糖心TV

Following the news today that "Motorists will be permitted to check e-mails and even watch TV at the wheel" under plans to legalise driverless ALKS (Automated Lane Keeping Systems) technology by the end of the year, Dr Siddartha Khastgir from WMG, University of 糖心TV shares his thoughts on changing the Highway code to enable motorists on the motorway to rely on technology with no human input when travelling at speeds under 37mph.

Dr Siddartha Khastgir, from WMG, University of 糖心TV comments:

"We welcome the UK Government publishing the results of the Call for Evidence for Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) from last year. ALKS is an important step on our journey to introduce self-driving car technology on UK roads. However, It is important to highlight that:

ALKS 鈮� Self-driving car system. It is an important step on our journey to having self-driving cars.

Having said that, ALKS as a technology has a potential to provide lots of benefits but there are a few things that manufacturers, government/regulators and drivers need to be responsible for:

Regulators: Create a robust approval process for ensuring safety of ALKS. Ensure public education and any marketing of ALKS is done accurately and not mislead public.

Manufacturers: Establish and communicate true capabilities and limitations. This includes an elaborate and accurate representation of the Operational Design Domain (ODD) (i.e. operating conditions) of the vehicle

Drivers: Understand when they can and can not engage in activities like texting, send emails, watching movies etc. and their responsibilities when the system is active.

These are fundamental to ensuring safe introduction of ALKS and ensuring we reap the benefits."

ENDS

28 APRIL 2021

WMG, at the University of 糖心TV and are inviting entries for a new annual award to celebrate collaboration between UK academics and industry. With a cash prize of 拢25,000, the Bhattacharyya Award will be presented to the team who best demonstrate how industry and universities can work together. Entries must be submitted by 31 May 2021.

is funded by the Department for 糖心TV, Energy and Industrial Strategy and was announced in July 2019 and as 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.

Starting his career as a graduate apprentice at Lucas Industries, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya became Britain's first ever Professor of Manufacturing. Having seen first-hand how slowly academic advances were translated into real business and social change, he founded WMG in 1980 to help business innovate and help university researchers change our lives. Academic excellence with industrial relevance has always been at the heart of WMG, and today, it is one of the world鈥檚 top applied research centres, with a reputation for academic excellence and business results spanning the globe.

The Bhattacharyya Award is open to all UK universities and colleges, which are invited to submit a single entry in this round. Entries may be based on any field but must provide evidence of sustained, strategic collaboration over at least five years that is still active at the point of submission and has spanned multiple projects, grants and activities. The collaboration should be focused around an academic team and one or more declared industrial partners – it should not be restricted to a single lead academic but may reflect a wide institutional partnership.

Margot James, Executive Chair at WMG, University of 糖心TV said 鈥淭he Bhattacharyya Award amplifies the approach Professor Lord Bhattacharyya took in revolutionising how universities research and educate to meet the needs of industry and society. Relevant and impactful research is the product of genuine collaboration; also enabling education programmes that nurture the brightest talent. We are looking forward to seeing a wide range of entries which exemplify the very best of university/industry collaboration.鈥�

Science Minister, Amanda Solloway said: "We are extremely proud to be funding the Bhattacharyya Award, which encourages collaboration between our fantastic universities and businesses. By working hand-in-hand, academic advances can be quickly translated to industry, bringing forward game-changing innovations and helping us to build back better from the pandemic."

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, immediate past-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, will chair the judging panel for the Bhattacharyya Award. She said: 鈥淟ord Bhattacharyya was a strong advocate of an effective industrial strategy, seeking a revitalisation of skills policy, a growth in apprenticeships, a focus on the impact of research and training and technology partnerships between industry and universities. We hope that this new award will showcase best practice in developing effective collaborations between universities and industry – and inspire productive new partnerships in the future.鈥�

ENDS

27 APRIL 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

Entries for the Bhattacharyya Award must be submitted by 16.00 on Monday 31 May 2021. Full details of the selection criteria and how to apply are available at

For more information please contact:

Jane Sutton at the Royal Academy of Engineering

E: jane.sutton@raeng.org.uk; T: 020 7766 0636

or

Lisa Harding at WMG, University of 糖心TV

E: Lisa.Harding@warwick.ac.uk T: 07824 540 845

• Soft robots must be made of a flexible and damage-tolerant material to avoid tearing
• Materials that can self-heal damages are therefore more desirable for soft robots
• A self-sensing and self-healing device that mimics a leaf鈥檚 motion has been made by researchers at WMG, University of 糖心TV – potential for soft robots

Robots that resemble organs are known as soft robots, and in order for them to function they must be made of a flexible material, however a material that can also heal itself would be a bonus if wear and tear was to occur. Researchers from WMG, University of 糖心TV have designed a self-healing polymers for such devices.

