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Major investment will bring a futuristic new look to campus

12 August 2014

 

A major multi-million pound investment will bring a futuristic new look to part of Teesside University’s campus where the scientists and engineers of the future are developed. The investment reflects the University’s growing success and reputation in these fields.

The new and enlarged Orion building will include a three story glass extension enabling passers-by to see the latest technologies in action as the University embarks on the £6m major refurbishment of facilities in the School of Science & Engineering.

Along with extensive refurbishment of its laboratories and workshops to house its rapidly growing science and engineering courses, the University is also investing heavily in the latest industry standard equipment to provide highly industrially relevant and representative learning experiences.

Malcolm Page, Deputy Chief Executive (Chief Operating Officer), said: 'This is part of a major programme of investment to enhance the experience and support we provide to students on our campus.'

It comes as the University is also investing around £30m in developing the campus heart with a £20m new teaching and learning building and extensive landscaping. Plus a £1m refurbishment of the Students’ Union is underway to enhance the student experience.

Simon Hodgson, Dean of the University’s School of Science & Engineering, said: 'This exciting development, scheduled for completion by summer 2015, will benefit our students across our whole range of professionally accredited courses and help us to maintain our position as a university committed to producing graduates with outstanding skills in technical problem solving and innovation, destined to become the next generation of leaders of our science and engineering industries.'

The investment is concentrated on four main areas.

• Twenty First Century Process and Manufacturing Industry

This will comprise a flexible and multi-functional facility to an industrial standard which will include industry standard SCADA and DCS systems linked to a range of process plant include distillation and separation columns, a pyrolysis plant for the reprocessing of waste into chemicals, a bioreactor and steam autoclave/pasteurisation plant. There will also be further investment in the University’s recently developed digital manufacturing laboratories, including 3D printing and laser processing facilities. This facility will support students on a wide range of courses in chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, food science and engineering, instrumentation and control engineering, biotechnology, biomanufacturing and chemistry.

• Power Engineering

The heart of this facility will be a power system simulator laboratory- a state of the art teaching laboratory to allow students to explore the practical aspects of power generation and distribution, including renewable and sustainable energy sources and their interaction with the distribution grid.

This facility will replicate characteristics of major power stations and wind generation facilities operating in Teesside and allow students to learn about the most relevant current techniques and how these would be implemented within an industrial environment. Students set to benefit will be on courses in electrical and electronic engineering, instrumentation and control engineering and programmes in renewable energy.

• Aerospace Engineering

The third area will see the School develop an integrated flight simulation laboratory. This, together with a full size aircraft used for physical and load testing, will complement the facilities available at our partner college in Hartlepool and enable aerospace engineering students to experience realistic flights and work on aircraft design projects. This new equipment and software will also be used by students for projects on control systems.

• A New Centre for Testing and Characterisation.

This part of the investment involves the development of a physical testing and characterisation centre building on the University’s existing facilities in electron microscopy, x-ray, spectroscopic and thermal analysis. The new facilities will include updated facilities for mechanical testing, the latest hyperspectral imaging technologies and techniques for analysis of powders and particulates in dry and suspension form. These techniques are used in industries as diverse as the oil and gas industry through pharmaceutical production to forensic investigation to understand the causes of failure or develop new products and will be relevant to and used by students on virtually every course that we offer.


 
 
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