糖心TV

Margot James, Executive Chair at WMG, University of 糖心TV: "All my colleagues at WMG will feel the loss of our Queen, each in their own personal way. I am sure I can speak for many though when I pay tribute to her life of dedicated service to our country and the Commonwealth. The Queen embodied the very best of Great Britain and Northern Ireland with her selfless sense of duty. The immense difference she made to our lives, she has been the only monarch we have ever known, will live with us forever. We send our deepest sympathy and condolences to all members of the Royal Family at this very sad time. Long live the King."

Professor Robin Clark, Dean of WMG and Head of Department: "The death of Her Majesty The Queen is a solemn and poignant moment for our nation, the commonwealth and the world, and on behalf of all of us at WMG at the University of 糖心TV, I offer our heartfelt condolences to her family. Her Majesty鈥檚 dedicated and committed service to her people and to her country has been an example to generations in Britain, throughout the Commonwealth and across the world. The Queen鈥檚 life has been a shining light for us all throughout her momentous reign. Her Majesty has been an unwavering constant for so many of us – guiding the nation through times of challenge and times of celebration. We send our deepest sympathies to her family at this most difficult of times. At the same time, we are profoundly thankful for a life lived well, a life lived long and happily, and, most of all, a life lived in service to the nation."

Akzhunis Arystanbek, WMG Master鈥檚 in Supply Chain Logistics Management graduate, has won the Logistics Research Network Dissertation of the Year Award 2022 from the Charted Institute of Logistics and Transport ().

Akzhunis鈥檚 dissertation entitled 鈥淚mplementation of Demand Sensing in Supply Chain Management鈥� was nominated by Professor Dan Nunan, Director of full-time Postgraduate Programmes, at WMG at the University of 糖心TV.

The Awards are open to all UK students, and recognise outstanding dissertations at three levels – Bachelors, Master鈥檚 and PhD.

However, this year the panel of judges only awarded a prize in the Master鈥檚 category, with Akzhunis鈥檚 work being the only nomination that met the exceptional high standard required.

Akzhunis will be presented with her certificate and prize money at the Logistics Research Network Conference () dinner and awards ceremony on the 8th September.

Alexa Kirkaldy, Associate Professor, at WMG, University of 糖心TV explains: 鈥淎kzhunis鈥檚 dissertation was nominated for this award, not only for its academic excellence, but also for the contemporary topic addressed which is essential to the future of world logistics and supply chain management.鈥�

Akzhunis Arystanbek said: 鈥淚t is a huge honour and pleasure for me to receive this award. My study involved an investigation into a very specialised area of supply chain management. When writing a dissertation, we all stand on the shoulders of giants.

鈥淎fter graduating I moved on to continue my career in supply chain management at a metals and mining company in Kazakhstan.鈥�

Akzhunis鈥檚 research was supervised by , Industrial Fellow at WMG and Head of Supply Chain at , who said: 鈥淎kzhunis was a thoroughly diligent and focussed researcher who delivered value and insight both through the creation of the data and in the interpretation of the results, delivering insights that would be commercially beneficial.鈥�

Find out more about WMG鈥檚 Postgraduate Programmes here: WMG (University of 糖心TV) Full-time Master's (MSc) Programmes

• Six industry-academia partnerships from across the UK shortlisted for the annual Bhattacharyya Award including solutions for tsunami resilience, sustainable aviation, industrial decarbonisation, and cybersecurity
• Winning partnership to be announced at awards ceremony on 29 September 2022
• Applications for Bhattacharyya Award 2023 open until 16 December 2022

The and WMG at the University of 糖心TV have shortlisted six exceptional industry-academia partnerships from across the UK for the second annual Bhattacharyya Award.

The Bhattacharyya Award and a cash prize of 拢25,000 will be presented to the team who best demonstrate how industry and universities can work together. The winning partnership will be announced on 29 September 2022.