Soft robots, that resemble organs for example, need to be made with highly deformable materials that are capable of changes in shape to allow conformable physical contact for controlled manipulation on order to decrease the chances of mechanical damage – such as tears and punctures.

This had led to a wide interest into the development of self-healing materials and actuators, in particular, the integration of self-healing polymers for bioinspired soft self-healing devices, which are lightweight, low cost and easily processed.

As an invited Communication by the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems, the work on 鈥�, was published on 22 March, 2021, led by the researchers from WMG, University of 糖心TV have designed a novel self-healing leaf-motion mimic material.

The material is made of an integrated thermoplastic methyl thioglycolate–modified styrene–butadiene–styrene elastomer (MGSBS) and piezoelectric macro fiber composite (MFC) for self-sensing applications.

The leaf-motion mimic actuator provides built-in dynamic sensing and self-healing capabilities to heal macroscale cutting damages with a room-temperature healing capacity and an intrinsic high bandwidth up to 10 kHz.

A prototype of the piezoelectric driven self-healing leaf was cut, and left for 24 hours at room temperature, in that time it had healed itself, after 48 hours it was almost untraceable where the cut had been made.

Dr Chaoying Wan, from WMG, University of 糖心TV comments:

鈥淲e have demonstrated the feasibility and potential of the new actuator applied to complex soft autonomous systems. This new material could fill a gap in the robotics-market, as the self-healing soft actuators can sense and repair themselves, creating new damage resistance in soft robotics.

鈥淎n example of where they could be used could be in a factory or hospital, they may get damaged from general wear and tear but can heal themselves and therefore do not need to come off duty to be fixed, therefore saving time and resources.鈥�

ENDS

27 APRIL 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/april_2021/chaotying_image.jpg
Caption: Time and Voltage of a cut-leaf actuator and healed leaf actuator
Credit: WMG, University of 糖心TV

Paper available to view at:

For further information please contact:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager – Science
University of 糖心TV
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwickac.uk

• Chitin comes from the husks of Black Soldier Fly Larvae, which are waste products of black soldier fly farming
• Black soldier fly farming is commonly done in parts of Africa and South East Asia, as they are used as a source of protein for livestock, therefore, to be able to use the husks could create a new economic opportunity
• The extraction process gives comparable quality material to other feedstocks, and extracts 50% of the available chitin in the husks researchers from WMG, University of 糖心TV have found

Chitin is a naturally occurring polymer from the husks of Black Soldier Fly larvae, usually considered a waste product from the farming of the Black Soldier Fly larvae. However, researchers from WMG at the University of 糖心TV decided to see if they could extract chitin from the husks, creating a new economic opportunity.

Chitin is a sustainable source of protein in countries in South East Asia and south parts of Africa. When extracted it can be characterised and used in the biomedical industry, for example to make antiseptics and anticancer treatments.

In the report, 鈥�Purification of chitin from Black Soldier Fly larvae husks鈥�, researchers from WMG at the University of 糖心TV have successfully extracted chitin from the husks of Black Fly Soldiers.

The extraction route developed in this work obtains around 50% of the total available chitin, which is comparable to existing processes.

Dr Stuart Coles, from WMG at the University of 糖心TV comments:

鈥淲e have found a new way of extracting chitin from the husks of Black Soldier Flies, which are commonly farmed in parts of Africa and South East Asia as they can be used as a source of protein for livestock.

鈥淐hitin can be used to make antiseptics and anticancer treatments, so to be able to extract it from the husks which are a by-product of the farming process means that there鈥檚 potential to be more sustainable by using what would usually go to waste.鈥�

The extraction process that the researchers developed at WMG used cheap and readily available materials to reduce the cost whilst still producing a high-quality material.

Dr Stuart Coles explains:

鈥淭he process involved the use of mild, readily available and inexpensive chemicals to breakdown the natural structure of the husk and allowed us to isolate the chitin. In isolating the chitin, we only used water as a solvent, and a large part of our work focused on reducing the amount of water being used as it is a critical resource in countries where Black Soldier Flies are farmed.鈥�

Research can now continue to investigate how to commercialise the extraction process into a larger process.

