The University of Nottingham has been given the go-ahead for a new £13.5m research facility - a global centre of excellence in Power Electronics, Machines and Control.
The Research and Innovation Centre for Power Electronics and Machines will provide office and research accommodation for the world-leading Power Electronics,Machine and Control research group within the Faculty of Engineering at the University.
The project was given £9.4m by the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (RPIF), which is run by Research England.
The 5,400 m2 development will be located on the University’s Jubilee Campus as part of the Faculty of Engineering’s growing research cluster, which has also seen the addition of the Advance Manufacturing Building and the Research Accelerator Demonstrator building in the past two years.
The new Centre will support the growing demand for innovation in power electronics and machines across a broad range of uses. It will support economic growth and will maintain a technology lead in an area of existing UK competitiveness enabling commercial potential to be maximised.
Power Electronics and Electrical Machines are critical technologies to deliver all future scenarios of sustainable land and air transport as well as future electrical energy networks. Electrification of transport and decarbonisation of energy supplies are key to future society and involve businesses spanning from small local companies to major global firms.
The new Centre will also address the shortage of skills in a number of areas with the development of two new high-level skills programmes to support the research base and industry at large, along with the growth of three new major research centres in collaboration with key industrial partners.
Professor Pat Wheeler, Head of the Power Electronics, Machines and Control Research Group, said “Power Electronics and Electrical Machines are essential technologies to meet the economic and environmental benefits of transportation electrification and the integration of renewable energy sources in our electrical utility networks. This Centre provides the exciting opportunity for the research group to continue to expand its world leading work in these increasingly important research topics.”
Professor Sam Kingman, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Engineering, said: “The new Centre is another exciting addition to our growing Engineering portfolio. The University is already a global research leader in these technologies, and we look forward to the opportunities resulting from this new Centre, which will play a crucial role in developing the next generation of high-power density, low-loss electrical machines and power electronics.”
The new Centre will be ready for use by spring 2020.
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Notes to editors:
The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named both Sports and International University of the Year in the 2019 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer, proud of our Athena SWAN silver award, and a key industry partner- locally and globally.