The Bhattacharyya Award is a tribute to Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya KT CBE FREng FRS, the Regius Professor of Manufacturing at the University of 糖心TV and founder of WMG who advocated for greater collaboration between industry and universities. Funded by the , the annual Bhattacharyya Award is open to UK universities and colleges that have demonstrated a sustained, strategic industrial partnership that has benefitted society and is deserving of national recognition. Industry-academia partnerships from any academic discipline are eligible for the Bhattacharyya Award.

This year鈥檚 shortlist spotlights partnerships that address some of the most pressing challenges in the UK and globally, including coastal resilience against tsunamis, low carbon electricity supply, cybersecurity, sustainable aviation, and support for rail and steel industries.

The full shortlist of finalists is as follows:

路 University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce: Advanced Metallic Alloys

Dating back to 1989, this collaboration has enabled transformative advances in engine efficiencies - directly addressing environmental concerns, while also saving billions of pounds over 30 years of large fleet activity. The partnership is at the heart of activities to develop and deliver the new engine technologies required to achieve or better the ACARE Flightpath 2050 targets of 75% reduction in CO2 emissions and 90% reduction in NOx.

路 University of Cambridge and ARM: Digital Security by Design

This partnership focuses on redesigning the architecture that integrates both hardware and software with technology that will fundamentally improve cyber security. This new architecture, known as CHERI (Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions), could stop around two thirds of hacks, cyber-attacks and data breaches, according to Microsoft. The partnership launched a prototype known as Morello, which has been adopted by the UK government鈥檚 Digital Security Design programme and is being rolled out to industry and academia for wide-scale testing and development.

路 Imperial College London and Transport Strategy Centre: Optimising Transport Systems

The Centre鈥檚 focus on urban transport systems has become increasingly important as the world attempts to tackle the challenges of climate change and transport-related air pollution. Its work has provided over 拢1.5 billion worth of benefits to the rail industry over the last 15 years. The Centre鈥檚 research and collaboration has benefitted 125 major transport providers in the UK and globally – influencing funding policy, improving cost efficiency, service quality, and safety, and helping transport operators respond to Covid-19.

路 University of Manchester and National Grid: Impacts to Electricity Networks

By providing low carbon electricity, this partnership has delivered significant CO2 reductions, increased productivity, stimulated large investment in new jobs and engineering activity in the UK, and supported the growth of many SMEs. Knowledge generated by the partnership has provided cost savings of approximately 拢11 million to the UK energy network and helped to develop many key projects - including the T-Pylon in Somerset that delivers power to six million homes.

路 Swansea University and Steel Strategic Alliance: Sustainable Steelmaking

This partnership aims to help the UK to become a leader in sustainable steelmaking, with a focus on decarbonising the whole manufacturing supply chain. Some of its major projects include the creation of the Materials and Manufacturing Academy, that provides industry-led postgraduate training, the Steel and Metals Institute, providing advanced steel testing, and the SUSTAIN Future Manufacturing Research Hub, that develops carbon-neutral steel supply chains and sustainable solutions for transport, energy and buildings.

路 University College London, HR Wallingford and Arup: Advanced Tsunami Engineering

This collaboration began following the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, which killed more than 250,000 people and caused widespread destruction. The partnership led to the creation of a new tsunami simulator, unique worldwide for its ability to recreate realistic representations of tsunamis. The partnership鈥檚 work has improved knowledge of tsunami interaction with coastal environments, developed emergency evacuation protocols and provided tsunami assessments in the UK, including for the Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant project in North Wales, as well as internationally.