ENDS

27 APRIL 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

High-res images available at:

/services/communications/medialibrary/images/april_2021/fly-1627592_1920.jpg
Caption: A Black Soldier Fly
Credit: Brett Hondow, Pixabay

For further information please contact:

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

Despite the constraints of the COVID19 pandemic WMG Associate Professor, Mairi Macintyre, was still able to fulfil her annual volunteer commitments to the earlier this year.

Mairi has been supporting the sailing charity since 2012 using her annual leave to board the tall ship and enjoy sailing adventures around the world. Over the past nine years Mairi, alongside mixed ability colleagues, has taken on various roles including that of a bosun鈥檚 mate, an engineer and as a general crew member.

In February鈥檚 voyage, the hosted Royal Navy cadets for an essential leadership training exercise with crew members (including Mairi) and cadets forming a bubble on a week-long trip from Portsmouth.

Mairi explained: 鈥淭he ship prioritises the ability to draw out everyone鈥檚 potential, we are all different and always stronger as a crew rather than any individual. Finding ways to enable everyone to find their best selves is what the ship does in spades. This lesson to me is so important to bring to my classroom, and it鈥檚 just great fun!鈥�

As well as a huge personal achievement, Mairi鈥檚 vast volunteering has also enabled her to build fantastic relationships with the Trust, and in turn identify some fantastic research opportunities for University of 糖心TV students.

One such example is the work of WMG student Tanin Aparimarn. In 2019 he was able to work alongside the Trust creating a 3D printed version of a ship, a VR experience and an app tour for mixed ability people to experience what it鈥檚 like on board.

Patrick Fleming, Chief Executive, Jubilee Sailing Trust explains: "The Jubilee Sailing Trust has been committed to providing life changing opportunities to disabled and able bodied people of all ages from all walks of life to experience inclusive tall ship voyages for more than four decades. We are determined to ensure that we work with those in further education to provide onshore and on sea experiences that enhance both learning, leadership and employment opportunities."

Find out more about the Jubilee Sailing Trust and volunteer opportunities here:

WMG High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre is working with the and the to create and deliver a Fully Electric Challenge for year 11 students.

The online course has been created by a team of four WMG graduate trainee engineers, including Ben Hunt; Lauren Cooper; Irma Houmadi and Joshua Wallis, with support from the WMG Outreach team.

It aims to deliver key insights into the battery industry, provide an overview of transport electrification and explain how this translates to wider areas of society.

Students will have the opportunity to design and build an automotive product using engineering concepts and processes, before presenting their designs and ideas to their peers.

The course will also provide details on a variety of STEM career paths that can help contribute to a more sustainable future.

Ben Hunt explained: 鈥淭his is another great event to be involved in which highlights the exciting range of careers in STEM. I hope we manage to capture the multi-disciplinary nature of electrification during the four-day course, it really is a one-stop-workshop!

鈥淚t has been great to work alongside some fantastic professionals in designing the event and I鈥檓 looking forward to listening to their lectures myself. The event content is derived from their real-world experience across various industries so I am confident students will be as informed as they could be, certainly more than I was in my final school years!鈥�

Lauren Cooper added: One of my favourite parts of my job at WMG is inspiring the engineers of the future by designing and delivering events like the Fully Electric Challenge. I think it is important to give students a taste of how exciting a career in engineering can be, and demonstrate the importance of STEM in the future world. Through the Fully Electric challenge, we aim to show how broad the subject of electrification is including aspects of battery technology, economics and policy for sustainability in transport as well as wider society. STEM careers provide so many opportunities to learn and make impact in society through the development of technology for electrification. Having studied chemistry and started my career as a graduate at WMG, I have really enjoyed learning how underlying battery chemistries are developed manufactured and implemented utilising knowledge and skills from other areas of STEM.鈥�

Each year 124,000 new engineers and technicians are needed to meet current and future demands. The Smallpeice Trust is an educational charity that inspires young people to pursue careers in science and engineering through events and workshops.

It takes place from 9-13th August (except on 12th August - GCSE results day) from 9.30am to 1.30pm. Once registered each student is sent instructions, a guide to the activities and a kit enabling them to build a battery powered vehicle.

To register your place visit:

WMG has launched it鈥檚 2021 summer internship programme for University of 糖心TV undergraduate students.

