More sustainable, low-carbon steel and electric vehicle batteries are the target of a new two-year technology development programme between WMG at the University of Warwick and Tata Steel, as part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult.

The metal industry in the UK employs 230,000 people, and directly contributes to £10.7bn to the UK GDP. A truly interdisciplinary academic team will research how to make a sustainable circular economy for high-volume metals, with WMG at the University of Warwick focussed on steel.

WMG at the University of Warwick and Loughborough’s School of Business and Economics will be working with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street on a new project aimed at reducing the amount of industrial CO2 in the Black Country.

One of the first companies to sign up to the MadeSmarter programme to improve the digital capabilities of smaller businesses has officially opened its new company headquarters and factory in Sandwell, thanks to the help they received from WMG at the University of Warwick.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how vulnerable UK manufacturing supply chains are, as there was an increase in the volume of cyber-enabled attacks on cyber-physical systems. There is therefore an urgent need to develop technologies and methods to support disruption-resilient manufacturing.