£60m facility to drive automotive research at Bath

The University of Bath has received £28.9m of government investment for the Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems, which is scheduled to open in 2020.

The £60m IAAPS will lead the development of ultra-low emission vehicles from a site at the Bristol and Bath Science Park.

It is hoped that the new centre will generate a further £67m in automotive research investment by 2025, generate £800m in turnover for the sector in the UK, and support the creation of 1900 new jobs.

The facility will be supported with £28.9m from the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund, plus an additional £10m from the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund.

“I am delighted that IAAPS has received the support and backing of the Government,” said Dame Glynis Breakwell, president and vice-chancellor of the university. “The University of Bath has over 40 years of automotive research excellence in collaboration with some of the world’s leading companies and is ideally placed to turn this opportunity into a reality.”

The IAAPS will support training and development in automotive engineering, with apprenticeships and higher education opportunities. It will work alongside global companies such as McLaren and Ford, and support the work of small and medium sized businesses.

“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,” said Graham Hoare, director of global vehicle evaluation and verification at Ford Motor Company.

The Institute for Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems (IAAPS) – funding announcement from University of Bath on Vimeo.