Society and Sustainability
The LATEST2 Programme aims to underpin developments vital to the future commercial success of the UK transport manufacturing sector and its supply chain.
The importance of the transport sector to the economy can not be overstated. Following extensive consultation with industry, our research has been targeted to maximise impact by providing a step advance in the science base required in the move towards more efficient, lower emission products, essential to maintaining global competitiveness. The research will also facilitate significant indirect benefits in terms of maintaining the knowledge base by increasing the throughput of trained engineers leading to future industrial research, essential for economic growth, improving the environment by combating global warming, and increasing public awareness of the importance of university led research to cultivating future generations of engineers.
LATEST2 research outputs will provide 'quality of life' benefits to the public by facilitating improved environmental performance in next-generation vehicles, helping to combat global warming, reducing dependency on fossil fuels, decreasing the cost of energy efficient vehicles, and improving efficiency in goods transportation. Ensuring global competiveness in the automotive and aerospace manufacturing sectors is fundamental to UK economic growth, securing future employment and wealth creation for a large percentage of the population as well as in associated service industries.