果冻传媒

The Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya building, home to the National Automotive Innovation Centre, based at the 果冻传媒, has received an impressive three awards at the West Midlands regional awards.

The building scooped top spot for Building of the Year, Client of the Year and the Regional Award, beating off stiff competition from across the West Midlands.

The RIBA awards champion and celebrate the best architecture in the UK and around the world, no matter the form, size or budget.

Executive Chair of WMG, Margot James comments: 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled that the Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building has been recognised in this way, it is a great tribute to the late Professor Lord Bhattacharyya鈥檚 vision. Having a building that inspires designers, engineers and academics to develop the next generation of transport is excellent news for our partners and the region. The Midlands is the beating heart of automotive in the UK, and the National Automotive Innovation Centre, will be the driving force behind future innovation in transport mobility.鈥�

James Breckon, Director of Estates, at the 果冻传媒, comments: 鈥淚t is great to see this new building being recognised and is testament to the wealth of architectural and engineering talent that was brought together to deliver this exemplary sustainable building. It brilliantly draws Industry and Academia together providing an inspirational environment to innovative within. As a landmark building it has transformed the campus at the 果冻传媒 and is a fitting legacy to the late Prof Lord Bhattacharyya.

The National Automotive Innovation Centre is a partnership between WMG, 果冻传媒, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Motors, and is the largest of its kind in Europe and is well timed, arriving when a global mobility revolution is underway, with a new age for transport mobility.

A beacon for automotive research it brings together the brightest minds from industry and academia, to develop future vehicles and mobility solutions. It is home to up to 1,000 staff working across design, engineering and research, as well as future engineers on degree programmes.

Designed by Cullinan Studios the brief for the Centre was for simplicity and strength of purpose, turning a complex assembly of spaces into an immediately legible building.

The National Automotive Innovation Centre is a 拢150m investment between WMG, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Motors with 拢29.5m funding from the UK government鈥檚 UK Research Partnership Investment Fund through Research England, which includes the development of an Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory.

You can see all of the 2021 West Midlands RIBA award winners here:

WMG is proud to play a part in the Our Future Moves exhibition at the .

The interactive exhibition tells the stories of the objects on display by envisioning how future cities may look and explores how pioneering developments in transport and technology could affect the environment and the way we live.

It features a range of exhibits that highlight the region鈥檚 pioneering work in transport innovation – from autonomous vehicles to one-person submarines.

As well as showcasing the Coventry Very Light Rail Project, engineers from WMG鈥檚 Automation Systems Group have also created a display using a UR5 collaborative robot, or cobot, to show and explain how automation plays an important part in battery assembly and manufacturing.

The cobot, which is the centrepiece of the display, was the brainchild of WMG Project Engineer Rohin Titmarsh. After working on AMPLIFII , a research project which delivered novel and leading designs for high power and high energy modules, along with the manufacturing methods to deliver them to medium volume production, Rohin started to investigate ways to bring the project to life for a younger audience. The team collaborated with , suppliers of gripping systems for industrial robots, who have generously loaned a gripper to the team for use in this exhibition, highlighting WMG鈥檚 strength in industry and breath of partners we work with.

Rohin explains: 鈥淭his project is a shining example of the fantastic ability we have between our research and technical teams, to help bring projects to life. I am very appreciative of the support of Engineering Technician, Bethany Haynes, and thankful to Phil Jemmett and Margaret Low in the Outreach Team for the opportunity and assistance to develop this extension of the 鈥楤attery Builder鈥� activity.

鈥淚t is always important to explain why automation is crucial in producing the number of batteries we need for the future. The 鈥楤attery Builder鈥� activity does that for school students by introducing robots in manufacturing, why we use them and some basics about programming them. The gamification of this activity means we鈥檙e communicating the key points about our research in a fun and engaging way. Being able to have a real cobot running in the museum is a fabulous example of modern day engineering and in turn a great way to inspire the next generation of young engineers

鈥淲e look forward to working with Schunk and other partners in the future on more exciting and innovative uses for cobots.鈥�

Our Future Moves runs until 31st October 2021 - find out more here:

One of the first companies to sign up to a programme to improve the digital capabilities of smaller businesses has officially opened its new company headquarters and factory in Sandwell.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) cut the ribbon at Ramfoam鈥檚 new site on Haigne Road, Tividale which will see the business increase in size by 50 per cent.

