Jaguar Land Rover has announced a £1.4m investment, over 5 years, to create a new Chair (Professor) at the National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) with Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) at the University of Warwick.
The Chair will lead a world-class team which will achieve international research leadership in advanced propulsion systems. These systems will be essential to enable the UK automotive industry to embrace and robustly deploy new vehicle technologies and deliver a low carbon future.
The new Chair is part of a long- term strategic activity at NAIC that will ensure that this new research base enhances the UK’s capacity and capability in key research areas which will have a major impact on the supply chain and the wider economy.
Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, Chairman, and founder, of WMG comments “What we are building with NAIC will be the largest research facility of its kind outside of Germany. Because of the work we have already done at WMG, and the huge reputation we have, has led us to secure this strategic investment, which is needed to assist the UK automotive sector. NAIC will provide the critical mass of research capability to assist the development of a stronger supplier base and address the skills shortage of skilled R&D staff. The new JLR Chair will help drive forward the research challenge in the area of advanced propulsion systems, a key enabler for highly fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles.”
Tony Harper, Head of Research and Advanced System Engineering at JLR said: “The new Chair in Advanced Propulsion Systems will create and lead a team focused on the development of innovative propulsion systems. This research is an exciting and important academic challenge which is essential to drive forward the advanced propulsion systems that could power future generations of vehicles.”
Dr Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, added: “Warwick Manufacturing Group are an example of how universities and business can work together to drive innovation and growth, as I saw on a visit last month. This appointment will ensure the latest knowledge and technology is shared between academics and the automotive industry. It will help give the UK manufacturing sector a competitive edge in the global market.”
The £100m National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC), which will begin construction in 2014, will be a unique R&D resource for the UK automotive industry, with initial revenue programmes exceeding £45m already committed.
The NAIC will be an iconic building offering an environment that will foster collaboration, cohesion and cross-fertilisation of knowledge. This follows that same model they have in Germany with relationships like Aachen and BMW and Stuttgart and Mercedes. NAIC will provide a national focus for research capability by combining the expertise nationally and internationally from industry, universities, supply chain companies and SMEs. It will enable teams from academia and industry to work together with tailored equipment to create and integrate breakthrough technologies with a whole system approach crossing multiple disciplines. It will also address the shortage of skilled R&D staff in the automotive supply chain, creating a pipeline of people into industry.
Work will focus on the latest advances in automotive technology to create and develop novel technologies to reduce the UKs dependency on fossil fuels and to reduce CO2 emissions. This will include Electric Vehicles (energy storage and e-drives); Carbon Reduction (hybrids, light-weighting and composites); and Smart and Connected (on-vehicle competence, driver assist and cyber-security for connected vehicles).
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