£10m grant for eco-friendly cars

Development of eco-friendly vehicles is a strength at the centre

A university has been awarded almost £10m to develop healthcare products and eco-friendly vehicles which have a crucial impact on daily life.

The Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (WIMRC) will look at driverless vehicles and collision avoidance over the next five years.

Researchers will also find ways to make healthcare services more efficient by eliminating as much waste as possible.

The grant has come from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

We need to be solving not only their current problems but also the problems that they will face over the next 20 years Dr Ken Young

The centre believes healthcare and transport are crucial areas for the UK economy, in particular for the manufacturing sector.

Dr Ken Young, director of WIMRC at Warwick University, said the project must anticipate problems the population will face over the coming years.

He said: "It is important that our work is directly relevant to the UK population and to companies operating in the UK.

"We need to be solving not only their current problems but also the problems that they will face over the next 20 years.

"This award enables us do that and also demonstrates great confidence in our research team."

'Lean' healthcare services

Intelligent and Eco-Friendly Vehicles (IEV) is a particular strength at the centre which has had contact with Warwick Manufacturing Group, Warwick Business School and the School of Engineering for the last 25 years.

Researchers there believe IEV, which incorporates "new forms of electronics-controlled transportation", is a natural progression from aerospace and automotive engineering.

Healthcare is seen by researchers at the centre as a sector which shares many of the operational and management problems of the automotive industry.

They believe they can cut costs and create "lean" healthcare systems by improving logistic and IT systems, using new materials and tools and incorporating engineering methods.

Discussions are on-going with the centre and the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.