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chair of the judging panel for the Bhattacharyya Award, said: 鈥淎ll six shortlisted partnerships are excellent examples of industry-academia collaboration, with timely and innovative responses to some of the most challenging issues facing society today. It is a privilege to showcase these successful collaborations and we hope that doing so fosters even greater connection between industry and academia in the UK.鈥�

Margot James, Executive Chair of WMG, University of 糖心TV, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see the extremely high quality of industry-academia partnerships shortlisted for the second annual Bhattacharyya Award. As a celebration of Lord Bhattacharyya鈥檚 legacy, the Award continues to highlight how building symmetry between academia and industry is so vital for meeting the needs of society, and adapting to global challenges. We look forward to seeing which collaboration is selected as the overall winner.鈥�

The winner of the Bhattacharyya Award will be announced on Thursday 29 September 2022, at an event showcasing the shortlisted partnerships at the University of 糖心TV.

Those wishing to attend the Bhattacharyya Award ceremony can .

Applications for Bhattacharyya Award 2023 are now open until 16 December 2022 and can be submitted via the Academy鈥檚 online grant system.

Notes for Editors

For media enquiries please contact: Chris Urquhart at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0725; email: Chris.Urquhart@raeng.org.uk

It was an honour to welcome and , Chair and Vice Chair respectively, of the Steel All-Party Parliamentary Group (), to WMG at the University of 糖心TV this week.

The guests were met by Professor Claire Davis and Dr Russell Hall from the Advanced Steel Research Centre, and Dean of WMG, Professor Robin Clark.

They enjoyed a tour of the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Centre (AMMC), home to WMG鈥檚 world-class steels research facilities, where they heard more about WMG鈥檚 work to support the steel industry including the importance of green steel production for a sustainable future.

Stephen Kinnock MP Chair of the Steel APPG and Jessica Morden MPVice Chair of the Steel APPG commented: 鈥淚t was great to visit Claire Davis and her team at WMG's Advanced Materials Manufacturing Centre to see for ourselves the industrial research and development they're working on with the UK Steel sector, including cutting the cost of developing new steel alloys, deploying alternative fuels for green steel production or converting scrap steel to high value products.

鈥淚nnovation has a crucial role in improving the quality of UK steel production, reducing energy costs and making UK steel sustainable and it was heartening to see academics and industry working together on these critical issues for the future of UK steel, which is so important for our country."

Professor Claire Davis said: 鈥淪tephen and Jess were really interested in hearing about the work we do in the Advanced Steel Research Centre. It was great to show them examples of our fundamental and applied research supporting the development of new steel processing and alloys, and the impact it has for the UK steel industry. It is a very exciting, and challenging time to be working on steel due to the pace of change as we move to green steel production.鈥�

Find out more about WMG鈥檚 Steels Processing research here: Steels processing (warwick.ac.uk)

WMG, at the University of 糖心TV, is committed to supporting a variety of undergraduate student projects with connections to industry partners.

Each student project is supported and supervised by WMG Precision Engineer Dave Cooper, who has a background working for Honda Racing, and Lead Engineer Malcolm Swain, who specialises in electric vehicle battery technology.

The projects also engage with WMG PhD students; academics; technicians and industry sponsors. Students gain valuable practical and project management skills by being assigned an area of responsibility, from engineering and technical lead to marketing and sales support.

The student-led projects help to develop time and management skills; teamwork; and give practical hands-on experience.

While WMG provides some seed funding, it is the responsibility of the students to secure sponsors and funding, learning valuable networking, negotiation, sales and partnership skills along the way.

2022 student project teams

The team entered the IMeche Formula Student Concept Class event at Silverstone to assess their new concept for an in-house built chassis. The judges, including an engineer from Mercedes F1 chassis team, were very positive about its ease of manufacture, lightweight, functionality, recyclability and cost saving design. The team is now developing the chassis based on the judges鈥� feedback to test its feasibility in the next electric racing car.

The 糖心TV Racing 糖心TV team was awarded second place for its business presentation out of 51 top global universities. The event follows a similar format to Dragon's Den, with the students developing a business idea, plan and model for producing the electric racing car to sell. This is an extremely challenging event and the team have high hopes to win first place next year.

