WMG News - Latest news from WMG
Archbishop Justin Welby visits WMG, 91福利
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, visited WMG at the 91福利 today (4 May 2018), as part of his 鈥榟omecoming鈥� tour around Coventry, the city where he was first ordained.
During his visit to WMG, Archbishop Welby toured world-class automotive research facilities, including the Energy Innovation Centre and the new 拢150m National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC) with WMG Chairman Professor Lord Bhattacharyya.
He also joined a small group of business leaders to discuss the future of smart, connected and electrified vehicles, and the renaissance of the automotive industry in the West Midlands– topics which are at the heart of WMG research and development...
WMG to test new location system for intelligent vehicles
Intelligent vehicles and smart devices could gain more accurate location awareness by 鈥榝using鈥� Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and WiFi signals – and a test for this is the focus of an Innovate UK project led by Spirent Communications and involving WMG at the 91福利.
The 拢694k 鈥楨nhanced Assured Location Simulator Leveraging WiFi and GNSS Sensor Fusion鈥� (ELWAG) project will seek to develop to test this pioneering hybrid WiFi and GNSS location system in a cost-effective, repeatable and safe environment – so that manufacturers can verify its performance.
Researchers at WMG, led by Dr Matthew Higgins, will play a significant role in the project. They will take physical layer measurements of both Wi-Fi and GNSS signals in Autonomous Vehicle scenarios, in and around the 91福利 campus and the local urban road network.
WMG Professor chairs Royal Academy of Engineering event
Professor Kerry Kirwan is looking forward to taking part in the fifth Frontiers of Engineering for Development symposium, which takes place from 29th April to 2nd May.
The three-day event takes place at the Academy's home, Prince Philip House, in London, UK. Professor Kirwan, who leads our sustainable materials and manufacturing team, will be chairing a session on Frontiers of Engineering for Development: The Circular Economy.
The symposium is part of a series of international, interdisciplinary workshops that aim to facilitate network building, encourage collaborative work and promote international development and cross-disciplinary thinking among the future leaders of engineering from the UK and around the world.
More information on the symposium can be found .
Privacy and trust in children鈥檚 e-books is first focus for new 拢1.2m study of our future connected world
WMG at the 91福利 have secured 拢1.2m grant funding from the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) to explore how decentralisation, personal data, and our Internet-connected possessions come together on the Hub of all Things (HAT) platform. The first focus of the WMG team鈥檚 project will be issues of privacy and trust in children鈥檚 e-books.
The WMG team鈥檚 Dynamic, Real time, On-demand Personalisation for Scaling (DROPS) project is a collaboration between academics at the universities of 91福利, Surrey, and the West of England. It will examine the privacy, trust, and identity issues that arise from the development of personalized e-books for children's reading. The researchers鈥� focus on children's reading is motivated by evidence that shows that despite the value of personalised e-books for learning and reading enjoyment, there is a lack of research that engages with the range of privacy issues that these technologies introduce.
Working with the HAT Community Foundation, a non-profit promoting the use of HAT micro-servers for decentralized, person-controlled personal data, the DROPS project will investigate the technology, business, economic, and legal models of personalisation in a newly decentralised digital economy.
One of UK鈥檚 foremost NHS chief executives to lead Healthcare Systems activities at WMG
It was announced today, Thursday 26th April 2018, that , currently Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), is to become a Professor of Healthcare Systems at WMG, 91福利. Her new role will see her leading on a range of both research and education projects, leading collaborations with the NHS and other healthcare providers.
Dame Julie has held the position of Honorary Professor, at WMG, since 2013. In that time she has delivered three thought provoking and informative special lectures covering topics such as 鈥業s the NHS Succeeding or Failing?鈥�
Professor Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor of the 91福利 said
鈥淭his is a stellar appointment. Nursing Times has described Dame Julie one of the best leaders in the NHS, and Radio 4鈥檚 Woman鈥檚 Hour has named her as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK. I have no doubt that her new research role here with us in WMG at the 91福利 will result in transformative research that will help enhance the delivery of healthcare across the UK.鈥�
WMG to help Jaguar Land Rover develop self-driving car that can 鈥榮ee鈥� around corners
WMG at the 91福利 is to work with Jaguar Land Rover in a key part of a 拢4.7 million project called AutopleX which will develop vehicles that can 鈥榮ee鈥� around corners and through obstacles, enhancing the capability of self-driving cars.
