Celebrating 25 years of research impact

The Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering 1999 - 2024.

It is our great pleasure to thank the Wolfson Foundation for their support to the School back in 1999, which has since led to some fantastic educational achievements and impactful research outcomes, as well as a significantly enhanced international reputation.

Achievements and impact

Top 10 UK League Tables

Our courses are consistently ranked in the top 10 in many UK league tables.

QS World Rankings

Improved from 100-150 to consistently in the top 70 worldwide (ranked 62 in 2024).

Student Body

Over 1500 undergraduate students, 230 postgraduate students and 187 PhD students.

Research Impact

Our research has changed policies, secured futures and saved lives.

National Recognition

We hold 2 Queen Elizabeth Award Prizes for the Sports Technology Institute and Manufacturing Engineering.

Our research project highlights

High Speed Sintering

Close up of 3d printer

High Speed Sintering (HSS) is a 3D printing technology capable of mass-producing high-volume components that was created in the Wolfson School in 2003. As with all 3D printing, HSS does not require tooling, which drives down set-up time and costs by replacing multiple processes. It also allows for faster product design and modification, improves manufacturing efficiency, and enables the creation of on-demand, high-value parts with geometry freedom. The commercialisation of HSS has taken a long and winding, but ultimately successful, road. The patented technology produced and sold globally, under license from Â鶹ֱ²¥ since 2013, has generated an estimated £1Bn+ in revenues to licensees (including a Fortune 100 company) and created thousands of high-value jobs across the supply chain. To date, circa 2,500 HSS machines are in operation with components mass-produced for leading brands across multiple sectors including Ford, Nike, and Siemens.

Pulsed Power Technologies

Student on a computer in an engineering lab

Spanning high-power broadband electromagnetic sources, novel non-invasive high-intensity pulsed electric fields techniques, new eco-friendly synthetic approaches, pulsed underwater ultrasound sources, and various decontamination techniques, the Plasma and Pulsed Power Research Group based in the Wolfson School provides solutions to challenges faced across a range of sectors including agriculture, food, health and medicine, energy, and defense. The main aspect of the work supports the development of Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapons (RF-DEWs), used to minimize the impact of armed conflict and terrorist activity. These systems disable enemy electronics, protecting against the threats posed by, for example, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and drone attacks. These world-class technologies are contributing to efforts to enhance security, making our lives far safer.

Plasma & Pulsed Power Research Group

Safety in Cricket

Student in engineering lab looking at cricket equipment

An estimated 300 million people play cricket worldwide, and it is enjoyed by billions more spectators. Our research has been critical in changing the International Cricket Council’s policies and regulations for cricket helmet safety. All helmets used in professional cricket throughout the world must now pass two new standard tests based on research carried out within the Wolfson School. Head protection for cricketers has been revised twice; the 2013 revision included a test for faceguards for the first time, and the 2019 revision included a test for neck guards. Both have been effective in preventing serious and life-threatening injuries and are now part of safety standards across 104 countries, improving the health and safety of cricketers worldwide. This success has influenced other sports governing bodies, including the International Hockey Federation and The Football Association, leading to investment in new research-based approaches that address health and safety concerns within their sports.

Worldwide Renewable Solutions

2 students holding solar panel

Solar Panel Efficiency

A team in the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) in the Wolfson School has developed a new way to improve the cover glass for solar modules. This improvement increases the amount of light transmitted into the panel while decreasing the amount of soiling clinging to the surface. The new concept aims to reduce the number of panels with anti-reflective coatings, with 90% of modules currently unable to withstand regular cleaning. With solar use forecasted to exceed coal by 2027 as the most important source of electricity generation, the global economic and environmental impact will be substantial.

Battery Electrolyser

The Wolfson School is successfully developing low-cost green hydrogen production through a novel IP for a flooded battery-electrolyser cell solution. It offers a transformative approach to harnessing excess renewable energy and utilizing wind curtailment in the UK, efficiently storing it for later use. It simultaneously produces green hydrogen to drive cleaner and more balanced local energy grids. The technology has already attracted project-based grant investment of over £12 million and recently won the International Award for Academic Excellence and International Collaboration in Hydrogen at the 2024 Hydrogen Awards. It will help provide green hydrogen cooking and electricity for those living in off-grid communities in developing countries, replacing charcoal cooking fumes and providing light for those studying and working at night.

Energy Engineering

Global energy demands have been rising over many decades, and now with countries achieving 50% renewable energy production, we are entering an era of interconnected agile supply and delivery, along with the inherent vulnerabilities associated with this. To meet this demand, from 2024 onwards, the Wolfson School will be offering a new undergraduate course in Energy Engineering. This interdisciplinary course will put students in a position where they can contribute to the boundary-pushing potential of both existing and new technologies across the energy sector.

Aftrak Initiative

Man on field using machine

Aftrak is an initiative created by the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST) in the Wolfson School, which aims to bring affordable green energy and food security to communities across Africa. It involves a revolutionary self-sustaining system made up of a solar microgrid, a micro electric tractor—both of which have been invented and manufactured at the University—and Deep Bed Farming, which more than doubles crop yield. It recently overcame four other finalists to secure the top spot and $1 million in the Milken Motsepe Prize in Green Energy in May 2024.

Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (CREST)

Looking ahead, we will continue to enjoy and utilise the opportunities the Foundation created for us, while working to maintain our global impact to meet future worldwide challenges.