In the 糖心TV Moto team, student technical lead Nesta Ferguson, was awarded the Best Dissertation Project Award, by the , and recognised as a runner-up in the Engineering Undergraduate Innovation Award category. The Team鈥檚 research outputs were also accepted for publication by the flagship ICALEO conference and then promoted to the Journal of Laser Applications. Aneesh Jois, who also played a leading role in the 糖心TV Moto team, won Institution Best Student on the Mechanical Engineering Bachelor鈥檚 degree for academic achievement. Aneesh highlighted how invaluable his 糖心TV Moto project experience has been in learning how to design components for use in the real world and enabling him to achieve higher grades in application-based engineering modules.

The 糖心TV Robotics team worked with Dr Rachel Edwards, in the Department of Physics at the University of 糖心TV, to develop two wall climbing robots which perform Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) on steel structures such as storage tanks and wind turbine towers. The twin robots work in tandem carrying an electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT), one with the receiver and one with the transmitter. To achieve the best results quickly the two robots must climb the structures with the transmitter and receiver aligned with each other at various distances apart. The students designed, built and tested a system that did this automatically in real-time using high resolution cameras and fiducial markers achieving +/-0.45degree accuracy. This will revolutionise industrial applications of NDT where this was considered not viable in the past.

Lee-Rose Jordan, Project Manager at WMG, University of 糖心TV explained: 鈥淭hese projects are a great example of how students can develop valuable hands-on engineering knowledge and skills, standing them in good stead as they embark on their chosen careers in some of the most esteemed companies in the world. This year, for example, some of our students have gone on to work at Delta Cosworth, Williams Advanced Engineering, McLaren Applied, Triumph, Alpine F1 and Mercedes.鈥�

Find out more about the student projects here: Student Led Projects (warwick.ac.uk)

The WMG Outreach and SME teams, at the University of 糖心TV, were pleased to lend their support to the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, for a unique project inspired by Coventry artist and campaigner, .

The gallery hosted a series of masterclasses challenging local community groups to create their own mannequins using the techniques and skills adopted by Daniel in his recent exhibition 鈥�Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken.鈥�

Daniel Lismore is known for his elaborate and extravagant creations that combine haute couture with charity-shop finds, including yards of vintage fabrics, found objects, ribbons, feathers, chain mail, shells, ethnic jewellery and retro accessories in an expression of creative energy, whilst giving voice to social calls for action and politically driven campaigns.

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum approached Professor Margaret Low, Director of Outreach and Widening Participation at WMG, in need of some specialist equipment to help with the masterclasses. The WMG SME Team owned this equipment, and kindly agreed to loan it.

Amanda Haran, Community Engagement Officer at Culture Coventry explained: 鈥淒aniel was introduced to vacuum forming by English National Opera and as our aim was to make the creative journey as artistically authentic as that taken by Daniel, we were thrilled when the team at WMG offered the use of their machine.鈥�

Bethany Haynes, Engineering Technician in the WMG SME Team, attended each of the masterclasses and guided the community groups through the vacuum forming process, enabling them to create some really imaginative pieces, combining engineering skills with process art.

Bethany explains: 鈥淣o object, providing it could withstand the heat, was off limits. We used key rings, broken bits of jewellery, fabrics and even real apples.

鈥淚t was a brilliant project to work on, totally different from anything I鈥檝e done before, and it was lovely to have the freedom to add my own ideas to the designs too.鈥�

Amanda added: 鈥淏eth's instruction and support have been truly amazing, from making pomegranate moulds, to sourcing the specialist preferred foam. She met the energy of the groups being encouraging and adventurous, helping them to create the forms that best illustrate their theme.鈥�

The Daniel Lismore inspired mannequins will be on display at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum throughout August. Find out more here:

The 糖心TV Submarine team, which consists of seven 4th year engineering students at the University of 糖心TV, has successfully completed the European International Submarine Races () in Gosport.