Ramfoam, which makes foam products for the military and other organisations, was one of the first businesses to sign up to the West Midlands Made Smarter programme which is aimed at increasing the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopting digital technology in manufacturing. Last year Ramfoam adapted its manufacturing practices to produce two million face visors a week at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Made Smarter, which was officially launched in June, is headed up by the WMCA and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands said: 鈥淭he West Midlands is a shining light for UK innovation, and that has become even more apparent throughout the pandemic.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why, in partnership with BEIS, we set up the Made Smarter programme to help SMEs really make the most of our region鈥檚 digital capabilities.

鈥淚t is therefore brilliant to see companies like Ramfoam not only taking part in the programme, but also the transformative effective it has had with their new expansion. The more companies that prosper like Ramfoam, the more jobs we鈥檒l be able to create for local people.鈥�

So far 85 companies have asked to join Made Smarter West Midlands and 58 have started the first stages of the programme. The year-long 拢1.9 million programme will see digital experts provide advice to businesses - like Ramfoam - on how to switch to advanced and automated technologies as well as working to improve employees鈥� overall digital skills.

Tim Mulqueen, Ramfoam鈥檚 sales director, said: 鈥淭he Made Smarter programme is greatly assisting SMEs with their invaluable experience. Ramfoam is now actively working with Made Smarter to apply digital technologies to our business that will enable us to manufacture smarter and improve our efficiency, and in turn generate growth.

鈥淚 believe all West Midlands SME businesses could greatly benefit from support through Made Smarter; we all as SMEs need to challenge the way we do things in order to continuously improve and innovate.鈥�

Ramfoam was helped by WMG at the 果冻传媒 to scale up production from 100,000 to two million face visors a week for the Government at the height of the pandemic.

By creating a digital twin (a virtual model) Ramfoam was able to make 54 million visors over the last year. The company also signed up for WMG鈥檚 help to creating digital visualisation of its new factory, and now, as one of the first participants in Made Smarter West Midlands, will benefit from further assistance in adopting digital technology further.

Dr Mark Swift, head of SME programmes at WMG, 果冻传媒 commented:

鈥淭he pandemic was a tough time for any business, and being able to flourish during it is certainly an achievement that Ramfoam has been able to do. We thoroughly enjoyed helping them drive up productivity and look forward to helping to transform Ramfoam further.

鈥淚t is incredibly exciting to see a West Midlands manufacturer doing so well, and we hope that more businesses will sign up to Made Smarter and continue to make the West Midlands a thriving manufacturing hub.鈥�

The Coventry and 果冻传媒shire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub is leading the one-year Made Smarter scheme with the region鈥檚 other Growth Hubs in Greater Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country, Worcestershire, The Marches, and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire on behalf of the WMCA and BEIS. The Growth Hubs are working closely with the WMCA and their strategic partners WMG, at the 果冻传媒, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry.

Craig Humphrey, managing director of the CWLEP Growth Hub, said Ramfoam is a great example of a company best placed to take advantage of the Made Smarter scheme.

He said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fantastic that Ramfoam is one of the first firms to become part of the Made Smarter programme here in the West Midlands. It will help firms like Ramfoam develop innovative technology for the benefit of the region, as well as adopting new technology themselves to improve efficiency.

鈥淢ade Smarter will enable SMEs across the West Midlands receive the specialist support they need to embrace digital technology, and we are looking forward to more companies applying to Made Smarter and following in Ramfoam鈥檚 footsteps.鈥�

Cllr Ian Brookfield, WMCA portfolio lead for economy and leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, said: 鈥淪MEs have felt the effects of the pandemic and have had to adapt to different ways of working as demonstrated by Ramfoam.

鈥淚mproved digital expertise gained through Made Smarter can help the region鈥檚 SMEs future-proof their practices, contributing to the economic prosperity of the region.鈥�

To find out more about Made Smarter visit

搂 果冻传媒 is involved in two Prosperity Partnerships that will bring together expertise and insight from academia, business and industry

搂 Researchers in the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Engineering will work with Element Six on establishing a synthetic diamond supply chain to help develop new diamond-enabled technologies

搂 Researchers from the Department of Computer Science and WMG at the 果冻传媒 involved in developing a Framework for responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the financial services industry

Projects that will combine the expertise and insight of 果冻传媒 researchers with that of business and industry to further developments in diamond-enabled technologies and to develop a Framework for responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the financial services industry have received national funding.

They are announced today (22 July) among eight business-led Prosperity Partnerships in support of the government鈥檚 ambitious new Innovation Strategy.

