significant quantities of materials which are costly to extract and refine and which could be hazardous to the environment if improperly disposed of. Investment is needed to create suitable recycling facilities in the UK within the next few years, and beyond that further research is needed to allow economic recovery of much greater proportions of the battery material. In doing so we will protect the environment, secure valuable raw materials, and reduce the cost of transport.”
Gigafactory FAQs
What is a gigafactory?
A gigafactory is a large factory that produces large numbers of batteries for electric vehicles. Tesla has pioneered the concept in the US, with six factories so far to produce batteries for their cars.
Why do we need one?
In order to a compete internationally and help preserve the UK automotive industry battery production needs to be scaled up rapidly across both the UK and Europe. This situation is exacerbated by tariffs due to be imposed across the UK and EU unless a certain proportion of a car is produced in one of those jurisdictions.
As an EV battery makes up around half of a vehicle’s weight it is crucial the UK vastly scales up battery production. Gigafactories are the most efficient way to do this.
How are electric car batteries made?
EV batteries come in lots of different shapes and sizes but are all made up of many battery cells put together to form a battery pack.
To make a battery, we take electrochemically active materials, like graphite, nickel manganese, cobalt and lithium, and make powders from them. These powders are mixed with solvents and adhesives, then coated onto metal (aluminium or copper) foils which are then packaged together inside cells.
This is a very precise process – otherwise the quality of the battery is impacted. At WMG, around 20 battery cells per day can be produced. At a gigafactory, production would be closer to 20 cells per second.
How are batteries recycled?
To recycle batteries, fire is used to recover most of the metals. Water can then be used to get further metals that can’t be reached using heat alone. There are still difficulties however in recycling lithium or graphite, which make up a large percentage of the metals in the batteries themselves.
With 11 million tonnes of lithium-ion batteries expected to need recycling by 2030, the need to build domestic capacity to recycle them is greater than ever.
WLS Alumna gets HBO TV deal for adaptation of her debut novel
Yomi Adegoke, who studied on our 3 year LLB degree and graduated in 2014 will have her debut novel ‘Slay In Your Lane’ adapted into new TV programme ‘The List’ with HBO Max, BBC and A24 as partners. Yomi is a British journalist who writes about the intersection of race, feminism and popular culture.
Image credit: deadline.com