The University of Warwick continued its 60th Anniversary celebrations today by hosting the inaugural Festival of Innovation and Grassroots Growth Summit, sponsored by NatWest at Warwick Arts Centre. The event drew over 1,200 attendees, including business founders, entrepreneurs, industry leaders as well as alumni, staff, students, and local residents, all of whom are eager to explore the University’s latest advancements in innovation.
The festival showcased a variety of cutting edge innovations such as Alzheimer’s taste-test screening, the pioneering sewage-powered Waste2Race Le Mans Prototype racing car, an immersive gaming and scent experience, a child-birth simulator, the UK vegetable gene bank, and cutting-edge agricultural robots.
The University’s pioneering spirit was on full display, as it showcased groundbreaking contributions to global innovation and reaffirmed its commitment to changing the world for the next 60 years and beyond. Speakers include Darren Pire, Regulatory Programme Manager from Natwest, George Freeman MP, and Emma Jones, Founder of Enterprise Nation.
David Plumb, Chief Innovation Officer at The University of Warwick says: “It was brilliant to welcome so many people to the University’s first Festival of Innovation. This gave us a chance to celebrate the success of businesses who have been supported by The University of Warwick, as well as an ability to renew our commitment to another 60 years of innovation.
“Innovation is at the core of what we do at The University of Warwick, and so often as innovators, our time at work will be spent isolated in labs. Therefore, to be able to celebrate some of this work yesterday, together at the Festival of Innovation, was so exciting.”
The Festival of Innovation marks the beginning of The University of Warwick’s 60th Anniversary celebrations, which will feature a diverse lineup of events. These include a Poetry Trail: A Science Art Collision, a series of Resonate Days Out in the community, and the return to Coventry of In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats, an immersive, VR journey into the Coventry and West Midlands rave scene. The year will culminate with the spectacular Global Illuminations Light Festival in November. For more information, visit The University of Warwick 60th Anniversary.
ENDS
Notes to Editors: For more information, please contact warwick@welcometoshook.com
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The University of Warwick is one of the UK’s leading universities, marking its 60th anniversary in 2025. With over twenty-eight thousand students from 147 countries, it’s currently ranked 8th in the UK by The Guardian University Guide. It has an acknowledged reputation for excellence in research and teaching, for innovation, and for links with business and industry. The recent Research Excellence Framework classed 92% of its research as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. The University of Warwick was awarded Midlands University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times.