They are supported with an investment of almost 拢60 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), businesses and universities.

Prosperity Partnerships build on existing UK strengths in industry and academia to develop new technologies, processes, and skills that will deliver economic growth and create jobs across the UK.

At the 果冻传媒, researchers will establish a supply chain of synthetic diamonds to help develop new technologies, as well as developing a Framework for responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the financial services industry, in projects that will see them collaborate closely with business and industry.

Diamond is one of the most versatile materials on earth, with applications in thermal, optical, sensing, electrochemistry and quantum.

The world we live in today presents a variety of technical challenges, each associated to different industrial applications, such as thermal management bottlenecks in internet and telecommunication infrastructures, as well as industrial wastewater management and disposal. Over the last few years鈥� diamond has been recognised as a reliable solution in many of these fields, while also unlocking novel applications in quantum technology as well as material machining and welding using high power lasers.

The 拢5.2 million project, a partnership between the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Engineering at the 果冻传媒 and Element Six, aims to establish a supply chain for these vital technologies, which will help researchers and businesses to capitalise on the potential of high quality, engineered synthetic diamonds to deliver new, disruptive solutions across a range of industries, including semiconductors, water technology and quantum.

Professor Mark Newton, of the 果冻传媒 Department of Physics, said: 鈥淭he project outcomes will include new materials with improved and tailored properties, new science enabled by enhanced properties and the ability to manufacture innovative diamond devices.鈥�

Dr Daniel Twitchen, Chief Technologist at Element Six said: 鈥淟everaging nearly 20 years of successful collaboration, ranging from fundamental science to commercialised applications, our partnership with the 果冻传媒 aims to build on the UK鈥檚 world-leading role in this field, alongside Element Six鈥檚 renowned expertise and capabilities in advanced material solutions, to develop the next generation of diamond-enabled technologies.鈥�

Researchers from WMG at the 果冻传媒 and the Department of Computer Science are also involved in a project that will see The Alan Turing Institute, HSBC, and other organisations in the financial sector, developing a Framework for responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the financial services industry (FAIR).

This Prosperity Partnership project aims to develop the trustworthy, data-driven AI decision-making approaches that are needed for the wider adoption of these technologies in the financial and professional services sector, which employs 2.2 million people and has an estimated total value of 拢190 billion. The University will lead the work on security and privacy issues in AI deployment in financial services. Professor Carsten Maple leads the EPSRC-NCSC Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research and is a member of the Royal Society working group on Privacy Enhancing Technologies and Professor Graham Cormode is Fellow of the ACM and an award winning researcher for his work in privacy and data analytics.

Professor Maple said: 鈥淲ith the increasing deployment of AI it is vital that the systems and their inferences are secure and respect the privacy needs of citizens and businesses. We are proud to work with such an outstanding group of researchers and organisations to deliver a project that provides the fundamental research that can transform the sector and place the UK at the global forefront.鈥�

EPSRC Executive Chair Professor Dame Lynn Gladden said: 鈥淎rtificial intelligence, digital chemistry and digital twins are some of the new and transformative technologies that will help to drive the Net Zero revolution, address major societal challenges, and deliver prosperity to the UK.

鈥淏y bringing together UK businesses and universities, these new Prosperity Partnerships will generate the knowledge and innovations that will enable these cutting-edge technologies to realise their transformative potential across a diverse range of sectors.鈥�

搂 Read the EPSRC鈥檚 press release at:

Ends

Notes to editors:

Image for the Element Six/果冻传媒 diamond project available at: /services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/prosperity-partnership.jpg

Caption: Laser light shining through Element Six鈥檚 NV diamond – Copyright of Element Six

Project summaries:

Element Six and 果冻传媒

Diamond is the epitome of a multi-functional material with applications in thermal management, optical transmission, electrochemistry, and quantum technologies. Engineered synthetic diamonds offer an extraordinary combination of extreme properties and are capable of meeting the needs of the most demanding of applications in these diverse fields. The partnership aims to build on the UK鈥檚 world-leading role in diamond growth and exploitation to develop diamond solutions in areas where conventional materials are increasingly unable to meet the performance levels required by new technologies. We will establish a UK diamond technology supply chain which will help researchers and businesses to capitalise on the potential of high quality, tailor-made synthetic diamonds to develop next-generation solutions to real-world challenges.

