Dunton Technical Centre
Encyclopedia
The Dunton Technical Centre (informally Ford Dunton) is a major automotive research and development facility located in Dunton, Laindon
, United Kingdom
owned and operated by Ford Motor Company
. It is the largest automotive technical centre in the United Kingdom and takes its name from nearby Dunton Wayletts
. It houses the main design team of Ford of Europe, alongside its Merkenich Technical Centre in Cologne, Germany. Around 3,000 staff currently work at the site.
Southend Arterial Road, in the district of Basildon. An electricity pylon line straddles the site. In front of the building, to the north, is a vehicle test track. To the south is the Southfields Business Park. The site lies in the religious parish of Laindon with Dunton, formerly in Dunton and Bulphan
before 1976. Dunton is a small hamlet to the west, with a former church near Dunton Hall. There is a Ford dealership on the B148 on the north-west corner of the site.
, with their contract costing £6.5 million. When the Engineering and Styling Centre was built it was the largest engineering research centre in Europe. It was expected to cost around £10 million. Another development site at Aveley
had been opened in 1956 which made prototype cars and spare parts, and closed in 2004. Ford's earlier UK design site was at Birmingham, and it previously had seven engineering sites around the UK, with five in Essex; these all moved to Dunton. In the USA development work is done at the Dearborn Development Center
in Michigan, home of Ford.
The centre was opened by Harold Wilson
, then the Prime Minister, on 12 October 1967. The Managing Director of Ford at the time was Leonard Crossland
.
design company in Turin, Italy.
On 10 May 1971 Peter Walker opened a £1 million engine emissions
laboratory, the largest of its type in Europe. In November 1974 it opened the world's first automated (computerised) multiple engine (six) test bed. It was built in co-operation with the engineering drocessepartment of Queen Mary, University of London
. Previously engine research was carried out manually.
computer at a cost of £820,000. It was linked to Merkenich, and the test track at Lommel
in Belgium. In 1978 it had access to a CDC Cyber 176
computer at the USA base in Dearborn.
By 1984 they were video-conferencing with colleagues at Merkenich, using the ECS-1 satellite, and enabled by British Telecom International, who developed video codec
s at their laboratories (BT Research
) at Adastral Park
, Martlesham
in Suffolk
.
In 1988 it prepared the way for design of the Mondeo (codename CDW27
) by pioneering, with Merkenich, the World Engineering Release System (WERS). Dunton at this time was the most advanced automotive development centre in Europe.
On 16 December 1997 Alexander Trotman, Baron Trotman
opened a £128 million environmental engine testing facility at Dunton.
In 2003 it built a Silicon Graphics International
(SGI) Reality Centre, with SGI Onyx 3000
visualisation supercomputers, using the InfiniteReality3
graphics rendering system.
In March 2010 Ford announced plans to develop a new generation of environmentally friendly engines and vehicle technologies at Dunton following an announcement by the UK Government that it would underwrite £360 million of a £450 million loan to Ford from the European Investment Bank. In July 2010 the new coalition government confirmed that it would honour the loan commitment, and the contract was signed in a ceremony at Dunton attended by the business minister Mark Prisk on 12 July.
.
In 1995 Ford Dunton, in collaboration with the University of Southampton
, developed a device which is capable of detecting different types of plastic (for recycling) using the triboelectric effect
, including polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
(ABS).
Ford Dunton is the home of Ford Team RS, and as part of the Special Vehicle section of Ford, developed the XR family
of 'boy racer
' vehicles with the Ford Fiesta RS Turbo
, more recently becoming the RS family of vehicles. Ford also notably worked in this area of design with Cosworth
of Northampton
.
Recently Ford Dunton has developed the ECOnetic
range of vehicles, and contributed to development of the EcoBoost
range of engines.
, south of Brentwood).