Approaches to learning are changing and the traditional model of mass lectures has evolved significantly - even more so in light of the COVID19 pandemic. New concepts of delivery, assessment, feedback and communication have changed the student journey considerably.

The eight-week programme offers students the opportunity to work with academic staff to explore and develop new concepts of teaching and learning (pedagogy). Whilst exploring these pedagogical possibilities, interns can gain research and employability skills.

2018 WMG summer intern, Severign Hagemeijer explains: 鈥淚 think it was really valuable to do research in this area outside of my degree. It has given me a lot of helpful experiences (e.g. in setting up, doing, and presenting the research) and the entire process was just very enjoyable. I would completely recommend it to anyone.鈥�

WMG Associate Professor, Angela Clarke, adds: I was over the moon with what Severijn was able to achieve in the space of eight weeks. Coming from a different department, he was able to bring a different perspective to this topic.鈥�

Severign鈥檚 internship involved reviewing video assessments, and considering how they could be implemented, considering different approaches from both staff and students. The research was so useful that it has had a significant impact on the use of video assessment within WMG.

Angela added: 鈥淲ith Severign鈥檚 help we are now able to assess students more flexibly and innovatively.鈥�

Find out more about the WMG Summer Internship Programme here: WMG Summer Pedagogical Research Internships (warwick.ac.uk)

Closing date for applications is 30th April 2021.

WMG Associate Professor Dr Mel Loveridge, and Principal Engineer Martin Dowson, have authored a special Faraday Insight entitled 鈥淲hy Batteries Fail and How to Improve Them: Understanding Degradation to Advance Lithium-Ion Battery Performance,鈥� a key consideration as we transition to a fully electric future.

It is part of a collection, of pieces from leading UK battery experts, published by the Faraday Institution. The Faraday Insights are evidence-based assessments of the market, economics, commercial potential, and capabilities for energy storage technologies. The insights are concise briefings that aim to help bridge knowledge gaps across industry, academia, and government.

The briefing addresses key requirements in lifetime, performance and safety needed for LIBs to continue to lead electrification in multiple sectors, and explains why, to achieve this researchers need to better understand – and find ways to mitigate – the many causes of battery degradation.

Read the Insight here:

Read more about WMG鈥檚 Electrochemical Engineering research here: Electrochemical Materials (warwick.ac.uk)

搂 It鈥檚 been widely stated that for Autonomous vehicles to be road-ready they have to be tested for at least 11 billion miles

搂 For this to be viable virtual road scenarios must contribute towards these miles, and WMG at the University of 糖心TV and Deepen AI have made a globally accessible database of scenarios for Governments, manufacturers and researchers to test their autonomous vehicle technology

搂 The Safety PoolTM Scenario Database and its role in enabling efficient testing will not only provide insights into the safety and readiness of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Automated Driving Systems (ADS), but will also help speed up the adoption of autonomous vehicles globally by providing the largest public scenario database in the world

The , the largest public repository of scenarios for testing autonomous vehicles in the world, has been launched today by WMG at the University of 糖心TV, and Deepen AI.

The database provides a diverse set of scenarios in different operational design domains (ODDs i.e. operating conditions) that can be leveraged by governments, industry and academia alike to test and benchmark Automated Driving Systems (ADSs) and use insights to inform policy and regulatory guidelines.

Initial scenarios have been generated using a novel hybrid methodology developed by WMG, at the University of 糖心TV, using both knowledge-based and data-based approaches. The Safety PoolTM Scenario Database will allow organisations to create scenarios in their own libraries, collaborate with other organisations via both shared and public libraries and enable the public to submit challenging real world scenarios.

Enabling scenarios to be matched to specific environments and operating conditions means that trials and tests can be undertaken in the simulated environment, controlled test facilities and on public roads, with evidence from each environment being used to inform our understanding of safe behaviours, bringing Autonomous Vehicles closer to market at pace.

It is becoming ever more apparent that Autonomous Vehicles and the Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) that they enable are one of today鈥檚 most exciting technological advances with industry, academia and governments investing in the research and development of safe and secure Autonomous Vehicles.

CAM will provide a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a global impact on societal issues around road safety, traffic efficiency and emissions.

However, to ensure that Autonomous Vehicles are road-ready and will be safer than the average human driver, it has been suggested that they must be tested on 11 billion miles of roads, an insurmountable goal in the real world. Therefore, the ability to test on virtual roads in simulation environments is paramount for manufacturers and government bodies to ensure safe behaviours and assure that Autonomous Vehicles are a positive influence on road safety. The true test of an Autonomous Vehicles will not be in just the number of miles driven, but also the quality and complexity of those miles, leading to a wide spread industry adoption of a scenario-based testing approach to ensure that the Autonomous Vehicle鈥檚 behaviours and capabilities are ready for the real world.

