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Prof Nick Tyler speaks at an international workshop on vehicle industrial design in Qingdao, China
30 September 2024
Nick Tyler, Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering at UCL and Director of the Centre for Transport Studies, was invited to present a keynote address at the 4th International Workshop on Railway Vehicles Industrial Design in Qingdao, China, highlighting work at UCL PEARL.
Prof. Nick Tyler, Chadwick Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of the Centre for Transport Studies at UCL, was invited to deliver a keynote address at the 4th International Workshop on Railway Vehicles Industrial Design in Qingdao, China. The invitation followed the successful Rail Demo Day at UCL's PEARL facility, where global rail industry experts explored innovative design solutions for future rail transit. Hosted by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd., the conference brought together over 40 leading design institutions, universities, and enterprises to discuss breakthroughs in rail vehicle industrial design.
The conference, themed "Rail Transit Systems for Life, Health, and Sustainable Development," focused on innovation, sustainability, and user-centered design. Prof. Tyler’s keynote highlighted PEARL's cutting-edge capabilities in simulating real-world environments to study how people interact with spaces like train carriages. He stressed the need to create rail environments that enhance user experience, safety, and energy efficiency, while testing new design concepts for future rail travel. The introduction to CRRC Sifang was facilitated by the design consultancy PriestmanGoode, whose Managing Director, Kirsty Dias, a UCL alumna, played a key role in fostering the connection. Dias and her colleagues were instrumental at Rail Demo Day and attended the conference alongside Prof. Tyler.
The workshop showcased global trends in digitisation, human-centred design, and sustainability in rail vehicle design. It set the stage for UCL and its partners to explore new advancements in rail technology. With PEARL's advanced simulation capabilities, UCL is eager to develop partnerships that could revolutionize rail travel, focusing on user-friendly, sustainable, and energy-efficient designs. This collaboration between academic research and industry promises to drive forward new approaches to rail transport on a global scale.