Birmingham CASE Automotive Research and Education Centre held the inauguration event at the University of Birmingham

Birmingham CASE Automotive Research and Education Centre held its first Webinar and networking as an inauguration event on 21 March 2022 at the University of Birmingham. Chaired by Professor Hongming Xu, this event marked the formal kick-off of this new establishment. Professor Clive Roberts, Head of School of Engineering, and Professor David Bailey of Business Economics delivered their talks respectively.  The audience participated in the Webinar by attending in person or online. It was attended onsite by managers from industry companies including AVL Powertrain UK, MAHLE Powertrain, Lotus Group, We Predict, Ecobat and UBIPOS UK with several other industrial partners online. The event was watched by more than 23 thousand online through the live streaming service provided by Gasgoo.

In a brief introduction to the CASE Automotive Research and Education Centre,  Professor Xu provided the vision of the Centre that since Birmingham is near the heart of the UK motor industry with strong background in almost all the subjects in relation to automotive areas, Birmingham University should play a leading role in contributing to achieving carbon neutrality in the UK by 2050. The objectives of the Centre are to establish cross-disciplinary internal collaboration and promote external collaboration collectively with relevant industry and international community. The major expertise and research of the Centre can be found from the website https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/mechanical-engineering/vehicle-technology/case-v-centre/index.aspx. The Centre has over 20 research pillars classified in 4 areas: autonomy and sensing; business and strategy; impact on the Environment; sustainability and circular economy, and it involves over 200 people including academic staff, research fellows and PhD students.   

Following Professor Xu’s opening address, Professor Clive Roberts introduced the background of the School of Engineering and activities in the Birmingham Transport Research and Education Centre. He highlighted the strong expertise of the Centre and a number of remarkable achievements in developing future railway operation & control, data integration & cybersecurity, smart monitoring & autonomous systems, and decarbonisation of the railway transports. He emphasised that the University of Birmingham is a global leading university that is capable of providing technical leadership and strategy development in the field of future low-carbon and intelligent transportation.

Professor David Bailey, Chair of the Regional Studies Association Europe Foundation (a think tank and policy forum based in Brussels), introduced his recent study into big trends in the motor industry from the perspective of policies, economics, politics, and business. His presentation analysed the impacts on vehicle electrification by some recent global events including COVID-19 pandemics, Brexit, and other developments in recent international situations. Several business models were proposed and an outlook about the future automotive market was provided. His views and visions of the automotive industry were well received by the audience with great interest.  

The question and answers time was very stimulating.  Questions were given to the two speakers for more elaborations of the current challenges and future development trends of the auto industry and the responses and demand of the public. It is believed that both the legislation from government and the market demand will be the key factors shaping the profile of research and development of future product in the auto sector. The industry will expect to have a new generation of graduates from universities, to prepare for the transition to vehicle electrification.    

It was announced at end of the Webinar that the Birmingham CASE Automotive Research and Education Centre will hold the Webinar and Networking Series regularly. The 2nd Webinar & Networking has been scheduled to take place on 11th of May at the same time (11:00 UK time).  Professor Marina Gashinova will give a talk about review and perspectives of sensors research, and Professor Emma Kendrick will talk about sustainability in batteries, which are expected to demonstrate the relevant leading development in the UK in the areas of for autonomous and electric cars.