University of York celebrates new rail link
Posted on 19 August 2009
Through a new agreement, Crossrail, the company delivering the new railway for London and the South-East – Europe’s largest civil engineering project – will provide annual sponsorship of £60,000 for the Master of Engineering course in Embedded Systems.
The four-year course offered by the University’s Department of Computer Science aims to give students practical experience of hardware and software development and working with a major industrial collaborator.
This is an exciting partnership with a company behind the transformation of transport infrastructure in one of the world’s great cities
Professor John McDermid
Crossrail will be involved in the design of the course and will also provide guest lectures, as well as an annual prize of £250 for the outstanding student. Students on the course will be able to visit Crossrail’s premises in London and may also be offered one-year internships on the project.
An embedded systems laboratory in the new Computer Science building currently under construction on the University’s Heslington East campus expansion will be named ‘the Crossrail Laboratory’.
The agreement will see the establishment of an annual Crossrail public lecture which will feature speakers from the rail sector. The Department will also explore the potential for research projects and workshops with Crossrail.
The Head of Computer Science at York, Professor John McDermid, said: “This is an exciting partnership with a company behind the transformation of transport infrastructure in one of the world’s great cities. Crossrail’s involvement will result in students with first-hand experience of working with embedded systems, and the technical and personal skills to be of immediate and long-term benefit to industry.”
Crossrail‘s Talent and Resources Director, Valerie Todd, said: “Crossrail is a project of national significance and has always valued investment in training future talent. The Master of Engineering course will help foster such talent by providing a high-quality learning environment creating a large bank of skilled engineers who will be an asset to the industry.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- More on the new course at http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/undergraduate/embedded_systems.htm
- More on the University of York’s Campus Development at http://www.york.ac.uk/campusdevelopment/
- Crossrail is a new £15.9 billion railway for London and the South East. It will run 118 km from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 60 minutes commuting distance of London's key business districts. When Crossrail opens it will increase London's public transport network capacity by 10 per cent, supporting regeneration across the capital, helping to secure London's position as a world leading business centre, and cutting journey times across the city.
- Preparatory works will continue throughout 2009. Main Crossrail construction starts in 2010. Crossrail is scheduled to open for service in 2017. The Crossrail Act received Royal Assent on 22 July 2008, granting the powers to build the railway, and Crossrail construction began on 15 May 2009 with work commencing at the new Crossrail Canary Wharf station. The main construction programme begins along the route in 2010.
- For more information about the Crossrail project please visit http://www.crossrail.co.uk
Contail details
David Garner
University of York
01904 432153Ankeeta Munsi
Crossrail
020 3229 9552
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