The student team raced their human powered submarine, against other science and marine engineering students from across the world. The submarine, named Godiva picked up two awards – the 鈥榃inner Day 5鈥� and a new award for best 鈥楥ommunication.鈥�

The team was able to complete the whole slalom course at the Ocean Basin, and record a very respectable time of three minutes and 56 seconds. This is the first time that Godiva has achieved this since its very first entry at ISR in the USA in 2014. This impressive progress led to Godiva receiving the 鈥榃inner Day 5鈥� recognition.

The 鈥楥ommunication鈥� prize was judged by a group of school children who attended the races and met with the competitors. The children felt that the 糖心TV Sub team were the best at explaining the complexities of the project and notably without 鈥榯alking-down鈥� to them.

The 糖心TV Submarine Academic Supervisor at WMG, University of 糖心TV, Professor Ian Tuersley, said: 鈥淭he students were a real credit to the University, and their performance as practical engineers was very impressive鈥�.

鈥淭he competition invariably involves a great deal of on-the-spot problem solving. Every single member of our team contributed handsomely to this effort by identifying the issues, generating innovative solutions, and then implementing them with only the barest of workshop resources to hand.鈥�

In preparation for the competition, the students had access to cutting-edge engineering research and facilities at WMG at the University of 糖心TV, as well as funding from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and help from sponsors.

Professor David Greenwood, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, at WMG, University of 糖心TV, explained: 鈥淲ell done to this year鈥檚 team on their achievements at e-ISR-22. We are now beginning the planning process for next year鈥檚 competition, and are looking forward to supporting a new group of students as they look to design and manufacture a new hull from composite materials. With the help of our team, they will gain indispensable hands-on practical engineering skills, at our world leading facilities.鈥�

After arriving back from eISR-22 there was more good news for the team, as they were announced as winners of the inaugural 糖心TV Award for Public and Community Engagement (WAPCE), by the 糖心TV Institute for Engagement (WIE).

Professor Tuersley added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 another fantastic achievement and provides further evidence of the team鈥檚 commitment to outreach and engagement activities.鈥�

Find out more about the University鈥檚 student projects here.

WMG, at the University of 糖心TV, has launched its new sustainable elastomer research facility based in the International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM).

High performance elastomers are essential components in applications across a range of critical sectors, most notably for vehicle tyres, but also for footwear, soft robotics and automation.

However, the high durability of conventional rubbers also results in them being extremely difficult to recycle at the end of their service life, with many simply being incinerated and buried in landfills. The need for new and sustainable elastomer technology is becoming more urgent as society transitions towards fully electric vehicles, which are currently heavier and can cause tyre wear up to 30% faster. Tyre wear emission is accumulated as the second largest microplastics pollution globally.

The main scientific focus of the new facility is to bring together state-of-the-art research from across rubber composite processing and synthetic polymer chemistry - including manufacturing technology, multiscale characterisation, and prototype sustainable rubber products.

Capabilities within the facility include a twin-roll mill for rubber compounding; automated compression moulding and moving die rheometer (MDR); abrasion testing; and a new dynamic rubber process analyser (RPA), which enables advanced analysis of rubber networks over a temperature range of -40 掳C to 232 掳C, and a wide frequency range, as well as unique rheological characterisation at large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS).

Within the IINM there is also a wet chemistry laboratory designed for new formulation development, and rubber and nanoparticle functionalisation, as well as polymer characterisation and testing laboratories to support sustainable elastomer research and development.

Dr Chaoying Wan, Reader of Functional Polymers and Nanocomposites at WMG, University of 糖心TV explains: 鈥淥ur new RPA has the capacity of a wider temperature range - it is the only one in the UK, and one of only a few in the world. This function is extremely useful for evaluating elastomer materials as well as for advanced scientific analysis. With support from the , we are excited to be furthering our research towards extending the functionality of rubber materials and making the products recyclable and sustainable at end-of-life.鈥�

Projects currently underway in the new facility include integrating self-healing properties which result in improved safety and extended lifespan for tyres; stretchable sensors; and investigating other rubber products to enhance the durability of rubbers by the addition of nanofillers, including graphene, and recycling of rubbers for road and pavement uses.

