share on BufferThe 33,000 sq m facility, which is due to open in Spring 2017, will feature cutting-edge workshops, laboratories, virtual engineering suites and advanced powertrain facilities, equipped to enable a full range of design, visualization and prototyping activities.
The development of the NAIC project is the next stage in Jaguar Land Rover’s strategy to develop its global R&D and engineering capability and is the result of a partnership between the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC) and UK Government’s Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE).
When the centre opens, it will empoly 1,000 highly-skilled people. The NAIC will enable Jaguar Land Rover to co-locate 600 of its engineers, researchers and technologists to work collaboratively with academics and R&D specialists from across the automotive supply chain.
Dr Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The National Automotive Innovation Centre will serve as a generator of new skills and new thinking, providing a perfect, collaborative environment in which to learn, research and develop the designs and technologies that will shape the vehicles and personal mobility solutions of the future.”
Along with hosting visits from schoolchildren to inspire them to begin a STEM-based career, the NAIC will also start to address the shortage of skilled R&D staff in the automotive supply chain.
The aim is to help create a pipeline of people into companies nationwide, including the creation of many apprentices in specific areas of vehicle technology.
The development of the new NAIC facility will complement Jaguar Land Rover’s product research and development centres in Gaydon and Whitley, that will continue to be the Group’s centers of excellence for engineering and product development.
(Source: Jaguar Land Rover)
just who owns Jag at the moment?