Engineering research at the University of Southampton to receive £10 million to boost UK’s economic growth
The University of Southampton has been awarded funding worth £10 million from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund (UKRPIF) to boost the further development of its world-class facilities for engineering sciences focused at the University’s Boldrewood Campus.
The announcement, made by Universities and Science Minister David Willetts, reaffirms Southampton’s status as one of the world’s leading centres of excellence for engineering. The UKRPIF supports higher education research facilities, to attract investment in university research and to strengthen the contribution of the research base to economic growth. Southampton joins King’s College London and the University of Glasgow in receiving funding awards during this round of investment through the Fund.
Professor William Powrie, Dean of Engineering and the Environment at the University, said: “This latest funding award will create major, large scale engineering experimental facilities at the Boldrewood Engineering Campus in fluid dynamics, geomechanics and infrastructure, underpinned and complemented by computational and data handling capacity. These will be used in support of our work in infrastructure, rail and aerospace engineering, and in the maritime sector through the world-renowned Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI).”
The redevelopment of the University’s Boldrewood Campus, in partnership with Lloyd’s Register, is already benefitting from an investment of around £130 million, currently representing the largest such business-focused endeavour in any UK university.
Malcolm Ace, Chief Operating Officer at the University of Southampton, said: “We’re very pleased to receive this award from the UKRPIF. Our researchers already represent one of the strongest groupings of engineering academics in the UK. The great strength of engineering at Southampton lies in a sophisticated mix of experimental and computational scientists and engineers working together across disciplines to generate new research and apply it to grand challenges in collaboration with national and international partners in academia, industry and commerce.”
Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said: “The UK’s world-class universities are at the forefront of our economic recovery. It’s vital we do everything we can to encourage collaboration with the private sector and boost funding for research.
"With funding from the Research Partnership Investment Fund, this excellent project at the University of Southampton will not only deliver new knowledge and applications for industry, but will accelerate growth and foster innovation between the research base and business, keeping the UK ahead in the global race."
Notes for editors
The SMMI is the largest single entity of its kind in the world which integrates all marine and maritime disciplines across the University. Specialists in ship design and naval architecture, fluid dynamics and acoustics, oceanography through to arts, humanities and social sciences all work together through the Institute to better understand current and future maritime challenges.
The creation of the SMMI was stimulated by the University's ever strengthening relationship with Lloyd's Register over the last 40-plus years. It now numbers approximately 300 academics working together with society, industry and government.