Reading: University to open engineering centre

The University of Reading has won over £6 million in funding for a new Centre that will generate the engineers needed for Britain's future, it was announced today (5th December 2008) by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council – the UK funding body for science and engineering.

The funding will establish the Centre for Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments (TSBE) at the University of Reading, based on the University’s leading expertise in sustainable building and energy generation and management. The University plans to train 50 Research Engineers on a four-year Engineering Doctorate (EngD) course over eight years, with students spending 75% of their time working with industry partners.

Professor Hazim Awbi, Director of the new Centre for Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments, said: “Our Centre will help mitigate the issues of climate change and move the UK towards the target of zero-carbon buildings by 2019. Buildings are responsible for about 46% of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK. To meet this challenge requires a shift in the way future buildings are designed, constructed and operated. The Centre will take its inspiration from nature to help develop new materials and systems to reduce energy use in buildings and construction.”

“We will be training highly skilled research engineers who are prepared to challenge deep-rooted traditions existing in some of the UK construction industries. Such training requires a close collaboration between industry, particularly at a regional level and academic expertise.”

The new TSBE Centre will help to create new designs to reduce carbon emissions in construction, integrate zero-carbon energy sources, such as solar cells and combined heat and power systems with demand reduction tools including smart meters and consumption feedback devices.

EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training are a bold new approach to training PhD students, creating communities of researchers working on current and future challenges. 17 of the new centres will be industrial training centres that will equip their students with the business skills they need to turn pioneering ideas into products and services, boosting their impact on the UK’s economy.

The initiative is widely supported by business and industry. Professor Jeremy Watson, global director of research at Arup who are partners at the new TSBE centre based at the University of Reading said: "Businesses like Arup need a good supply of highly-qualified scientists with the right skills to further innovation in the design of sustainable towns, cities and the wider environment. They need to understand how business works and also be able to turn their best ideas into a successful business proposition."

Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Lord Drayson, announced the £250m EPSRC initiative which will create 44 training centres across the UK and generate over 2000 PhD students. They will tackle some of the biggest problems currently facing Britain such as climate change, energy, our ageing population, and high-tech crime.

Lord Drayson said: “Britain faces many challenges in the 21st Century and needs scientists and engineers with the right skills to find answers to these challenges, build a strong economy and keep us globally competitive. EPSRC’s doctoral training centres will provide a new wave of engineers and scientists to do the job.”