The five students will undertake detailed research into the UK EV infrastructure market to determine its scale, impact and long-term potential. The full-time project will run until June when the students will produce a report outlining their findings and recommendations for Burns & McDonnell.
The infrastructure company will then use the report to inform its long-term investment strategy in the UK.
The students are said to be drawn from a diverse cohort of specialisms and were chosen following a bidding process at Manchester University involving 25 companies across a range of projects, culminating in a formal pitch and Q&A session on their proposal.
Jonathan Chapman, Burns & McDonnell’s UK Managing Director, said: “Electric vehicles have enormous potential to be a transformative force in the UK, but we need the right infrastructure to make it as easy and efficient as possible for people to take full advantage. It is our aim at Burns & McDonnell to help shape the future of EVs, starting with rigorous, applied research.
“The benefits of becoming involved in this project were clear from the start. It offers us the opportunity to base our future decision making on a sound evidence base and draw on the varying experience of the students themselves. It is our hope that through supporting and engaging with the academic community our work will have a meaningful and lasting impact, and that projects like this will inspire the next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers.”
Abdullah Aljwirah, a member of the winning team who has a background in industrial engineering, said: “As a team we always knew this project would be a challenge, but that’s part of what drew us to it. We can’t wait to delve deeper into the world of EVs, an exciting burgeoning market. We all believe that the best way to learn is by doing things first hand, and think that Burns & McDonnell’s open and hands-on approach will make for a great partnership.
“As challenging as it will be, we all believe that we can produce impactful work at the end of the project. We can’t wait to get started.”
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