Students start to use new £35million tech park

A £35million new '˜tech park' has been opened at the Bognor Regis campus of the University of Chichester.
The new Tech Park at the Bognor Regis campus of the University of ChichesterThe new Tech Park at the Bognor Regis campus of the University of Chichester
The new Tech Park at the Bognor Regis campus of the University of Chichester

Undergraduates have started to use the facilities of the Engineering and Digital Technology Park, known as the Tech Park, from this week.

The university said the new building, which specialises in training students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, ‘will produce graduates with the skills that the UK economy requires to remain industrially competitive on a global scale’.

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Vice-chancellor professor Jane Longmore said the Tech Park will drive the regeneration of the coastal region by providing educational opportunities for students and jobs in sectors identified as a priority in the government’s recent industrial strategy.

Cutaway image of the new Tech Park at the University of Chichester's Bognor Regis campusCutaway image of the new Tech Park at the University of Chichester's Bognor Regis campus
Cutaway image of the new Tech Park at the University of Chichester's Bognor Regis campus

She added: “By combining engineering and design with creative and digital technology in one state-of-the-art development, we will equip graduates with the enterprise skills, creativity and technical knowledge to enter the workforce. The Tech Park will help us to deliver our vision of making our region a place where businesses, large and small, can thrive, create jobs, and where people can access the very best education and training opportunities.”

The university development will introduce a department of Engineering and Applied Design, providing a machinery workshop with welding floor, fabricating laboratory, specialist 3D printers, and an engineering centre. This will be built alongside a department of Creative and Digital Technologies with a 300 square-metre television production studio, an auxiliary 100 square-metre special effects room, and a 400 square-metre media operation centre.

Engineering student Louise Grainger, who is one of the first to use the new facilities, said: “I’m so excited that I will take my first steps into engineering in such an incredible place.”

The development has so far received the backing from more than 40 industry organisations, including Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Sony and URT Group, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.