HSBC and The Alan Turing Institute

AI technologies have the potential to unlock significant growth for the UK financial services sector through:

搂 novel personalised products and services

搂 improved cost-efficiency

搂 increased consumer confidence

搂 more effective management of financial, systemic, and security risks.

The partnership aims to develop the trustworthy, data-driven AI decision-making approaches that are needed for the wider adoption of these technologies.

It aims to address challenges such as how to increase the accuracy of predictive models without threatening fair treatment of all customers or improving transparency without leaving systems open to external threats.

It aims to outline how the finance sector can make the transformational shift to the greater use of AI technologies and ensure that these technologies have fairness, security and accountability at their heart. Whilst also, being robust and aware of privacy.

22 July 2021

Congratulations to all of the brilliant WMG students on their graduation.

This year a total of 406 Master鈥檚, Postgraduate Research and Undergraduate students graduated from across WMG.

There were 302 Master鈥檚 students made up of 279 UK and overseas full-time students, and a further 23, from the part-time Master鈥檚 programme.

From the Undergraduate courses, 17 graduated from Cyber Security and 74 from the Applied Engineering Programme (AEP).

There were a further 13 from the Postgraduate Research programme including three EngD, eight PhD, one McPhil and one Master鈥檚 by Research.

A virtual results celebration will be held today (21st July) with official graduation ceremony expected to take place in summer 2022.

Professor Robin Clark, Dean of WMG and Director of Education, said: 鈥淚t has been another incredibly difficult year for our students, but they have all risen to the challenge very well and achieved some fantastic results.

鈥淐ongratulations to you all, celebrate safely, and I wish you all the very best in your future careers.鈥�

Read more about all WMG courses here: Education (warwick.ac.uk)

Coventry is not only famed for its Cathedral, two tone music and the automotive industry, it is also famous for its weaving, in fact the medieval Weaver鈥檚 House still stands as an attraction today in Coventry鈥檚 Spon Street. In 1540 John Croke and his family would have been making cloth on a wooden loom in the Weaver鈥檚 House, and whilst you can go to the house, the opportunity to experience the home exactly how it would have been for John and his family is now possible, thanks to visualisation engineering researchers from WMG at the 果冻传媒.

Using Virtual Reality WMG's Professor Alan Chalmers (Professor of Visualisation at the International Digital Laboratory, WMG, 果冻传媒) and his students have recreated a walkthrough of the medieval Weaver's House in Spon Street, the movement and skill of operating the loom was captured using Microsoft Kinect V2 cameras against a green screen, before being extracted and put onto a screen with a realistic background created. The addition of candles adds to the complexity of the process but makes the scene a more accurate portrayal of the living and working conditions.

It is part of a free exhibition called 鈥楳etropolis鈥� just opened at the newly refurbished and renamed Metropolis restaurant in Coventry (formerly Drapers' Bar), an exhibition that explores the story of Coventry through its building. The exhibition is running during Coventry鈥檚 year as UK City of Culture.

The exhibition鈥檚 curators, Sabine Coady Sch盲bitz and Mark Webb weave medieval and modern stories together in five themes: movement, enterprise, culture, resilience and the future. It celebrates Coventry鈥檚 distinct contribution to the history of the built environment in Britain, from industrial premises including workshops and factories, to major religious buildings containing some of the finest decorative art in the country.

Professor Alan Chalmers, from WMG, 果冻传媒 comments:

鈥淢y team and I are really pleased to be a part of this exhibition and especially to demonstrate our new technology that recreates on screen an authentic portrayal of the skills of medieval weaving, an industry that was so vital to the city鈥檚 makers reputation and prosperity in the 16th century.

鈥淲e were delighted to be working with charity and be funded by the Institute of Engagement's Community Partnership Fund with support and guidance in making the results of our research accessible to the public.鈥�

There are plans to take the exhibit on a tour of local schools in 2022 and produce an extended multisensory display in the Herbert Museum's Medieval Gallery that will include other local skills such as dyeing and tanning.

This isn鈥檛 the only contribution the University is making for the exhibition, as after many months exploring the film archives to discover the story of the city's architecture, Film Television Studies PhD student Kat Pearson looks at Coventrians鈥� relationship with the built environment in her film.

Kat collaborated with The Media Archive for Central England (MACE) on creating a series of short archive films drawing on gems from the MACE collection. Along with Archivist Philip Leach they have brought together items which highlight the relationship between Coventry's communities and its buildings in the latter half of the 20th Century.

