February 2003
News

£1.8 million investment in the School of Engineering, Design and Technology

The School of Engineering, Design and Technology has recently benefited from a £1.8million investment by the University through a HEFCE restructuring grant.

The investment has brought all staff in the School together in one location in the Chesham Building, creating an interdisciplinary working environment for the new, integrated School of Engineering, Design and Technology. Its offices and many of its laboratories now exceed the standards expected of 21st-century engineering, design and technology.

The School's computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacture (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) facility is the largest and most up to date of its type in the region

The new School has updated facilities in computer-aided design, manufacture, and engineering, polymer engineering, materials engineering, electronics and telecommunications engineering, engineering computing and modelling, medical engineering, environmental engineering, and automotive engineering. These include research equipment and infrastructure which support the School's externally funded research activity - research in the School includes one RAE grade 5 and two RAE grade 4 areas - and support from industry, especially Ford Motor Company which has provided support for hardware and software in automotive engineering.

The School's computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacture (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) facility is the largest and most up to date of its type in the region, and enables all students to graduate with state-of-the-art professional skills in computer-aided Design and engineering.

External support has enabled the Bradford Engineering Business Partnership to be established in the new School to support its mission in industrial liaison, applied research, and consultancy. The Ford Suite houses the Bradford Industry Support Network (ISN), BCAD Design Consultancy, and the Bradford Programme in Engineering Quality Improvement. The re-located Centre for Objective Measurement in Textiles (COMIT) continues to support the local textile industry as part of this aspect of the School's mission.

Dean of the School, Professor Andrew Day, said: "This investment has provided engineering, design and technology with a very important boost at a critically important time. The future of engineering and technology lies in the application of computer, information and communications technology to the design and manufacture of products, systems and processes, and we need to have accommodation and facilities that reflect this future.

"We have been using computer-aided design and manufacture in our internationally-respected research for over 15 years, and have gradually introduced it into our taught courses during this time to keep them up to date. Computer-aided design has now taken over completely in our lectures, providing our students with the skills and expertise which employers need in successful, modern industry, and we are privileged to have one of the best CAD/CAM/CAE facilities in the region.

"Employers' interest in Bradford Engineering, Design and Technology graduates is as strong as ever, and we hope that the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the new School of Engineering, Design and Technology at the University of Bradford will attract many people into exciting and fulfilling careers in computer-aided design, manufacture, and engineering."

11 February 2002

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