Coventry University students choose Free Range

Coventry University students will be taking their work to the UK’s largest graduate art and design exhibitionFree Range, later this month at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London.

Students from the visual arts department will be showing off their final projects at this high profile exhibition which runs throughout the summer, showcasing the next crop of UK creative talent to both the public and leading industry professionals.

Now in its 12^th year, Free Range is an Old Truman Brewery special project set up by Tamsin O’Hanlon to provide new creative graduates with the opportunity to showcase their work on an international level. Over fifty UK universities and art colleges are participating in the exhibition that attracts over 100,000 visitors. Students are given the creative freedom to design their own shows and exhibition spaces – including their own mini-events (talks, workshops, etc).

This is the largest showing of work from Coventry University to date at Free Range and will include work from fine art, photography, illustration, fashion and graphic design students. The exhibition will demonstrate the high quality of work and teaching that goes on at Coventry University’s School of Art and Design, as well as the individuality, talent and professionalism of our students.

The students work will be on show at Free Range from Friday 29^th June – Monday 2^nd July.

Jonathan Waller, Senior Associate Lecturer, said:

“This is the fourth year that Coventry University have exhibited at Free Range. As the most prestigious national graduate exhibition for art and design disciplines, it provides an exciting and unique opportunity for our students to show off their work in the heart of London to a well informed and inquisitive audience.”

Fine Art and Illustration student, Elena Hall, said:

“Free Range is a fantastic opportunity for newly graduated students like myself to take part in a prominent exhibition in London. We will be able to display our skills to a wide audience as well as being able to make useful contacts.

“This is a chance for us to meet and network with industry professionals who we can learn from, as well as potentially boost our budding careers.”

Turning off computers saves thousands at Coventry University

A new power management project has saved Coventry University over £2,000 during its first month – equating to more than 11.5 tonnes of CO₂. By using an upgraded desktop PC management system, the University’s IT Services department is able to reduce power demand significantly by remotely switching to ‘sleep’ mode any computer that people have forgotten to turn off.

Beginning in April, the energy saving project was rolled out across the campus and after just one month the computers were working 34% more efficiently.

These electricity savings are set to continue each month, but the project doesn’t only save energy– it also saves time by installing essential updates during quiet periods when the computer is not in use. Added to the faster access time, as the PCs do not need to fully ‘boot up’ each morning, the all round performance has been improved for staff and students alike.

Dream world animation from Coventry University student

A Coventry University student has created an animated film about a troubled young boy as part of Illustration Nation taking place in Coventry during June.

Alexandra Balan, 21, originally from Romania, shot ‘Pall’ in Iceland, working alongside Media Production student Laura-Jayne Meades and Teaching Assistant Ross Varney. When making this short film, Alexandra aimed to create a whimsical dream world where the main character, an eight year old boy named Pall, escapes from his difficult everyday life – an ill mother and a distant father.

An Illustration and Graphics student, Alexandra crafted the animation where Pall imagines himself as one of the cats he takes care of in real life – creating a place where he is free. In this imaginary world she was keen to capture the feel and atmosphere of the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, combining her unique artistic style and hand-drawn animation with digital colouring and effects.

University to help boost creative enterprise in the West Midlands

Coventry University will be supporting new and existing creative companies with a business support programme based at the Institute for Creative Enterprise (ICE) on its Technology Park.

Funded jointly by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Coventry University, the initiative will provide free expert advice, networking opportunities and mentoring services to businesses in the creative industries, and will help enterprising graduates to start up their own companies. The programme is set to draw on the University’s expertise in entrepreneurship, which in 2011 saw the institution awarded the ‘Times Higher Education Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ accolade.

Clare Hudson, project manager for the Creative Enterprise initiative at Coventry University, said: “We’re providing free support to anyone in art, design, performance or media, whether they already run a business or want to start one up.

Top CEO to give advice to Coventry students next month

One of Coventry University’s highest achieving alumni is returning to campus for the first time in over 20 years to deliver a guest lecture as part of the University’s Global Leaders Programme (GLP). Angus Russell, CEO of Shire plc – a global biopharmaceutical company – will be speaking at the Chancellor’s Circle dinner on Friday 8th June, at 4pm in the Alan Berry building, University Square, Coventry.

The Global Leaders Programme is an initiative that focuses on better preparing Coventry University’s postgraduate students to become the leaders of tomorrow in their chosen fields and to further develop a global mindset. Previous speakers include Dave Richards (Chairman of Aston Martin and Prodrive) and Sir Peter Rigby (Entrepreneur and owner of Coventry Airport).

Coventry-built Microcab up for illustrious international design award

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle which was conceived and manufactured in Coventry has been shortlisted for a prestigious international transport design award.The zero emission machine from Microcab – a spin-out company from Coventry University – was picked out from an array of contenders to be in the running for the sixth annual Condé Nast Traveller’s Innovation & Design Awards.

Condé Nast’s awards celebrate excellence in a number of categories from fashion and gourmet to leisure and sustainability, and its judges – including industrial design guru Sebastian Conran and Top Gear editor-at-large Jason Barlow – chose to shortlist the Microcab for the transport section.

Microcab’s H2EV is up against some stiff competition for the sought-after accolade, with candidates such as the BMW i3 electric car, a 220mph luxury high-speed train and a cableless, gearless electric bicycle all vying for top honours.