Birmingham academics praised for work with AGA
ACADEMICS from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design have been praised for an innovative design project in collaboration with cooker and boiler manufacturer AGA Rangemaster.
BIAD – part of Birmingham City University – teamed up with AGA for two Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in honour of last year’s Made in the Midlands Awards, which recognise the efforts of manufacturing firms in the region.
The partnership was praised by the Technology Strategy Board and graded as outstanding by a panel of independent assessors. In addition the project team were awarded a KTP ‘Certificate of Excellence’.
The first of the two projects saw the team develop a concept model of a heat storage AGA stove, using low carbon renewable energy and sustainable technologies, resulting in the development of a new range of energy efficient products. The products, including the ‘Night Storage Stove’ and ’60cm Cooker’ were displayed last summer at the university’s IDEA Birmingham exhibition and during the 2012 Conservative Party Conference.
They have proved so successful that AGA has put them into production.
The second project, which is still on-going, will see the development of a digitally accessible design archive gallery, allowing flexible, secure access to AGA and Rangemaster product histories. These could be used to simulate new markets and communicate design developments.
Dr Panch Suntharalingam, lead BIAD academic and supervisor, said: “To receive an award for being instrumental in the company’s new product development, combined with technological innovation and its impact in the development of the company’s knowledge base, was very rewarding.”
