Financial Times
Jaguar Land Rover helps drive university tie-ups
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
3 min read
In the engineering hall at Warwick Manufacturing Group, university students are working on a project to see if it is possible to use spot welding on an aluminium car body.
“There are currently about 4,000 of these on a car,” says Paul Grimley, workshop supervisor, holding up an aluminium sheet with a steel rivet protruding through it. “What we’re doing is proving out a process for one of the big car companies.”
The company in question is Jaguar Land Rover, which is collaborating on a range of projects at WMG, a dedicated engineering and research facility at Warwick University.
Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, chairman and founder of WMG and a close friend of the Tata family that owns JLR, says the level of collaboration between business and academia represents a big change in companies attitudes to the sensitive issue of technology transfer.
“In the past companies worked with universities but they wanted their independence. There was a lack of trust,” he says.
“Companies would often prefer to do their research in a science park. Here at WMG we are embedded in the university. But this was a first for the UK.”
The seven catapult centres, which employ around 800 people, have attracted around £350m of investment since they were set up by the coalition.
At Warwick Manufacturing Group, JLR is also working with SMEs. In September the company detailed plans to create 500 research positions at a government-backed innovation campus at WMG.
Part of the rationale was to hand on key skills to SMEs in JLR’s supply chain, as they struggle to retain engineers.
“It allows us to be a little more freethinking and to work with SMEs,” says Tony Harper, head of research at JLR.
JLR is the lead partner in this £94m project, and is contributing £50m of funding, alongside Tata Motors, JLR’s Indian owners.
The project is also supported by government money under the Research Partnership Investment Fund, a £300m fund set up by David Willetts, science minister, to foster industry-university collaborations in key technologies.
One area of research is trying to predict what will emerge as the future hybrid and electric vehicle technology.
Work on this £16m Evoque e-research project started last month, with the company utilising its links with WMG but also with Cranfield and Newcastle universities, as well as eight industrial partners, two of them from motorsport. JLR says the outcome will determine its future product portfolio.
“There are currently about 4,000 of these on a car,” says Paul Grimley, workshop supervisor, holding up an aluminium sheet with a steel rivet protruding through it. “What we’re doing is proving out a process for one of the big car companies.”
The company in question is Jaguar Land Rover, which is collaborating on a range of projects at WMG, a dedicated engineering and research facility at Warwick University.
Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, chairman and founder of WMG and a close friend of the Tata family that owns JLR, says the level of collaboration between business and academia represents a big change in companies attitudes to the sensitive issue of technology transfer.
“In the past companies worked with universities but they wanted their independence. There was a lack of trust,” he says.
“Companies would often prefer to do their research in a science park. Here at WMG we are embedded in the university. But this was a first for the UK.”
The seven catapult centres, which employ around 800 people, have attracted around £350m of investment since they were set up by the coalition.
At Warwick Manufacturing Group, JLR is also working with SMEs. In September the company detailed plans to create 500 research positions at a government-backed innovation campus at WMG.
Part of the rationale was to hand on key skills to SMEs in JLR’s supply chain, as they struggle to retain engineers.
“It allows us to be a little more freethinking and to work with SMEs,” says Tony Harper, head of research at JLR.
JLR is the lead partner in this £94m project, and is contributing £50m of funding, alongside Tata Motors, JLR’s Indian owners.
The project is also supported by government money under the Research Partnership Investment Fund, a £300m fund set up by David Willetts, science minister, to foster industry-university collaborations in key technologies.
One area of research is trying to predict what will emerge as the future hybrid and electric vehicle technology.
Work on this £16m Evoque e-research project started last month, with the company utilising its links with WMG but also with Cranfield and Newcastle universities, as well as eight industrial partners, two of them from motorsport. JLR says the outcome will determine its future product portfolio.
Previous article
ARABAL 2013: Challenges remain for growth of GCC’s downstream aluminium industry
Next articleTotal Alufoil deliveries stay positive at Q3 despite weaker demand
Grow with
AL Circle
