THE PRINCE of Wales visited the University of Warwick today to open a vehicle research centre.
His Royal Highness joined Jaguar Land Rover chief Prof Ralf Speth to open the National Automotive Innovation Centre (NAIC), based at the University of Warwick.
During his visit to Gibbet Hill he looked at the latest innovations in electric and autonomous vehicle technology.
As he unveiled a plaque, the Prince of Wales said: “I hope the centre will continue to inspire the next generation of automotive engineers and researchers to collaborate with manufacturers, suppliers, and of course academia.”
The £150million National Automotive Innovation Centre is billed as one of Europe’s largest automotive research and development facilities. It is a partnership project by Jaguar Land Rover, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), Tata Motors and the University of Warwick with funding from the government’s Research Partnership Investment Fund, through Research England.
The concept was created by the late Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, founder of WMG, a faculty at the University of Warwick.
It aims to bring together bright minds from industry and academia as a beacon for future mobility and sustainability research and development.
It will create new vehicles and ‘personal mobility solutions’ and aims to deliver the skills required to keep the UK globally competitive.
The 33,000m² centre includes cutting-edge workshops, laboratories, virtual engineering suites and advanced powertrain facilities.
The NAIC is set to help supply the next generation of engineers, designers and researchers.
