The Birmingham CASE Automotive Research and Education Centre (the CASE Centre) holds webinars regularly as its brand activity.
The purposes of organising CASE Centre webinars are to disseminate the latest automotive research results and promote internal and external research collaborations.
Since its inauguration in March 2022, the centre has held four webinars including three academic seminars and one industry forum. The academic speaks from UoB include Professor Clive Roberts (Engineering), Prof Professor David Bailey (Business), Professor Marina Gashinova (Engineering), Professor Emma Kendrick (Metallurgy and Materials), Professor Yulong Ding FREng (Chemical Engineering), and Professor Robert Steinberger-Wilckens (Chemical Engineering).
In the industry forum, we invited Tom Witcomb, chief engineer from Lotus group (a leading sports car manufacturer), and Dr Tony Duan, technical specialist from CHANGAN UK R&D Centre (a big-three Chinese OEM). The webinars have attracted more than 93 thousand audiences joining online and in person.
The first CASE Centre webinar – 21 March 2022
The first webinar and networking as an inauguration event were on 21 March 2022. Chaired by Professor Hongming Xu, this event marked the formal kick-off of this new establishment. Professor Clive Roberts, Head of the School of Engineering, and Professor David Bailey of Business Economics delivered their talks respectively. Prof Clive Roberts introduced the background of the School of Engineering and activities in the Birmingham Transport Research and Education Centre. Prof David Bailey introduced his recent study into big trends in the motor industry from the perspective of policies, economics, politics, and business. The event was attended onsite by managers from industry companies including AVL Powertrain UK, MAHLE Powertrain, Lotus Group, We Predict, Ecobat and UBIPOS UK with several other industrial partners online. The event was watched by more than 23 thousand online through the live-streaming service provided by Gasgoo.
The second CASE Centre webinar – 11 May 2022
The CASE Centre held its second webinar on 11 May 2022. The event invited Professor Marina Gashinova, Chair in Pervasive Sensing and Professor Emma Kendrick, Chair of Energy Materials to present their research. Prof Gashinova delivered a presentation on “Automotive radar from the viewpoint of relevant research and development trends”, and the topic of Prof Kendrick’s presentation was “sustainability in battery manufacturing and parametric battery modelling methods”. The attendees of this event include Richard Burden, former member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; Corinna Fletcher, Director of Group Lotus Organization Development; Tony Duan, Fuel cell specialist, CHANGAN UK R&D Centre; George Ye, Managing director, UBIPOS UK Ltd. With the support from Gasgoo, the event was streamed live online with over 28 thousand viewers following online.
The third CASE Centre webinar – 11 July 2022
The third webinar was held on 11 July 2022. The webinar invited Prof. Yulong Ding RAEng and Prof. Robert Steinberger-Wilckens to give speeches on the topic of energy in transportation, followed by a live Q&A session between the online audience and the participants. Prof Ding talked about the topic of “energy issues in transportation”, and the topic of Prof Steinberger-Wilckens is "Zero Carbon Fossil Fuels". The webinar was hosted by Prof. Hongming Xu, Director of the C.A.S.E. Centre for Automotive Research and Education in Birmingham and was watched live by over 15,000 people.
The fourth CASE Centre webinar – 27 Sep 2022
The CASE Centre held an industry forum as its fourth webinar on 27 Sep 2022. Dr Tony Duan, technical specialist from CHANGAN UK R&D Centre (a big-three Chinese OEM) and Tom Witcomb, chief engineer from Lotus group (a leading sports car manufacturer) were invited to deliver presentations in the industry forum. The topic of Dr Duan’s presentation was “Overview of fuel cell vehicle and its system related control development”, and Tom talked about “The electrified future of sports car powertrains”. The webinar was chaired by Professor Hongming Xu, Director of the C.A.S.E. Centre for Automotive Research and Education in Birmingham, and was streamed live online by Gasgoo, with over 27,000 viewers following the event online.
Future plans
CASE centre plans to organise three academic seminars and one industry forum in the year 2023. The CASE Centre staff plays key roles to develop our global impact and promote international collaborations. Owing to our contributions to the first Global Connection of Overseas Chinese Automotive Engineers in November 2022 which attracted more than 350 thousand audiences, Prof Hongming Xu, Direct of the CASE Centre has been elected the founding chairman of the Global Alliance of Overseas Chinese Societies of Automotive Engineers (GAOCASE) which is a strategic partner of the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies (FISTA). We will organise the second Global Connection of Overseas Chinese Automotive Engineers in November 2022. CASE Centre also works closely with the China-Britain Business Council, we hosted a CBBC automotive event in Jan 2022 and will organise the seconded at the university campus in Jan 2023.