IT WAS a trip back to where it all began for a south Warwickshire inventor.
Nik Spencer, a leading figure in the environmental science industry and the inventor of the hybrid heat pump HERU, has been named a fellow of the Warwickshire College and University Centre.
WCUC is the higher education arm of Warwickshire College Group, which includes Moreton Morrell College where Nik first joined in a training scheme in the 1980s after leaving Kineton High School.
The fellowship was awarded in a ceremony at St Mary’s Church in Warwick which also saw students graduating from across the university centre.
Nik was recognised for his entrepreneurship and success in the waste management industry.
During his time at Moreton Morrell College, Nik gained valuable experience from his mixture of farm placements and classroom learning.
From his studies he also gained a keen interest in environmental science and technology.
This experience laid the important groundwork for his extensive career in waste management and recycling.
Since graduating from the college, Nik has forged a successful 30-year long career founding and leading recycling management companies across the Midlands.
Nik’s current project HERU was conceived in 2013. He has invented a hybrid heat pump that turns objects such as plastic, food and garden waste, which would otherwise be discarded, into energy that heats water without the need for an external oxygen supply.
Nik said: “It is a wonderful surprise to be honoured as a fellow of WCUC. My studies at Moreton Morrell College were formative for my future career and really opened my eyes to the wonders of waste and environmental science as a force for good on the planet.
“I am excited to share my love for inventing and science with students across the college group and encourage them to embrace the unexpected as they prepare to take the next steps in their careers.”
