What was the first car you ever drove? What car will you be driving in 2030? Will people still drive cars in 2050?
‘The last car built on Earth will surely be a sports car’ is a quote attributed to Ferry Porsche, the renowned automobile designer. If you had the opportunity to design a car, what features would it possess and what would it look like? Where would you drive it and who would you want to take with you?
At the University of Bath, we’ve designed our suite of automotive MSc courses to help a new generation of professionals tackle some of the worldwide environmental and societal challenges that characterise our times. We’ve incorporated some of the best attributes of the automotive sector like finding practical routes to bring about positive change at pace.
If the car can be seen as an embodiment of an innate human thirst for adventure, exploration, and new experience, it should be no surprise that these core attributes have influenced how we deliver our courses. They feature:
- Practical and immersive lab sessions
- Collaborative tutorial and problem-based learning workshops
- Interaction with our IAAPS research community
This is all backed up by lecture-based exploration of theory, involving worked examples. Collectively, it generates a fertile environment for inquiring minds.
Whole world challenges
One positive outcome that can happen when global challenges arise is the growth and strengthening of worldwide communities. Motivated by a desire, or indeed a need, to find practical and sustainable solutions, they’re brought together by mutual concerns to collaborate on issues. Can the fast-paced automotive sector help accelerate the potential benefits of connected and sustainable cities, mobility networks and lifestyles?
Currently, around 1.4 billion road vehicles contribute to around 16 per cent of all worldwide CO2 emissions associated with human industrial activity (anthropogenic). At the same time, the overall level of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is intrinsically linked to the climate characteristics that we experience throughout our lives. The international automotive industry has an important role to play in tackling CO2 emissions, in conjunction with wider mitigating strategies, and in harmony with policy makers such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which aims to advance knowledge related to climate change resulting from human activity.
The tailpipes of vehicles powered by internal combustion engines emit airborne pollution in the form of particulates. As do the brakes and tyres of all vehicles to varying extents. We can treat this separately to the problem of CO2 emissions but as a human health issue, it still poses significant concern. That the automotive sector has an estimated financial worth of $2 trillion a year indicates how many lives are affected by vehicles and road transport. It also suggests that options for action are within financial reach.
What to do?
Ongoing research is finding ways to accurately reveal which aspects of CO2 emission-driven climate characteristics are related to anthropogenic activity, and which are related to natural mechanisms. But this will take time and while it does there is an opportunity for the automotive industry to do what it’s good at – adapting to deliver measurably improved and affordable outcomes.
New research and development in propulsion systems technologies could have real potential for reduction in CO2 emissions. And it aligns with the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their three-pillar definition of sustainability (environmental, societal, economic). It also provides a route to reimagined industry, delivering new transport and mobility technologies and services.
The highways and byways of the story of the car shows potential exists for the fast-moving automotive sector to pave the way for technological advancements. Could this also help navigate routes along which other sectors can join or follow, bringing benefits to society more widely? If these efforts lead to developing sustainable low-carbon mobility practices, or low entropy lifestyles, and are in tune with public interest, then do we have the means and impetus to move more swiftly towards a cleaner future?
Explore the critical issues
Preparing for the challenges of a brave new automotive industry requires a well-tailored approach to education. So, in our four automotive degrees we address key topics including:
- Low-carbon propulsion technologies (from component to vehicle system level)
- Vehicle body design packaging to accommodate new propulsion systems from a clean sheet approach
- Aerodynamic bodywork incorporating low-drag external surfaces and internal airflows for heat flow management
- Suspension systems to support the new payload and weight distribution characteristics
- Connected vehicles (long since mechanically untethered from horses, but now digitally tethered for data sharing and congestion management)
- Artificial intelligence (AI) as an engineering challenge and opportunity, from both technical and ethical perspectives
- Agile and ethical professional working practices
- Project and change management
- Innovative automotive business practices
We offer four automotive MSc courses, designed to suit the experiences and aspirations of a wider range of applicants, who will be need for the next generation of the automotive industry. Each of our automotive MSc courses has its own unique flavour, but they are designed to work together as a whole. We bring all four cohorts together for group-based teaching units, and this integrated approach nurtures community cross-course interaction and prepares students for industry practice. Will you be working alongside some of your course mates after you graduate?
Semester one
Focus on structured learning in immersive environments. An annual course theme related to future transport and mobility is set at a course launch meeting. You’ll explore the fundamentals of propulsion and the future purpose of the car. Best practices for AI as a learning aid are shared.
Semester two
Focus on application and consolidation of knowledge and understanding, with tutor guidance. You’ll work on group projects, including whole vehicle performance modelling using industry-standard tools, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). You’ll explore systems thinking and specialise in technical or business management topics.
Semester three (summer project period)
Focus on student-led innovation. You’ll undertake an industry-linked project (‘mini-placement’ experience) with either engineering technology or business management themes. You’ll work on live projects and applied engineering challenges, and learn personal professional development skills, but with a friendly campus support network.
Let past successes inspire you to engineer the future
The city of Bath is a beautiful UNESCO world heritage site, with a rich cultural history. It’s a natural fountain of inspiration which allows us to take the best of long-standing fundamental principles and combine them with modern best practices in digital and physical learning, to produce a unique approach to science-informed practical problem solving. This is how we journey towards cleaner and more sustainable future mobility and transport systems and, by the same token, healthy human lifestyles too.
Drive on!
Please get in touch if you’d like to find out more about our Automotive MSc courses, and the timely career opportunities of a technology-neutral approach to the task of engineering sustainable mobility.
