Elster [NYSE: ELT] has announced that the University of Warwick, UK, will host its new research Chair and associated centre-of-excellence in Industrial Ultrasonics, which will be a joint enterprise between Warwick’s School of Engineering and Department of Physics.

Following a highly competitive process the Chair has been awarded to Dr Steve Dixon, the current Ultrasonics Group Leader in Physics and Academic Chairperson of the EPSRC funded Research Centre for NDE. Elster in association with The Royal Academy of Engineering will be working closely to develop a Global Centre of Excellence in Industrial Ultrasonics. “We aim to drive forward the science of Industrial Ultrasonics and establish an applied as well as blue skies research centre to meet the needs of the industry,” said Dixon.

Commenting on the appointment, Martin Bragg, Vice President Technology - Electronic said: “Elster has for sometime recognised the need for an independent research centre to drive our industry forward with new innovative ideas and thought leadership. We are extremely pleased that in our choice of Steve Dixon and the University of Warwick, we have been able to engage with one of Europe’s leading researchers in the field and one of the UK’s leading university research hubs.”

Professor Jonathan Seville, Dean of Engineering at the University of Warwick, commented: “Elster’s support and confidence in the academic research being undertaken at Warwick is extremely gratifying. We look forward to working with Elster and the Academy on this exciting new project and enabling our research in this area to be even more innovative.”

Professor Robin Ball, Chair of the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, said: “I am delighted by this recognition of our real world impact and the opportunity it brings to achieve even more.”

The Royal Academy of Engineering strongly supports the effective combination of industry and academia. “This helps us to meet the technological challenges faced by wealth creating industries in the 21st century - this new Chair and centre of excellence is an example of that commitment in action,” said Ian Bowbrick, Head of Professional Formation, at the Royal Academy of Engineering.

About Elster: Elster (NYSE: ELT) is one of the world’s largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers. Its offerings include distribution monitoring and control, advanced smart metering, demand response, networking and software solutions, and numerous related communications and services – key components for enabling consumer choice, operational efficiency and conservation. Its products and solutions are widely used by utilities in the traditional and emerging Smart Grid markets. Elster has one of the most extensive installed revenue measurement bases in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the course of the last 10 years. It sells its products and services in more than 130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications for residential, commercial and industrial, and transmission and distributionapplications. For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

About the University of Warwick: Warwick is one of the UK’s leading universities, with an acknowledged reputation for excellence in research and teaching, for innovation, and for links with business and industry. Its 2015 Vision aims to place Warwick will be in the top 50 world Universities by 2015. In the last government Research Assessment Exercise, Warwick was rated fifth in the UK for research excellence. In the league tables published by UK newspapers, it has consistently maintained its position in the Top Ten. Applications for undergraduate places currently stand at around 8 applications for every one of the 3,000 undergraduate places. Over the last 10 years Warwick has built up from scratch a flourishing Medical School which is now ranked in the top ten UK medical schools for the quality of its health services research. For more information about the University of Warwick visit www.warwick.ac.uk.

Contacts:

Rainer Mueller-Mueffelmann, Corporate Communications, Elster,
Tel: +49 6134 605 213, rainer.mueller-mueffelmann@elster.com

Peter Dunn, Head of Communications, University of Warwick,
Tel: +44 24 76 523708, p.j.dunn@warwick.ac.uk

PR30 PJD 16th march 2011