PhD researcher Kat Pearson from the Department of Film and Television Studies at the 果冻传媒 comments:

鈥淭his is a topic that I have a personal interest in and researching these films has been an amazing opportunity for me to look at the architecture of Coventry in a new light. The Metropolis exhibition allows us to showcase some wonderful archival films in a public space, and this builds on a project in 2020 to bring archival films to the Foleshill community.鈥�

Further information on Kat's work in Foleshill can be found here: /fac/arts/film/tvhistories/blog/foleshillscreenings

Exhibition details:

Metropolis: Coventry鈥檚 medieval and modernist ambitions
Free (10am-6pm daily)
1st Floor of Metropolis, Earl Street, Coventry CV1 5QP

For further information please contact:

Peter Dunn, Director of Press and Media Relations:
Mobile: 07767 655860 Email p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PJD 20th July 2021

Margot James, Executive Chair and Dave Greenwood, Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems from WMG, at the 果冻传媒, were delighted today (15 July 2021), to be invited to the official opening of the UK Battery industrialisation Centre by The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister - bringing to reality a vision first set out by WMG in 2016.

The 拢130 million UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) is a pioneering 18,500 square metre state-of-the-art national facility, which has been developed to support UK industry with development of battery technologies for future electrification.

UKBIC can be used by any organisation working on batteries for electric vehicles, rail, aerospace, industrial and domestic equipment and static energy storage, who can benefit from finding out whether their advanced technologies can be scaled up successfully before committing to the huge investment required for mass production. The facility employs more than 80 battery technicians, engineers, and support staff, with plans for that number to grow to support future project partnerships with industry and research organisations.

UKBIC presents an opportunity for UK technology developers to prove out their innovations and processes by acting as the bridge between new battery chemistries developed in the research laboratories and mass scale production for the automotive market in Gigafactories. The facility is owned 66% by Coventry City Council and 33% by the 果冻传媒 in order to maintain its independence of any one vehicle or battery company.

David Greenwood, Professor of Advanced Propulsion Systems at WMG, 果冻传媒 comments:

鈥淲e are delighted to see UKBIC come to fruition. This national infrastructure exists nowhere else in Europe, and gives the UK a major advantage for development of new battery technologies. It is something that WMG identified back in 2016, and we were elated to win the bid in 2017, from a competition run by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), to establish what is now UKBIC. We scoped the facility, built the team, and started the project based out of our Energy Innovation Centre. As intended, UKBIC became independent of WMG in 2018, and moved to site in 2020 as the building was completed.

WMG continues to work closely with UKBIC, with our focus on helping companies and universities prove out their battery chemistries and cell designs, ready for industrialisation which can take place at UKBIC. Together, we have built an ecosystem which allows battery companies to investigate new technologies, prove them out, and then industrialise for high volume manufacture.鈥�

The UK Government has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution makes the commitment that all new vehicles are to have a traction battery by 2030 (electric or plug-in hybrid) and be fully electric by 2035. WMG and UKBIC will support the development of battery technologies needed to deliver against that vision.

The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister, said: 鈥淯KBIC is a beacon of innovation and ingenuity- shining the way for a brighter, greener future for the battery sector in the UK. It was an honour to open this world-class facility which will help to deliver green growth and jobs as industrial demand accelerates in the UK battery sector. With the technology and government backed expertise on offer right here in Coventry, I have no doubt that UKBIC will become world leaders in the industry.鈥�

Margot James, Executive Chair at WMG, 果冻传媒 adds:

鈥淏attery production is critical to the future of the UK automotive sector, the electrification agenda, and achieving a sustainable future for industry. The West Midlands has long been the centre of the UK automotive industry, with an advanced supply chain, a mature automotive skills eco-system, and cutting-edge research. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre is at the heart of the UK battery manufacturing landscape.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 no coincidence that UKBIC is immediately adjacent to the proposed site for the West Midlands Gigafactory. We foresee a strong interaction between those two, whereby the Gigafactory caters for the millions of batteries that go into cars right now, and UKBIC is the future-facing mechanism that helps the Gigafactory generate its next product and helps companies de-risk new battery manufacturing processes by facilitating manufacturing trials without the high risk of committing to a mass production run.鈥�

UKBIC is a key part of the Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC), a Government programme to fast track the development of cost-effective, high-performance, durable, safe, low-weight and recyclable batteries.

