University of Warwick wins Thales sponsored research award

Thales is pleased to announce that the university research prize it sponsored at the NMI Awards 2014 in London this month has gone to a specialist team at the University of Warwick.

The NMI University Research Group of the Year award has been won by Warwick’s PEATER Group (Power Electronics Technologies in Energy Research). The award was made by Thales UK’s Chief Scientist, Professor Chris Firth.

This award is for university research groups that demonstrate excellent liaison and partnership in electronics systems with industry. 

According to the NMI judges, “the Institute demonstrated world-class research and development in power electronics coupled with a strong focus on the skills pipeline. They have built strong relationships with a broad range of companies through several high quality industry-focused research collaborations.”

The PEATER group was founded in 2005 at Warwick to establish a world-class centre for research into power electronics, power semiconductor devices and applications in power systems and power conversion.

NMI, the electronic systems industry organisation, holds the annual awards to recognise the achievements of organisations and individuals, rewarding accomplishments that are “conducive to the vibrancy and prosperity of the UK industry”.

Over 400 guests from across the UK and around the world attended the sell-out event. The celebrity speaker was sporting legend, Kriss Akabusi.

NMI is the industry association representing the UK electronic systems, microelectronics and semiconductor communities. It aims to be the home for the many and diverse sectors of the UK’s electronic systems industry. 

Derek Boyd, CEO of NMI, says: “The UK has a long history of innovation and excellence in many areas of electronic systems engineering. The industry is truly global and the competition is fierce. It is therefore vital that we do all we can to drive progress and encourage industry-academia collaboration to the max. 

This award recognises those universities which demonstrate both excellence and collaborative qualities and we’re delighted to have a global champion such as Thales to support the award.”

(Photo: NMI)

(left to right): Chris Firth (Thales), Mike Jennings (Warwick) centre and Derek Boyd (NMI).