Find out more about WMG鈥檚 Nanocomposites research here: Nanocomposites (warwick.ac.uk)

Contacts:

Dr Chaoying Wan – Rubber Chemistry and Dielectric Elastomer Technology

Professor Tony McNally - Composites of Elastomers and Nanomaterials

An engineering student from WMG, at the University of 糖心TV has been recognised for his hard work by the Institution of Engineering and Technology ().

The IET Manufacturing Prize is awarded annually to outstanding students who are completing a course of study which has been accredited by the IET. Prize winners are nominated by their university based on having shown distinction in their course leading to the award of a first degree.

As part of his win Nathan Bird will receive a certificate and two years free student membership of the IET.

Nathan said: 鈥淚t is an honour to have been awarded this Manufacturing award from the IET and congratulations to others who have been given similar awards. This would not have been possible without the help from the many amazing staff at WMG and the School of Engineering, at the University of 糖心TV, and for that I thank them and hope my path crosses with them in the future."

Professor Danielle George MBE, President of the IET, said: 鈥淥ur IET Prizes are a fantastic way for talented engineering students to be recognised for their outstanding ability in the early stages of their engineering journey. IET Membership provides early career professionals with the opportunity to connect with a global community, grow their networks and develop their technical knowledge.

鈥淭he IET is passionate about promoting engineering excellence and our awards and prizes showcase some of the very best engineering talent. All of the winners should be incredibly proud of their achievements. I wish them all the best for a very fulfilling and successful career – they are all difference makers of the future.鈥�

Professor Gill Cooke, Pro-Dean (Education) at WMG, University of 糖心TV, added: 鈥淲e are delighted to recognise Nathan鈥檚 achievements and we wish him every success in the future.鈥�

To find out more information about the range of prizes and awards available to young and aspiring engineers through the IET, visit: .

• New consortium of leading British aviation companies awarded government funding to demonstrate the commercial and operational viability of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM)
• First-of-a-kind ecosystem will accelerate introduction of AAM in the UK
• Demonstration of urban and cross-country flights planned at London Heathrow, Bristol, London City airports and a new vertiport at a London General Aviation (GA) airport

Vertical Aerospace, Virgin Atlantic, Atkins, Skyports and NATS, along with Connected Places Catapult and leading academic institutions Cranfield University and WMG, University of 糖心TV, today announced the creation of the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium. Together, the organisations will develop key technology and infrastructure in a project that will significantly accelerate the introduction of AAM in the UK.

The Consortium has been awarded a 拢9.5 million grant by the UK Government鈥檚 Future Flight Challenge to develop the essential building blocks of a viable AAM ecosystem that has the potential to be progressed into full commercial operations. This first-of-a-kind ecosystem will accelerate AAM in the UK by creating and testing technological developments in aircraft electrification, airspace management, ground infrastructure, operational procedures and the systems and supporting business cases required to implement a new model of aerial passenger transport in the UK.

Accelerating AAM

The project will demonstrate the feasibility of a UK AAM ecosystem using Vertical Aerospace鈥檚 emission-free VX4 eVTOL aircraft, operated by Virgin Atlantic. Two physical flights will take place between Bristol Airport to an airfield in South West England, and between London Heathrow Airport and the Living Lab vertiport. A third simulation flight will demonstrate urban connectivity between London City and Bristol airports.

These demonstrations will explore key aspects of the passenger journey, vehicle operation, airspace navigation, ground charging, security provision and local stakeholder engagement. Heathrow Airport, Bristol Airport, Skyports and NATS, the UK鈥檚 national air navigation service provider, will collaborate to deliver the physical and digital infrastructure to facilitate these missions through a complex airspace environment. The two-year project will be overseen by aerospace engineering experts Atkins as consortium lead.

