The Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies, visited Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff campus to see first-hand the institution’s world leading research and innovation programmes, including robotics labs and food sensory analysis suites.
Mr Davies met with Professor Cara Aitchison, Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff Met, and was given a tour of the university’s School of Technologies, School of Art & Design and Food Innovation Centre.
The Secretary of State’s tour included a visit to the School of Technologies’ Eureka Robotics Lab, an innovative research hub which specialises in Service and Social Humanoid Robotics. The Centre is renowned for its use of R&D to develop robot applications for the world of health care and hospital settings.
At Cardiff Met’s School of Art & Design, the Welsh Secretary saw the cutting-edge technology being used by students today. This included the Perception Experience Laboratory (PEL) – which uses Fovography™ enabled technology to simulate real world environments through the use of immersive sound, smell, temperature and vision. One of its products, FovoRender changes how users experience 3D space by breaking with 600 years of imaging geometry tradition, based on linear perspective, to open up virtual spaces that are based on the way humans see, rather than cameras. The increased accuracy of this imaging technique has uses across multiple sectors of industry.
Finally, the Secretary of State was shown the state-of-the-art facilities within Cardiff Met’s Food Innovation Centre, including a product development kitchen as well as confectionary and sensory analysis suites.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Cara Aitchison said: “We’re extremely proud of our world leading research and innovation programmes at Cardiff Met, and today we’ve been able to show just some of the impact of our research to the Secretary of State for Wales.
“We have an excellent track record in applied research, innovation, graduate start-ups and spin-out companies supported by our interdisciplinary expertise, with our research having direct application in business, industry, the professions and the community. As such, our researchers are making vital contributions to the health and prosperity of the world, and an impact on our society and the economy. It was a pleasure to provide a showcase today.”
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said: “I’d like to thank Cardiff Met for hosting an extremely interesting visit. I was hugely impressed by the range and the quality of the research and development work at the University.
“It’s especially good to see research work that has the potential to directly impact people’s lives in so many important areas. Welsh Universities have a great reputation for their R&D work and it’s fascinating to have an insight into Cardiff Met’s contribution.”
