UKCRIC is ‘open for business’

Tim Yates, UKCRIC Communications, Marketing and Events Manager (UCL) | UKCRIC

2 min read24 May 2022 Partner content

On the 17th May the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC) welcomed delegates from industry, academia and policy to an event exploring how working in partnership with UKCRIC’s national research capability can enable new innovations in safe, resilient and sustainable living, and generate economic opportunities for the UK.

Hosted at UCL’s PEARL facility, one of UKCRIC’s laboratories, the “Working with UKCRIC to accelerate R&D in infrastructure and cities” event introduced delegates to the benefits of working with UKCRIC, a collaborative network of 15 of the UK’s top universities.

Highlights of the event included:

Keynote presentation from Tim Chapman - Director at Arup, giving his thoughts on the future of infrastructure design
Tour of PEARL - a massive space (around 4,000m2 and 10m high) in which life-sized environments can be created, such as a railway station, high street or town square
Networking at industry cluster stands, focussing on research and innovation covering built infrastructure, data-driven solutions, energy systems, transport and mobility, and water and environment themes
Industry case study examples of how working with UKCRIC is already transforming the design and engineering of the UK’s infrastructure and cities
Mechanisms for accessing UKCRIC’s network of expertise and capability.

Through collaboration with industry, academia, and government UKCRIC is committed to enabling a step change in the performance of the UK’s cities and its infrastructure systems.

"Our aim for this event was to communicate that UKCRIC is open for business and I’m really pleased by the positive discussions that today has facilitated, both for UKCRIC and for our stakeholders. I think UKCRIC has a really important role to play, both in addressing complex infrastructure challenges and as an enabler, bringing the business and research communities together."

^{WILLIAM POWRIE, PROFESSOR OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND UKCRIC CONVENOR.}

"I was honoured to be asked and I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to put into context my huge appreciation for the prescience of UKCRIC, which is more needed now than it was when first conceived. It was also great to see PEARL, and while Dagenham East isn’t the easiest place to get to, I see it as very fitting that such an eminent research facility should be sited in an area of London undergoing significant regeneration"

^{TIM CHAPMAN, DIRECTOR - INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN, ARUP}