At a cost £60m (US$78m), the University of Bath in the UK is to establish the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) at the Bristol and Bath Science Park.
The UK R&D center will house cutting-edge test facilities including emissions chassis dynos and engine test equipment. Workspaces and mezzanine areas have been designed to foster collaborative working. Construction on the facility is scheduled to begin in summer 2018 with completion in 2020.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England’s (HEFCE) UK Research Partnership Investment Fund is to invest an initial £28.9m (US$37.5m) in the facility. Meanwhile the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership has also committed support to the project with the allocation of £10m (US$13m) through the Local Growth Fund.
Graham Hoare, director of global vehicle evaluation and verification at Ford Motor Company, commented, “IAAPS will build on the strength of the University of Bath’s competence in propulsion development to bring real-world examples and real-world environments into the laboratory, a massive step forward in innovating propulsion systems.”
Mark Mathieson, chief engineer for powertrain at McLaren Automotive, added, “The window of opportunity to invest in this facility exists now. The Institute will be of great benefit to McLaren’s programs.”
It is hoped IAAPS will stimulate over £67m (US$87m) in additional automotive research investment by 2025, creating a further turnover of £800m (US$1.1bn) for the UK automotive industry and nearly 1,900 new jobs. IAAPS will house specialist facilities for training and skills development in automotive engineering.
July 20, 2017