Benefits of Advanced Air Mobility

AAM offers a new form of travel, enabling cost-effective connectivity into congested urban areas and across regions under-served by existing infrastructure. The UK Government Future Flight Challenge forecast that the introduction of AAM services will increase UK GDP by 1.8% by 2030 and support the government鈥檚 Levelling Up and Net Zero agendas, reflecting the productivity and wider economic benefits of increased connectivity.

James Richmond, Head of Advanced Air Mobility at Atkins, said: 鈥淭his is an exciting leap forward for AAM. This project brings together experts from across the industry to maintain the UK鈥檚 leading position in the future of aviation, moving us closer to commercial operations that will connect regions and contribute to the UK鈥檚 net zero targets.鈥�

Professor David Greenwood, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult at WMG, added: This project, created by a major consortium of aviation leaders, will really push forward the boundaries of developing and proving commercial eVTOL flights by demonstrating in a real-time, operational AAM ecosystem testbed. WMG is delighted to be contributing to a project which will help the UK aviation industry meet its net zero carbon goals.鈥�

Other nations are racing to establish their own AAM ecosystems by 2025 – this project ensures the UK will be amongst the leaders in this new decarbonised form of transport. Gary Cutts, Future Flight Challenge Director at UK Research and Innovation said: 鈥渙ur roadmap sets out how air taxis could be in use in the UK by 2030, but a lot needs to occur for that to happen. By bringing technical developments from across the aviation industry together into one network, and undertaking early demonstration in the real-world, the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium could accelerate the timescale for AAM introduction by years. This project could revolutionise travel, not just in the UK but around the world.鈥�

Novel Infrastructure

Skyports will build and operate a 鈥淟iving Lab鈥� vertiport to create a testbed for ground, passenger and air operations for the project duration. This centre of innovation will help to materially accelerate the development of AAM services and establish the UK as a leader in the design and operation of vertiport infrastructure.

Duncan Walker, CEO of Skyports, said: 鈥淛ust as airports are critical to commercial aeroplane travel, vertiports are critical to AAM. Our Living Lab will be a central component of the consortium, enabling Skyports and partners to demonstrate end-to-end operations and test the complexities of developing a commercially viable AAM network in the UK.鈥�

New Regional Air Connectivity

Holly Boyd-Boland, VP Corporate Development at Virgin Atlantic, said: 鈥淲e are thrilled to be working alongside our consortium partners to accelerate the introduction of zero emission flight to UK customers. As the only airline in the consortium, Virgin Atlantic brings 38 years of operational excellence, a relentless focus on safety and security, and an unrivalled focus on the end-to-end customer journey. Alongside our partners, we are looking forward to getting the first Virgin Atlantic eVTOL aircraft into the skies.鈥�

Andrew Macmillan, Director of Strategy of Vertical Aerospace, said: 鈥淰ertical is not flying solo. We are building the best industrial and commercial partner ecosystems and are progressing in Britain with our UK launch customer, Virgin Atlantic. We want the UK to lead the electric aviation and AAM revolution. This consortium will help prove how we can deliver safer, cleaner and quieter air travel with the VX4.鈥�

A focus on integration

Atkins will lead the consortium and is responsible for technical management and integration of the two-year programme as it moves AAM from concept stage towards implementation. It will leverage its decades of aviation expertise to oversee the systems architecture and deliver a digitally enabled passenger journey management tool for infrastructure and flight operators.

For further information on WMG's research in this area, visit: /fac/sci/wmg/business/transportelec/

*The full Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium comprises Atkins; Vertical Aerospace; Skyports; Virgin Atlantic; Heathrow Airport; London City Airport; Bristol Airport; NATS; Cranfield University; WMG, at the University of 糖心TV; Connected Places Catapult; with support from EVE Air Mobility.