Dr Siddartha Khastgir, from WMG, University of 糖心TV, holds a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship enabling him to create methods to test autonomous vehicles over a seven year programme, having already worked on the UK Government鈥檚 and Innovate UK funded , which offers a real-world ecosystem for development and trialling of Connected and Automated Technology as part of the Zenzic coordinated CAM Testbed UK capability and was fundamental in the development of the scenario database which forms the core of Safety PoolTM initiative Siddartha stresses the importance of a global database of scenarios:

鈥淪afety of automated driving systems is a hard research challenge and can only to solved by national and international collaboration and knowledge sharing. With the launch of Safety PoolTM Scenario Database, we are inching closer to seeing automated driving systems on the roads. Testing and validating automated driving systems transparently in an integrated simulation-based framework and in real-world scenarios will not only provide insights into the readiness of ADS, but also speed up the adoption globally. WMG and MFM are grateful for the support of CCAV and Innovate UK in developing the database and we are excited to be at the forefront of this revolution.鈥�

鈥淭he Safety PoolTM Scenario Database lays a key foundation stone for autonomous vehicle safety鈥� said Mohammad Musa, CEO & Co-founder of AI. 鈥淲e are working closely with governments across the world to create a framework for ADS certification that will bring vehicle manufacturers one giant step closer to deploying safe and secure autonomous vehicles on the roads.鈥�

Scenarios in Safety PoolTM Database can be applied to a range of different autonomous vehicle systems, such as Automated Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS), which would see cars drive in an automated manner on motorways by adapting to speed and traffic around them, to trucking, to fully autonomous vehicles and even pods that could be used in town centres and pedestrianised areas as a 鈥榣ast mile鈥� mode of transport.

Safety PoolTM Initiative invites stakeholders to share learnings in the form of scenarios to expedite validation, testing and certification for the entire community.

Safety PoolTM Initiative is a global multi-stakeholder initiative with the mission of bringing transparent, certifiable safety to ADSs, uniting the autonomous vehicle community around standardised certification programs for ADSs worldwide.

Michelle Avary, Head of Automotive from World Economic Forum, comments:
鈥淲e are thrilled to work closely with Deepen AI & WMG, University of 糖心TV, to launch the Safety PoolTM Scenario Database. We believe Safety PoolTM Initiative is going to play a crucial role in standardising and bring transparency to ADS certification globally. We are already in advanced talks with many countries to adopt ADS certification frameworks based on Safety PoolTM database scenarios.鈥�

Richard Morris, Innovation Lead for CAV at Innovate UK, comments:

鈥淚 am very pleased that the effort and hard work of producing this scenario database has been so successful and is now gaining the recognition it deserves. Scenario testing, both in simulation and physical tests, is widely recognised as the practical route to verifying the safety of ADS, and a comprehensive scenario database is crucial for that, and we are proud to have supported this work.鈥�

Safety PoolTM initiative is welcoming government and industry stakeholders from all over the world to join the initiative and take the front row in bringing safety standards and certifications to their country. Members of the autonomous vehicle industry can also join the Safety PoolTM community and access safety scenarios to transparently test, validate and benchmark ADS. Visit for more information.

ENDS

31 MARCH 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS

Images - credit WMG, University of 糖心TV.

Image scenario 1: Agent vehicle (red on the left) is cutting into ego vehicle's (grey) lane, while another agent vehicle (red on the right) is at front right position, on a motorway in a sunset condition

Image scenario 2: Ego vehicle (in black) is overtaking agent vehicle (red) on a motorway in a sunset condition.

Video available at: (credit WMG, University of 糖心TV)

Please visit for more information.

About WMG, University of 糖心TV

WMG is an academic department at the University of 糖心TV and is the leading international role model for successful collaboration between academia and the public and private sectors, driving innovation in science, technology and engineering, to develop the brightest ideas and talent that will shape our future.

About Deepen

Deepen AI is a Silicon Valley based startup and the only safety-first data lifecycle tools and services company focused on machine learning and AI for autonomous systems. With tools and services that are customizable to suit the needs of enterprises as well as start-ups they have happy customers of every size across the globe. Visit for more information.

