Professor Nicholas Warrior – whose research proved vital to the Aston Martin cars driven by Bond in the most recent film – has won one of engineering’s top prizes. Professor Warrior has been awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Silver Medal for his outstanding personal contribution to British engineering. The Professor is Head of the Polymer Composites Group and Head of the Division of Materials, Mechanics and Structures at The University of Nottingham. Professor Warrior’s research has shown that mass-produced vehicles can be up to 50% lighter and still maintain crash-test performance using lightweight carbon fibre composites. Weight reduction also improves fuel consumption and reduces emissions. He has demonstrated that composites are now a legitimate material for use in high-volume production (up to 20.000 vehicles a year). Fellow engineer and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Knowledge Transfer at the University, Professor Chris Rudd, said: “I am delighted that Nick’s work has been recognised by the Academy. “His work in the Polymer Composites Group is tremendously important, advancing engineering as a force for good in green science and innovation. “The award also recognises the way in which top quality research at The University of Nottingham is directly relevant in real industrial and environmental processes; in this case vehicle production.” Professor Warrior’s work has led to ongoing research collaboration between The University of Nottingham and Aston Martin. It was an unique carbon-fibre 3-D braiding process, developed by the research group in conjunction with Ford engineers, that was an integral component used in the windscreen pillar of the Aston Martin Vanquish, seen in the Bond film Die Another Day. In the Aston Martin DBS, a novel discontinuous carbon fibre composite, developed by the research group with Aston Martin engineers, is used in the body structure. This was seen in the chase sequence in the latest Bond film Quantum of Solace. Professor Warrior said: “To receive a Silver Medal from the Royal Academy is a true honour and credit must go to the many wonderful and talented people I work with in the research group. “Engineering has an important role to play in refining and improving our lives, especially in the area of green technologies. It is very gratifying to see the research making a real difference and rewarding to have it recognised in this way.” Professor Warrior has also shown that carbon fibre structures can be reused in low-cost moulding compounds, which can then be recycled. He is now working with Aston Martin to develop structural discontinuous carbon fibre chassis components. He is also working with Bentley on structural thermoplastic carbon fibre composites and with Boeing and Ford on the commercial viability of recycling.