Professor Greenwood continued;

鈥淎lthough UKBIC has been set-up in such a way that it can support businesses across a plethora of industries and sectors, this initiative is led by current automotive demand as this is the biggest market and it is moving the fastest. However, at WMG over the last 12 months we have been increasing our work with aerospace, marine, rail, motorcycle and micro-mobility sectors, so we can see electrification applications growing across all of transport and mobility.

WMG鈥檚 role in the battery manufacturing journey is to progress the basic science of the material chemistry to proof of concept. This is the point where you can build small volumes of cells per day and demonstrate that they provide the lifespan and performance that you expect. Based on this, WMG鈥檚 work is very closely aligned with manufacturing processes, but not at full manufacturing rate.

鈥淭his then needs to go from a working product, to a product that will run down a manufacturing line at 20 cells per second, and this mass scale production is where we need to get. UKBIC is the solution to fulfilling this last segment of the process; the manufacturing scale-up.

UKBIC can develop three things; product, manufacturing technology and skills, with each one bringing different stakeholders. For car manufacturers, it provides the ability to build prototype volumes of cells, modules and packs to be able to build early fleets of vehicles before you go to full-scale production.

As the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, we need to create jobs and opportunities in new sectors rather than the old ones. We will be utilising UKBIC to up-skill, re-skill and train individuals in specialist battery manufacturing areas, which will be required to support the UK Government鈥檚 Build Back Better plan for growth. As an industry we will need 20,000 skilled staff for Gigafactories, and a further 50,000 in their supply chains. These jobs are likely to be focussed around the Midlands and the North East鈥�

This is a positive step for the battery ecosystem, providing a pipeline of opportunities for various levels of engineers and technicians as well as young people looking to establish a career in battery technology or the automotive sector through apprenticeships. WMG, have seen this area of the market emerging for some time, and as a result have created a national skills framework, including apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships, short courses and formal qualifications. This aims to deliver the needs of a decarbonised automotive sector through electrification, building skills for the future and keeping the brightest talent in the region.

路 Crash-resistant glazing features on the new Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle, and could be used to improve passenger safety in other means of public transport

路 The glazing is made of a highly resilient polymer and has been designed by engineers from WMG - 果冻传媒, Far-UK and TDi Ltd.

路 The glazing, which is highly resistant to failure, has advanced coating to increase product lifetime.

A new form of window glazing featuring a lightweight polymer with an advanced scratch-resistant coating has been installed on the Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle, and could be used in other means of public transport. The new windows are highly resistant to breakage which provides passengers with a step-change in safety.

The glazing has been designed by a collaboration of WMG - 果冻传媒, Far-UK (Lead) and TDi Ltd and was funded via the UK Innovation agency, Innovate UK (SBRI Rail Demonstrations: First of a Kind 2020).

The official report into the 2016 Sandilands (Croydon) tram crash made a number of recommendations for tram vehicle improvements. It called for development of windows and doors with improved strength. To address this need, researchers have been on a mission to make public transport safer in new innovative ways, one of which features crash-resistant glazing.

The new glazing is now revealed on the newly developed Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle, thanks to the Innovate UK funded project 鈥淩esilient glazing for safer passenger vehicle operation鈥� (Resi-Glaze), which is an exciting collaboration between industry and academia.

The new glazing has been fully tested to ensure that it can survive exposure to severe projectile impact, all weather conditions, and has no negative impact on the environment compared to glass.

The technical team was then able to install it on the new Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle, meaning that the vehicle now holds two public transport firsts, as it has anti-microbial grab poles and crash-resistant glazing.

Dr Darren Hughes, from WMG at the 果冻传媒 comments:

鈥淭he new Coventry Light Rail vehicle has a number of major innovations including being lightweight, battery-powered and having reduced environmental footprint. The vehicle has shown that major steps forward can be made using a UK-centric manufacturing approach. The Sandilands accident report identifies clearly the need for safer glazing in trams and we decided this would be the perfect opportunity to design and make the glazing and see it installed. Although we have demonstrated the technology in trams, we believe it points a path for safer future glazing solutions in the wider rail sector.鈥�

Dr Sophie Cozien-Cazuc from adds:
鈥淔ar-UK has been thrilled to be given the opportunity to develop and manufacture resilient lightweight polymeric panels for the Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle. After the Croydon accident in November 2016, there was the need for more robust glazing options. This Resi-Glaze project allows innovations from other transport sectors to be brought to the rail industry. Polycarbonate glazing has moved on from the 1980s. Far is looking forward to providing this new glazing in the transport sector in general.鈥�

Paul Salkeld from adds:
鈥淭ransport Design International have been involved in many innovative projects over the years and this project has sound relevance as we look to promote safer and cleaner ways of providing public transport. We are looking forward to seeing this moving forward now in many applications.鈥�

cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change said:
鈥淚 am delighted that this glazing innovation is being tested as part of our vehicle development. It will also have much wider application too, which is very exciting.

