A new £14 million Advanced Engineering building has been officially opened at the University of Brighton.

The facility, which supports both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research, was built by Graham Construction as part of the £150m transformation of the Moulsecoomb campus.

The Advanced Engineering Building also houses the Advanced Engineering Centre, which carries out innovative, future-facing research into complex engine combustion processes and laser-based measurement techniques, fundamental modelling and computational simulation.

The project was developed with financial support from Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership and the Higher Education Funding Council and in partnership with Shoreham-based Ricardo UK, the Shoreham-based global engineering, strategic and environmental consultancy and specialist manufacturer. The Wolfson Foundation have also supported the building with a £500,000 grant for state-of-the-art equipment.

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The building was officially opened today, 19 April by Benita Mehra, President of the Women's Engineering Society.

University of Brighton Vice-Chancellor, Professor Debra Humphris said: "The Advanced Engineering Building is opening in our 25th year as a university. It is a great addition to our facilities and an inspiring environment for the next generation of engineering students and researchers. The university is extremely grateful to all of those bodies whose generous support has made all of this possible."

Jonathan Sharrock, Chief Executive of Coast to Capital said: "We are thrilled to be supporting the Advanced Engineering Building which is an outstanding example of a project that will greatly benefit the future success of the region by giving students in Brighton and the surrounding areas the technical training they need to join an advanced workforce."

Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: "We are delighted to be funding Brighton, and were particularly impressed by the fruitful partnership between the university and industry.

"Urban pollution and the wider effect of high carbon emissions remain some of the greatest societal challenges. Success in creating the next generation of more efficient, low carbon internal combustion engines will benefit us all."

(LM)