University of Reading

The University of Reading is a red-brick university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. Established in 1892, receiving its Royal Charter in 1926, the University has a long tradition of research, education and training at a local, national and international level. It was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 1998, and again in 2005. It is one of the ten most research-intensive universities in the UK, as well as being considered one of the top 200 universities in the world. In recent years it has been beset by controversy, with closing departments and job losses among staff.

One of the graduates of the University of Reading became an eager roboteer. Oliver Steeples created a featherweight Cunning Plan for the first series of Robot Wars. He reached the Grand Final, before falling to its own demise in its defeat of T.R.A.C.I.E. Oliver was joined by his brother Ben, who helped Oliver upgrade into a heavyweight Griffon. However, Griffon failed to repeat Cunning Plan's success, and fell relatively early in both its wars.


 * Note: Cunning Plan was a featherweight robot, but it competed in the main competition of Series 1 as all weight classes were grouped together for that series.