About the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles

CCAV is a joint Department for 糖心TV, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Department for Transport (DfT) unit. Established in 2015, CCAV is an expert unit that is working with industry and academia to make everyday journeys greener, safer, more flexible and more reliable by shaping the safe and secure emergence of connected and self-driving vehicles in the UK.

Innovate UK

Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK鈥檚 world-class research base. They connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn these ideas into commercially successful products and services, and business growth.

Coventry City Council鈥檚 prototype Very Light Rail vehicle, which has the potential to transform how people move about the city, is set to be moved ready for real on track testing.

Over the last two years researchers from WMG, University of 糖心TV together with TDi Ltd, have been designing and building the new Coventry Very Light Rail vehicle for Coventry City Council, which will see an electric powered, zero-emissions, lightweight, rail-based public transport system arrive in Coventry.

The vehicle is being moved from NP Aerospace in the city for some static software testing before moving to a dedicated track at BCIMO in Dudley.

The prototype vehicle has done a tour of Coventry so it could see its future operational home. After leaving the vehicle production site in Coventry it stopped outside the Co-op building and the Transport Museum so that the public could get a better view.

Councillor Jim O鈥橞oyle cabinet member for jobs and regeneration and Coventry and 糖心TVshire LEP board director said, 鈥淚 am really pleased to see the first prototype vehicle out of the factory and on to our city鈥檚 streets. Even on a low loader it looks impressive – modern, sleek and of course the fact its battery powered means it鈥檚 good for the environment and air quality too.

鈥淰ery Light Rail has reached this really important point thanks to all of the researchers, innovators, engineers and manufacturing skills we have right here in the city. And I believe that we can create jobs and opportunities for local people as we lead the Green Industrial Revolution.

鈥淐oventry was the beating heart of the carbon revolution and now with projects like this, UKBIC, our electric bus fleet and our plans for a Gigafactory we will lead the zero-carbon revolution too.

鈥淥n track testing will take some time – but it should prove the concept – and at that stage I expect there to be lots of interest in VLR from other areas of the UK and abroad. This is a very exciting moment.鈥�

Dr Darren Hughes, from WMG, University of 糖心TV comments:
鈥淚t is very exciting for us to see the development of the Coventry Light Rail vehicle move onto the next phase of testing in Dudley, and to see the vehicle in the City which it will one day call home.

鈥淭he vehicle has been constructed within Coventry with a reliance on a regional supply chain where possible, showing the strength in depth of local manufacturing. It is a unique vehicle with state-of-the-art technologies including an advanced battery power-train and resilient glazing making it even safer for public use.鈥�

Helen Martin, director of regeneration & enterprise at Dudley Council said: 鈥淭he Very Light Rail Test Track and National Innovation Centre (NIC) is a key project for our borough. It will offer an innovative and exciting opportunity to provide lower cost local rail connectivity, encouraging shift from private vehicles towards public transport and creating economic benefits in terms of skills and supply chain opportunities.

鈥淲ith the test track now completed, we鈥檙e looking forward to testing getting underway later this year.鈥�

Darren Smith Head of TDI adds: 鈥淭he TDI team are extremely pleased with the projects鈥� progress to date and the local benefits it has enabled. The work our supply chain, including our colleagues at NP Aerospace have engaged in, has produced an outstanding first off demonstrator for this hugely important and innovative project. The future economic benefits, both nationally and locally, this project will bring cannot be underestimated and TDI are very proud to be entrusted to deliver it for our client, WMG.鈥�

James Kempston, CEO, NP Aerospace, comments: 鈥淐ollaboration on the VLR project with WMG and TDI has been a great success, resulting in an exceptional prototype, which is ready to begin testing. The project has expanded our capability in the prototype vehicle industry and has enabled us to support a significant environmental transport initiative for the people of Coventry. It鈥檚 a very positive story for UK manufacturing with the challenges of the pandemic and Brexit and it鈥檚 particularly impressive what the team have delivered in just 8 months. We look forward to any future collaborations this may bring to the business.鈥�

The BCIMO centre in Dudley is home to the test track developed as part of the wider research programme, on which they will now test the vehicle on to ensure that it performs as planned. Important trials will include the rapid battery charging system which will allow vehicle power to be replenished in minutes.

The project has been made possible thanks to funding from the Government鈥檚 Local Growth Fund through the Coventry and 糖心TVshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) and the West Midlands Combined Authority Devolution Deal.