鈥淲e are right at the front of the green industrial revolution and our plans for Very Light Rail have already achieved a number of world first developments. The Coventry Very Light Rail project has the potential to revolutionise the way people travel, importantly at an affordable cost, and it will take another step forward later this year when both our new vehicle and our innovative track system is tested in real-world conditions.鈥�

ENDS

14 JULY 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/march_2021/dsc_3057_002.jpeg

Caption: The glazing of the Coventry VLR as seen in situ

Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/march_2021/230321vlr_citycentre_006.jpg
Caption: The glazing of the Coventry VLR as seen in situ

Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/march_2021/230321vlr_citycentre_063.jpg
Caption: The glazing of the Coventry VLR as seen in situ

Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
果冻传媒
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

WMG鈥檚 Associate Professor Mark Elliott will be working alongside health tech experts at , in a two year part-time secondment, focusing on the impact of digital health technology.

Dr Elliott was awarded funding through the UKRI Innovation Scholars Secondment: Biomedical Science scheme which aims to intensify knowledge exchange between industry and academia.

Dr Elliott explained: 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to working closely with the team at EQL. My previous research has always been on the academic side so this will give me a real insight into a fast-growing health-tech company and how they operate.

鈥淭he aim of the secondment is to support EQL in evaluating and validating their platforms using rigorous research methods, whilst also gaining knowledge of the state-of-the-art technologies that EQL use to support people with their musculoskeletal health; it鈥檚 a really exciting opportunity.鈥�

Dr Elliott is based at the Institute of Digital Healthcare at WMG, 果冻传媒 with his core research focusing on human movement analytics, using signal processing and data science approaches to monitor, measure and model movement in a range of different contexts. He is particularly interested in the self-management of physiotherapy, highlighting it as one of the big challenges in healthcare at the moment.

His role on the secondment is to undertake research into how digital applications of technology can support people to self-manage their musculoskeletal health. The focus will be on implementing remote management and digital health platforms that could incorporate a number of technologies such as chat bots. He will initially work in the R&D team to investigate methods to collect clinical information through smartphone applications as well as exploring other novel uses of consumer grade technology.

He added: 鈥淥n the research side it鈥檚 really useful to understand how people can use digital platforms — how they engage with them and for how long, whether they find it useful and whether it improves the long-term outcomes of patients.鈥�

Find out more about at the Institute of Digital Healthcare here.

搂 One of the first applications of Level 4 autonomous vehicles is expected to be low speed automated driving (LSAD) systems, such as pods

搂 However, lack of safety standards has hampered their commercial deployment on public roads

搂 An international group of experts led by WMG, 果冻传媒 working together as a part of an ISO technical committee, has published the first international (ISO) safety standard for level 4 automated driving systems, taking them a step further towards being more widely available

路 This new ISO standard could enable an environmentally-friendly transport option, as well as a solution for people with mobility issues.

The use of low speed automated driving systems can contribute to reduction of congestion and carbon emissions all over the world, however the enrolment of such systems has been hampered by the lack of safety standards, until now; as an international group of experts led by WMG, 果冻传媒 working as part of an ISO technical committee have published the first international safety standard for level 4 automated driving systems.

Low speed automated driving (LSAD) systems, such as the autonomous pods are classed as a level 4 automated driving systems. They provide an opportunity for cities to reduce congestion and carbon emissions, thus contributing to net-zero targets.

They currently tend to operate on predefined routes in low-speed environments, often being used in commercial, business or university campuses. Yet growth in this area has been hampered by a lack of international standards that define minimum performance and safety requirements to be met.

However, the first international safety standard for a level 4 automated driving systems has just been published by to help accelerate its progress in a safe and sustainable way.

The standard, ISO 22737, 鈥�Intelligent transport systems — Low-speed automated driving (LSAD) systems for predefined routes — Performance requirements, system requirements and performance test procedures鈥� was developed by an international group of experts led by Dr Siddartha Khastgir from WMG, 果冻传媒, UK.

In the ISO 22737 standard, the group have set out the specific minimum safety and performance requirements for LSAD systems, providing a common language to help facilitate the development and safe deployment of this technology worldwide. The group included experts from Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea, China, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Hungary and the UK.

