The announcement of the NTDC comes as a new report from the Automotive Council UK identifies a need for improved education provision for the vehicle design sector to meet urgent demand for creative roles such as modellers.
According to the report – entitled The Value of Design in the UK Automotive Sector – there are currently only four universities in the UK teaching transport design at undergraduate or postgraduate level, despite growth in both the British car industry and the country’s design economy.
David Wright, director of strategic initiatives at Coventry University, said: “What is clear from the Automotive Council’s report is that creative skills like design and modelling will soon be in short supply if an ageing workforce retires without capable graduates and trainees coming through.
“Our aim with the National Transport Design Centre is to meet this demand for specialised skills, building on Coventry University’s existing expertise in transport design with a range of new courses and research programmes. Not only that, but we’ll be ensuring the centre is ‘open for business’ for companies in the transport sector – whether automotive, rail, aerospace or marine – to work with us to help them grow,” Wright added.
The NTDC is being funded through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the government’s multimillion pound Local Growth Deal, with an initial £7million contribution.
Jonathan Browning, chairman of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, said: “The creation of the National Transport Design Centre underlines Coventry and Warwickshire’s place at the forefront of cutting-edge transport research and development and design, and is another example of the area’s ability to combine creative and technical skills to stimulate further investment in the future of our economy.”
The centre will feature a 6m interactive power wall which allows users to explore detailed design and engineering concepts in virtual reality; advanced clay milling facilities for creating physical models of vehicles; and a projection mapping system which can cast digital images onto 3D objects below, helping designers to assess how multiple options would appear on full-scale models.