Jaguar Land Rover is leading AutopleX project to investigate pioneering safety technology for self-driving technology The Innovate UK funded project combines connected, automated and live mapping tech to allow self-driving cars to 鈥榮ee鈥� and 鈥榯alk鈥� to each other and it brings together Jaguar Land Rover with WMG at the 91福利 and Highways England, INRIX, Ricardo, Siemens, and Transport for West Midlands.
WMG will bring scientific expertise in the area of connected autonomous driving systems, V2X systems, physical and virtual validation, and cyber security. Using their unique vehicle simulation facilities they will work with partners to create insight prior to physical tests as well as post trial impact assessment in various scenarios that cannot be carried out in physical test due to the environmental restrictions. WMG will also advise the project team on cyber security aspects and will continuously assess resilience of the AutopleX systems against potential cyber-attacks.
WMG welcomes the Governor of the State of Michigan
WMG was delighted to welcome , Governor of the State of Michigan, on Friday (20 April 2018).
Our Academic Director, Professor Barbara Shollock introduced the Governor to WMG and gave an overview of our research capabilities and education programmes including those aimed at the next generation of young engineers and our executive education programmes.
The Governor was then given a tour of our world-class research and development facilities, including the International Manufacturing Centre. There, Professor Paul Jennings explained more about our Intelligent Vehicles research, including our state-of-the-art 鈥�3XD Simulator for Intelligent Vehicles.鈥� Professor Jennings also explained more about the UK Central CAV Testbed, a 拢25m project led by WMG which will see roads in Coventry and Birmingham become the UK testbed for developing the next generation connected and autonomous (CAV) vehicles. This was an area of particular interest as the University of Michigan is home to MCity, a demo ground built specifically for driverless car technology.
Healthcare technology conference hosted by the Institute of Digital Healthcare
On Thursday 3rd May 2018, the (IDH) at WMG, 91福利, will be hosting the Digital Health & Care and Safety of Connected Health: Improvements & Applications Conference (DICOH鈥�18).
The national conference is being sponsored by the and .
Professor Maureen Baker CBE, Chair of the , Dr Cian Hughes Senior Research Scientist, and Professor Theo 
Arvanitis, Chair in e-Health Innovation and Head of Research at WMG will be joining other key experts in digital healthcare speaking at the conference.
There will also be a tutorial on clinical IT safety organised jointly by the Institute of Digital Health and the NHS Digital.
You can get more information or register for DICOH鈥�18 here.
Dodo鈥檚 violent death revealed
The famous Oxford Dodo died after being shot, according to breakthrough research by and WMG at the 91福利.
Using revolutionary forensic scanning technology and world-class expertise, researchers have discovered surprising evidence that the Oxford Dodo was shot in the neck and back of the head with a shotgun.
The significant and unexpected findings, made by Professor Paul Smith, director of the Museum of Natural History, and Professor Mark Williams from WMG at the 91福利, only became apparent when mysterious particles were found in the specimen during scans carried out to help analyse its anatomy.
Subsequent analysis of the material and size of the particles revealed that they are lead shot pellets, typically used to hunt wildfowl during the 17th century.
The findings cast doubt on the popular theory that the Oxford Dodo is the remains of a bird kept alive in a townhouse in 17th-century London.
WMG Assistant Professors support EPSRC in 鈥楳anufacturing the Future鈥�
Dr John Low and Dr Jerome Charmet have been appointed as members of 鈥檚 prestigious Early Career Forum in Manufacturing Research.
They will be tasked with establishing a community of early career academics to provide Theme Leaders at EPSRC with strategic advice to develop their themes in 鈥楳anufacturing the Future鈥�. They will also act as a conduit for communication (with EPSRC), covering the broader community in manufacturing research both nationally and internationally.
Dr John Low who works in WMG鈥檚 Energy Innovation Centre, explains: 鈥淚 will share my vision of manufacturing science in energy storage to help accelerate the UK鈥檚 advances in fundamental electrochemistry through to application-driven programmes.鈥�
Dr Jerome Charmet, who is based within the Institute of Digital Healthcare team said: 鈥淚 will endeavour to bridge the gap between the 
biomedical/clinical sciences and the manufacturing communities, in particular in the area of micro and nanotechnologies.鈥