Independent business publisher Insider have ranked Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya number one in their new 2011 Power 100 list.

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya is founder and director of WMG. He received this accolade from Insider for:

“…his groundbreaking work in promoting joint ventures between business and academia and the huge amount of influence he wields over the regional economy.”

Other business figures to feature in this year's Power 100 top ten include JLR chief executive Dr Ralf Speth, Hadley Group chief executive - and Black Country LEP chairman - Stewart Towe and SCH founder and chairman Sir Peter Rigby.

2010 saw the 30th Anniversary of WMG, that was established by Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 in order to reinvigorate UK manufacturing, through the application of cutting edge research and effective knowledge transfer.

More details of the Insider Power 100 list can be found on the InsiderMedia website

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Head of Communications
Communications Office, University House,
University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 8UW, United Kingdom
email: p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk 
Tel: +44 (0)24 76 523708 Mobile/Cell: +44 (0)7767 655860

PR92 23^rd June 2011

Rt Hon Mark Prisk MP, the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise; and the European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, both declared their strong support for the economic importance of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) while visiting WMG at the University of Warwick today, Thursday 3^rd March.

WMG were pleased to host a visit from Andrew Miller MP who is the Chair of House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee; the Chair Parliamentary and Scientific Committee; the Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Information Technology Committee and a Member of the editorial Board for Science in Parliament.  Meeting with Lord Bhattacharyya, Andrew was interested to understand the diverse research undertaken by the Group.  He also had an opportunity to meet with staff to discover the breadth of our multi-disciplinary capabilities and the wide range of sectors we work with. 

Today, Tuesday 8^th February 2011, sees the opening in the Midlands of a unique £2.28m facility at WMG at the University of Warwick that will be vital importance to companies developing engines for hybrid vehicles.

The unique Vehicle Energy Facility (VEF) is the UK’s only purpose built hybrid powertrain testing facility for the automotive sector that is not owned and operated by an individual automotive company.

WMG were pleased to host a visit from Lord Drayson. Meeting with Lord Bhattacharyya, Lord Drayson was interested to understand the diverse research undertaken by the Group in collaboration with business and other organisations and the impact this has on industry.

In a prestigious ceremony on 28 January the Director of WMG Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya was presented with the award for Lifetime Contribution to Midlands’ Business.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya has been at the heart of business and championing manufacturing for over 30 years. He has been intensively involved in the British Automotive industry, and recently announced that Jaguar Land Rover will be establishing an Advanced Technology Centre at WMG co-locating 160 R&D people to work on the development of new technology, with a special focus on low carbon vehicle technology, digital technology and materials technology to name but a few.

Professor Lord Bhattacharyya today welcomed the Prime Minister of Latvia, Mr Valdis Dombrovskis, and the Latvian delegation to WMG’s International Digital Laboratory.

The visit was part of a high profile event at which Mr Valdis Dombrovskis gave an address to Midlands companies about the opportunities of doing business in the Baltic state. The government of Latvia regards the attraction of foreign direct investment as an important input for successful economic recovery and were pleased to host a seminar in which to engage with potential partners.

WMG at the University of Warwick has been awarded one of five new Industrial Doctorate Centres announced today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). EPSRC are funding five new Industrial Doctorate Centres to address fundamental engineering challenges in advanced manufacturing engineering. The WMG centre will focus on High Value, Low Environmental Impact Manufacturing.

The new Centres will train Engineering Doctorate (EngD) students. These four-year postgraduate awards are intended for the UK’s leading researchers pursuing a career in industry. It provides postgraduate engineers with an intensive, broad-based research programme incorporating a taught component relevant to the needs of, and undertaken in partnership with, industry.

The University of Warwick has joined forces with NHS West Midlands to create the new Institute of Digital Healthcare, a collaboration aimed at improving people’s health and wellbeing through the use of innovative technologies.

Officially launched today, the Institute of Digital Healthcare is a five-year programme based in WMG's International Digital Laboratory, and includes lead partners WMG, NHS West Midlands and Warwick Medical School.

WMG were pleased to host a visit from Sir George Cox, Pro-Chancellor of University of Warwick. Meeting with Lord Bhattacharyya, Sir George was interested to understand the diverse research undertaken by the Group. He also had an opportunity to meet with staff, to discover the breadth of our multi-disciplinary capabilities and the wide range of sectors we work with. Dr Steve Maggs discussed the Westfield Hybrid racing car project describing its impact and how postgraduate students gain hands on industrial experience and Dr Mark Williams highlighted our new £2m unique research and development Customer Interface Technologies Centre of Excellence, which gives companies direct access to the latest product evaluation technologies and processes.