Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems

Context of research
In an era where technology and transportation are so interlinked, new mobility concepts arise as is the case of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). MaaS is expected to produce significant improvements in mobility such as the increase in modal share of more environmentally friendly and efficient mobility options, the reduction in private car use/ownership, improving accessibility and frequency of the transportation network and strengthening the cooperation and collaboration between public and private entities to reinforce the integration of transport modes in one platform accessible to everyone.
Despite the rapid developments occurring in the transport network, there are still challenges that should be addressed. One example is the geographical exclusion which could be associated with a poorer development of the mobility network outside of big urban areas, another one could be the technological and inherent social exclusion, associated with certain types of demographics. There is also the challenge of getting all the necessary stakeholders (policymakers, transport operators, users...) involved and invested in the implementation of MaaS.
Overall MaaS is expected to contribute significantly towards a more inclusive and accessible regional and Nacional transport network but for that to happen these challenges need to be considered and mitigated.

Aim
Assessing the potential for Mobility as a Service's implementation in a regional context.

Project objectives
1. Understand the variables that are important to consider when implementing Mobility as a Service
a) Examine the literature to define MaaS as well as the important stakeholders and dimensions that could be affected by this
service
2. Develop a preliminary model for implementation on a regional scale
a) Using open-source software
3. Implement the model in a case study area and analyse the impacts

Potential applications and benefits
This research will directly inform on significant dimensions of the transportation sector, from the regulation to the operation stage. Furthermore, it will impact on influencing social and travelling behaviour as well as territorial and transport planning.
The potential applications coming out of this project are not only a study of MaaS implementation in the regional context, as opposed to only big urban areas but also guidelines for what should be considered when designing and planning the regional transport network and the benefits its stakeholders and users while convincing them to adopt pro-environmental transport behaviours. This research could be a significant starting point to help reinforce territorial cohesion by setting an example for other areas in similar conditions.
Some of the expected benefits are the improvement in social connection and sense of community, a decrease in the number of road accidents due to the increase in the use of public transportation and improving air quality contributing towards a more sustainable transport network.

Relevance to the research council
This project is aligned with the EPSRC's prosperity outcome of delivering Resilience by exploring ways of strengthening the connection between urban and rural areas through an integrated, multimodal, and accessible transport service. Furthermore, it contributes towards the Council's goal of accelerating and spreading innovation in transport which will benefit society, the environment, and the economy.

Impact Summary

This proposal has been developed from the ground up to guarantee the highest level of impact. The two principal routes towards impact are via the graduates that we train and by the embedding of the research that is undertaken into commercial activity. The impact will have a significant commercial value through addressing skills requirements and providing technical solutions for the automotive industry - a key sector for the UK economy.

The graduates that emerge from our CDT (at least 84 people) will be transformative in two distinct ways. The first is a technical route and the second is cultural.

In a technical role, their deep subject matter expertise across all of the key topics needed as the industry transitions to a more sustainable future. This expertise is made much more accessible and applicable by their broad understanding of the engineering and commercial context in which they work. They will have all of the right competencies to ensure that they can achieve a very significant contribution to technologies and processes within the sector from the start of their careers, an impact that will grow over time. Importantly, this CDT is producing graduates in a highly skilled sector of the economy, leading to jobs that are £50,000 more productive per employee than average (i.e. more GVA). These graduates are in demand, as there are a lack of highly skilled engineers to undertake specialist automotive propulsion research and fill the estimated 5,000 job vacancies in the UK due to these skills shortages. Ultimately, the CDT will create a highly specialised and productive talent pipeline for the UK economy.

The route to impact through cultural change is perhaps of even more significance in the long term. Our cohort will be highly diverse, an outcome driven by our wide catchment in terms of academic background, giving them a 'diversity edge'. The cultural change that is enabled by this powerful cohort will have a profound impact, facilitating a move away from 'business as usual'.

The research outputs of the CDT will have impact in two important fields - the products produced and processes used within the indsutry. The academic team leading and operating this CDT have a long track record of generating impact through the application of their research outputs to industrially relevant problems. This understanding is embodied in the design of our CDT and has already begun in the definition of the training programmes and research themes that will meet the future needs of our industry and international partners. Exchange of people is the surest way to achieve lasting and deep exchange of expertise and ideas. The students will undertake placements at the collaborating companies and will lead to employment of the graduates in partner companies.

The CDT is an integral part of the IAAPS initiative. The IAAPS Business Case highlights the need to develop and train suitably skilled and qualified engineers in order to achieve, over the first five years of IAAPS' operations, an additional £70 million research and innovation expenditure, creating an additional turnover of £800 million for the automotive sector, £221 million in GVA and 1,900 new highly productive jobs.

The CDT is designed to deliver transformational impact for our industrial partners and the automotive sector in general. The impact is wider than this, since the products and services that our partners produce have a fundamental part to play in the way we organise our lives in a modern society. The impact on the developing world is even more profound. The rush to mobility across the developing world, the increasing spending power of a growing global middle class, the move to more urban living and the increasingly urgent threat of climate change combine to make the impact of the work we do directly relevant to more people than ever before. This CDT can help change the world by effecting the change that needs to happen in our industry.