Exterior shot of the proposed EIC building

Engineers of the future are to be trained in a multi-million building in Preston.

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Designs have been unveiled as a £30m planning application has been lodged by the University of Central Lancashire.

The Engineering Innovation Centre, to be built on the Foster building car park on the Adelphi roundabout, is to be a new flagship building.

School of engineering dean Rob Wallace said: “This outline planning application sets out the University’s ambitious and exciting vision to boost levels of innovation through increased knowledge and industry partnerships, both nationally and internationally.

“Now that the application has been lodged we can really start to look ahead to the EIC and the important role it will play in Lancashire’s economy and the UK’s wider Industrial Strategy.

“UCLan aims to close the skills gap by inspiring and shaping the next generation of engineering leaders, producing an extra 500 locally trained graduates a year and increasing the number of young people and, in particular, the proportion of females who choose to take up engineering at a local university.”

Aerial view of the proposed building

The university says it has consulted with residents, businesses and staff at the university for views on the new engineering centre.

Related: Take a first look at UCLan’s £200m campus masterplan

The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership is backing the creation of the engineering centre.

He said: “Lancashire is a national centre of excellence in the advanced manufacturing and aerospace sectors and we are home to many world-class companies such as BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and PACCAR (Leyland Trucks), to name just a few. Lancashire also has top-class universities.

“Through our Innovation Excellence Programme, the LEP is building on these strengths by bringing our academic talent together with business and industry to create the innovation and skills solutions needed to maintain and develop our number one position for advanced manufacturing and aerospace.bl

“The LEP has supported the new Engineering Centre at UCLan as part of that programme. This flagship project will help produce the engineers our advanced manufacturing and aerospace sectors need to thrive and support businesses and industry to achieve even higher levels of excellence.”

The new building is due to open in summer 2018.

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