Latest news from Loughborough University

20 May 2014

University invests £1.5M in advanced propulsion research to advance zero emissions vehicles challenge

Loughborough University powertrain laboratories

Loughborough University is investing £1.5M over five years in strategic research appointments, inspired by the global challenge to develop the new advanced propulsion technologies required for the move to zero emission vehicles.

These appointments reinforce the University’s world-class research in low-carbon vehicle technologies, adding new dimensions concerned with electric and hybrid drives.

Four appointments will be made, including a Chair in Advanced Propulsion Systems, supported by a number of PhD studentships.

The £1.5M investment is part of the University’s commitment to the recently announced Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) to support the development of new supply chains for low carbon vehicles. APC is an initiative established by the Automotive Council that will see £1 billion of investment from government and industry over the next 10 years.  

The University is a partner in MIRA Technology Park’s bid to host the APC Executive Hub, and is leading a proposal to create a satellite of the APC hub at its new Olympic Park campus in London.

The University is also part of the Advanced Combustion Turbocharged Integrated Variable-valvetrain Engine (ACTIVE) project, a £26M APC collaboration led by Ford, to advance next-generation low carbon technologies. The project focusses on further development of Ford’s award winning 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine to improve further its efficiency and ensure it exceeds 2020 emission regulations.  Loughborough is providing expertise in engine thermodynamic design and optical measurement techniques to work with Ford, Continental and Unipart on improving combustion processes.

Loughborough University Vice Chancellor, Professor Robert Allison, said: “Loughborough University has been training automotive engineers since 1919 and our research in powertrain engineering and propulsion, and in powertrain manufacture is recognised as world-class. We are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with industry and academic partners right across the UK and delighted both to be partnering with MIRA in the Midlands and to be leading the complementary satellite bid from our new Olympic Park campus, which Mayor Boris Johnson has declared as his preferred London location.”

Notes for editors

Article reference number: PR 14/94

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It was awarded the coveted Sunday Times University of the Year title in 2008-09 and has been named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and has been voted England's Best Student Experience for six years running in the Times Higher Education league. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University in London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

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