New director and chief exec at the MTC
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has appointed Dr Clive Hickman and Ken Young as the new chief executive and technical director respectively. The centre was funded with a £40m investment from Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and the East Midlands Development Agency (Emda).
Alex Stephenson CBE, first chairman of regional development agency Advantage West Midlands and pro chancellor at Birmingham City University, will also be take a seat on the board as a non-executive director.
The MTC, based in Ansty Park near Coventry, is a new facility and collaboration between academia, research organisations and industry.
Dr Hickman is currently head of engineering at Tata Motors, heading up Tata's Warwick University-based European technical centre.
Former chair of the British Automation and Robot Association, Ken Young is director of Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre. He takes up his new role at the MTC in January 2011.
Alex Stephenson has more than 40 years experience in manufacturing and design having held executive posts at Perkins Engines, BMW / Rover and, most recently, Alstom Transport as engineering and safety director.
The three experts join Terry Morgan CBE, chair of Crossrail, who was recently appointed as new chairman of the MTC following verification by Philip Hammond, secretary of state for transport.
To ensure its longevity, the centre received one of the largest public sector investments in manufacturing for many years with a combined capital contribution of £40m from AWM and Emda.
