Braking news on university’s course for automotive industry
![Four cars parked on campus at the University of Bradford, two of them parked on the left side and the other two parked on the right-hand side](/media-v8/site/news/2024/august/a-braking-course-main-pic-low-res.jpg)
People working in the automotive industry across the world will travel to the University of Bradford for an engineering course on the design and analysis of braking systems in cars and commercial vehicles.
‘Braking of Road Vehicles’ is a week-long technical course for industry which gives an overview of the fundamentals of brakes and braking system before delving into some of the more specialist areas of this important discipline.
The annual course, held at the university between Monday 2 September and Friday 6 September (now fully booked), is aimed at engineering, technical and professional staff in the automotive industry who may benefit from studying about this branch of engineering. This year’s version has attracted delegates from countries including Brazil, France, Sweden and Turkey.
Global experts
Experts from companies including Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and Cummins will travel to Bradford from the UK, Spain and Germany to give guest lectures at the course. Its content is updated every year to ensure the course covers new updates in technology used by those who work in the automotive braking industry.
It features information on subjects including brake sizing, commercial vehicle vehicle’s brake design, regenerative braking, legislation and brake testing. Each delegate will receive a Certificate of Continuing Education from the University of Bradford, which can be used as evidence of continued professional development (CPD).
Dr David Bryant, Associate Professor in Automotive Engineering in the university’s Faculty of Engineering & Digital Technologies; Dr Colin Ross, formerly of Knorr-Bremse Ltd, a manufacturing firm for braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles; and Ian Moore (Ford of Europe), organise and run the course.
Technological changes
Dr Bryant, who has led the course since 2013, said: “The course is for engineers and for those working with brakes who want to acquire a deeper understanding in a specialist area, or who are new to braking and want to gain some broad fundamental knowledge.
“The University of Bradford is recognised for its expertise in braking research and ‘The Braking Course’ is widely-known throughout the automotive industry for providing dedicated training to professional engineers. The course itself first ran in 1966 and has run at the University of Bradford every year since 1996.
There are lots of technological changes going on in braking at the moment, such as with electric vehicles, regenerative braking and brake actuation and this course is one of the highlights of my year
Dr Bryant added that the ‘Braking of Road Vehicles’ course also serves as a chance for delegates to network with companies and organisations from across the world who attend.
It is one of a number of educational and professional study courses the university’s Faculty of Engineering & Digital Technologies runs on subjects including Statistical Engineering for Industry (SAFI).