This standardization activity is underpinned by strong research outcomes from the CCAV and Innovate UK funded INTACT research project by WMG and Aurrigo; and also by the research conducted as part of Dr Khastgir鈥檚 UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship.

Dr Siddartha Khastgir, from WMG, 果冻传媒 who served as the Project Leader of the group of experts that developed the ISO standard, stated that:

鈥淎n increased use in LSAD systems can lead to a shift in the way people, goods and services are transported. This new standard will enable the safe deployment of an environmentally-friendly transport option, as well as a solution for people with mobility issues."

Some of the key points from the new standard include:

路 Providing minimum operating capabilities for LSAD systems including guidance on Operational Design Domain (ODD) definition路 Guidance on how LSAD systems may fit into the wider transport ecosystem

路 Performance requirements for different aspects of the LSAD system such Dynamic Driving Task; Emergency maneuvers (e.g. emergency stop and minimal risk maneuvers); hazardous situation identification; static and dynamic obstacle detection and avoidance

路 Test procedures for various system functionalities

Simon Brewerton, Chief Technology Officer at Aurrigo Driverless Technology, a Coventry based LSAD system manufacturer comments:
鈥淎urrigo is one of only a couple of UK based vehicle OEMs who produce low speed autonomous vehicles. These vehicles are engineered in the UK but are deployed globally. It had been increasing difficult to communicate the level of safety engineering that our vehicles encompass, and also difficult to compare various attributes and functionality against the perceived state of the art for this class of vehicle.

鈥淎urrigo decided to invest our resources and domain knowledge following an invitation from WMG to bring an OEM viewpoint to the BSI working group for the ISO22737 LSAD standard. Working closely with Siddartha, Aurrigo had the opportunity to share the experiences gained from many deployments globally, and provide insight into the practicalities of building a suitable test regime.

鈥淭he new LSAD standard puts a line in the sand for all OEMs to exceed and so enables a global market where all players rise to the same exacting standards as each other, keeping the public safe and the industry competitive.鈥�

Nick Fleming, Head of Sector, Transport and Mobility, British Standards Institution mentioned:鈥�BSI, the UK鈥檚 National Standards Body, would like to recognise the work of our technical committee (EPL/278) and UK experts that have fed into the development of this important standard, the first international (ISO) standard for Low-Speed Autonomous Driving (LSAD) systems. BS ISO 22737 is an important development in the evolving landscape for automated vehicle standards, much like an ODD (Operational Design Domain) taxonomy for Automated Driving Systems authored by Siddartha and published in 2020, in helping support safe trialing and operation of automated vehicles.鈥�

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Director Stephen Meader said:
鈥淭he publication of the first International safety standard for fully autonomous vehicles represents a major step towards the widespread adoption of a more environmentally friendly mode of transport that can cut both congestion and carbon emissions. In the year of COP26, this kind of innovation has never been more important.

鈥淭he work of Dr Khastgir and his team demonstrates the value of Future Leaders Fellowships funding to support talented researchers and innovators to deliver change that can be felt across society and the economy.鈥�

ISO 22737 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 204 Intelligent transport systems, whose secretariat is held by ANSI, the ISO member for the USA.

It can be purchased from your national ISO member or through the .

ENDS

8 JULY 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

Dr Siddartha Khastgir is the recipient 拢1.2 million UKRI Future Leader Fellow which focusses on evaluating the safety of Autonomous Vehicles by scenario generation and use of simulation-based testing. See more: /fac/sci/wmg/research/cav/vandv/ukriflf/

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/img_0022_-2.jpeg
Caption: Some members of the drafting team of ISO 22737. Experts from Japan, USA, South Korea, Canada, Australia and the UK
Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/january2020/xt2a0019.jpg
Caption: Aurrigo Autonomous pods outside the Professor Lord Bhattacharyya building, 果冻传媒
Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/1.jpg
Caption: Aurrigo Autonomous pod on a pedestrian street
Credit: Aurrigo Driverless Technology

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/2.jpg
Caption: Aurrigo Autonomous pod on a pedestrian street
Credit: WMG, 果冻传媒

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/7.jpg
Caption: Aurrigo Autonomous pod on a pedestrian street
Credit: Aurrigo Driverless Technology

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/july_2021/3.jpg
Caption: Aurrigo Autonomous pod
Credit: Aurrigo Driverless Technology

ISO 22737:

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
果冻传媒
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk