This year celebrates 30 years of WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group) - an international multi-disciplinary group 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.

The group started small - just an office, the Professor and his secretary - but has since grown into an international group, with collaborative centres in the UK, India, China, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and Thailand.

This video looks back over the history of WMG and some of the headlines it has made over the past 30 years:

The WMG mission is to improve competitiveness through the application of value adding innovation, new technologies and skills deployment bringing academic rigour to industrial and organisational practice. With major research themes being digital technologies; manufacturing technologies; materials and sustainability and operations & business management, the Group works across diverse sectors including automotive; aerospace & defence; digital; energy & utilities; food & drink; government; healthcare and pharmaceutical.

The University has just announced a £1 million donation from WMG founder Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya - one of the largest ever personal donations to a UK University by a serving member of academic staff. He hopes his personal financial commitment underlines how serious he is when he calls on businesses and government to enhance the financial support they provide to UK research.

Last year, the Group won the Queens Anniversary Prize Award for education, with its full-time Masters and professional programmes educating the industry leaders of tomorrow. Over the years WMG has hosted visits from Prime Ministers including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and President Bill Clinton. In more recent years, they have welcomed Ministers Tom Watson, Sion Simon, John Denham, David Lammy and Ian Austin, HRH Duke of York and a host of international visitors.