UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 24 MAY 2012
Leading plant and equipment management academic Professor David Edwards visited the JCB World Headquarters in Rocester on the 30th of May to formally present the IAE award to Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford; and to discuss new research being undertaken within the Business School at Birmingham City University.
Sir Anthony Bamford was originally awarded industry’s top professional practice prize, the Gold International Award for Excellence (IAE) for his (and his family’s) outstanding contribution to British industry, at the Plant and Equipment Management Innovation Conference (PEMIC-11) event held in November 2011. The award was accepted on behalf of the Bamford family by Mr Tim Burnhope, Group Managing Director for Product Development and Commercial Operations at JCB; but Sir Anthony later wrote to Professor Edwards to thank him for the prestigious industry award and invite him to JCB for an informal discussion and presentation.
Professor Edwards said: “It was a great honour and privilege to meet Sir Anthony but also an excellent opportunity to discuss the new research being undertaken into mini excavator stability, excavators used for object handling, and trailer wheel detachment. Safety management within business is a growing area of research activity within the Business School and the world’s largest professional body for plant and equipment research, OPERC already funds a professorial chair in this field (held by Professor Gary Holt). Birmingham City University is certainly building an excellent international reputation in this field.”
He continued: “Sir Anthony was most interested in this new research work and no doubt there will be future opportunities to collaborate with JCB in the years ahead. Indeed, JCB have already offered to host this year’s PEMIC-12 event in November and provide all delegates with a guided tour of JCB’s new heritage centre - an absolute must for any professional working within plant and equipment management. Such opportunities continue to affirm the industrial relevance and impact of research work being conducted within Centre for Business Innovation and Enterprise (CBIE) but also demonstrate the growing international reputation we now hold; this is with full credit to all research staff within CBIE.”
If you would like to find out more about the research being undertaken in Centre for Business Innovation and Enterprise (CBIE), please log on to: www.bcu.ac.uk/cbie. For more information about OPERC (Off-highway Plant and Equipment Research Centre), please log on to: www.operc.com.