Ratan Tata & Cyrus Mistry Unveil Foundation Stone of 150 million National Automotive Innovation Centre

Mr Ratan N. Tata (Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons), Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry (Chairman of Tata Sons) unveiled the foundation stone of the new £150 million National Automotive Innovation Centre on the campus of the University of Warwick. At the unveiling of foundation stone, Mr. Tata and Mr. Mistry met Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, the Chairman and Founder of WMG at the University of Warwick.

Spread over an area of 33,000m2, the campus will provide space for 1,000 engineers, designers and academics to work together, from apprentices to senior managers. The Innovation Centre is funded by Jaguar Land Rover, Tata Motors, The University of Warwick and the Government's Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

This high tech research facilities will include a design and simulation space which will create innovative automotive solutions through an Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory. The facility will also include world's most adaptable and advanced fully immersive drive-in car simulator. Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover will also use the NAIC to take forward autonomous vehicles research through a £19m Autodrive UK project.

The Chairman of Tata Sons, Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry, said, "This unique resource will provide state-of-the-art engineering and technology labs that will greatly enhance the ability of academia and industry to work side by side on leading edge research to deliver exciting new innovative products and meet the widely held ambition to deliver automotive technology and products that will be smarter, lighter, and greener. The Tata group shares these objectives to achieve greater sustainability, and is delighted to support their realisation."

Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, Chairman of WMG said, "The automotive industry in the UK has seen a recent resurgence, but for the UK to remain internationally competitive we must create urgently a critical mass in research excellence. Our vision is to create the National Automotive Innovation Centre where we link people, research and world-leading infrastructure to create and develop novel technologies. NAIC will be an 'engine' for economic growth, with wide economic benefit, and sustained growth from the creation of world-leading technologies. It will enable academic and industry teams to work together in state of the art buildings, with tailored equipment and digital solutions to create and integrate breakthrough technologies with a whole system approach crossing multiple disciplines."