University gets £500,000 for advanced technologies

The university will spend the money at its centres at Edgmond and Telford

A university has received £500,000 to improve teaching of artificial intelligence and engineering.

Harper Adams University, said £400,000 would be spent on developing a new centre in Telford for artificial intelligence in manufacturing, agricultural technology and engineering.

The rest would be spent at its Edgmond campus to develop its simulation laboratory, where it tested products before they are produced.

Harper Adams is one of 60 universities or colleges to receive funding from the Office for Students, England's higher education regulator.

University Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan, said: "This funding will help us to deliver high-quality AI learning in the heart of the community we serve."

The university's base in Telford town centre, in a building known as the Quad, will house "high-specification IT equipment, including AI workstations, immersive learning pods, edge computing servers, and VR/AR devices" it said.

Its Collaborative Simulation Laboratory at its main campus was "already at the heart of engineering teaching and research", it said, and used "advanced simulation techniques to test and refine products before physical versions are made".