Dunton designs the Ford Fiesta
, the Ford Ka
, engines for Ford of Europe (powertrain), and commercial vehicles. Dunton has also has responsibility for the interior of Ford of Europe cars. It has facilities to simultaneously test fifteen cars and around one hundred engines. It is claimed to have the world's largest anechoic chamber
.
Around 3,000 engineers currently work at Dunton.
Laindon
Laindon is a town in the west of the Basildon district of Essex, England.It is north of Laindon railway station on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway. South of the railway station and line is Langdon Hills. Laindon and Langdon Hills are part of the Basildon post town.Until its abolition in...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
owned and operated by Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. It is the largest automotive technical centre in the United Kingdom and takes its name from nearby Dunton Wayletts
Dunton Wayletts
Dunton Wayletts is a hamlet in the Basildon district of Essex, England. It is located alongside the A127....
. It houses the main design team of Ford of Europe, alongside its Merkenich Technical Centre in Cologne, Germany. Around 3,000 staff currently work at the site.
Location
Ford Dunton is situated at the junction of West Mayne (B148) and the A127A127 road
The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is one of the trunk roads in England linking London with Southend-on-Sea, the other being the A13. It is a dual carriageway for its entire length, rare on a trunk road since the only others are the A14 and the A282, and is known as the Southend...
Southend Arterial Road, in the district of Basildon. An electricity pylon line straddles the site. In front of the building, to the north, is a vehicle test track. To the south is the Southfields Business Park. The site lies in the religious parish of Laindon with Dunton, formerly in Dunton and Bulphan
Bulphan
Bulphan is a village in the borough of Thurrock in the East of England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock. It is pronounced 'Bull-ven' though newcomers often mispronounce it as 'Bul-fan'....
before 1976. Dunton is a small hamlet to the west, with a former church near Dunton Hall. There is a Ford dealership on the B148 on the north-west corner of the site.
Construction
Ford Dunton was constructed by George WimpeyGeorge Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
, with their contract costing £6.5 million. When the Engineering and Styling Centre was built it was the largest engineering research centre in Europe. It was expected to cost around £10 million. Another development site at Aveley
Aveley
Aveley is a place in the Thurrock unitary authority in Essex, England and one of the traditional parishes in Thurrock. It is a suburban development located 16.3 miles east of Charing Cross in London and within the eastern bounds of the M25 motorway.-Location:Aveley is roughly bounded to the north...
had been opened in 1956 which made prototype cars and spare parts, and closed in 2004. Ford's earlier UK design site was at Birmingham, and it previously had seven engineering sites around the UK, with five in Essex; these all moved to Dunton. In the USA development work is done at the Dearborn Development Center
Ford Airport (Dearborn)
Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan was one of the first modern airports in the world. The airport operated from 1924 to 1947, and the site is now part of Ford Motor Company's Dearborn Proving Ground. The airport is about 360 acres in size....
in Michigan, home of Ford.
The centre was opened by Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, then the Prime Minister, on 12 October 1967. The Managing Director of Ford at the time was Leonard Crossland
Leonard Crossland
Sir Leonard Crossland was an automobile executive who filled a succession of increasingly high level appointments with Ford of Britain, culminating with the chairmanship which he held between 1968 and 1972....
.
Ford of Europe
When Ford of Europe was formed, responsibility for design and development of passenger cars was redistributed as follows. Dunton handled vehicle design, interior styling, chassis and body interior engineering, engine calibration and product planning. The Cologne Merkenich Centre was given principal responsibility for body and electrical engineering, base engine design plus advanced engine development, exterior styling (design), homologation, vehicle development (ride, handling, NVH) and transmission engineering. This was a 'systems' approach to the engineering process which eliminated any duplication of the engineering responsibility within Europe. Originally the Dunton site had 45000 sq ft (4,180.6 m²) for design work. In the early 1970s Ford had 21 plants across the UK. In 1970 Ford also bought the Carrozzeria GhiaCarrozzeria Ghia
Carrozzeria Ghia SpA is one of the most famous Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firms, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio, located at 4 Corso Valentino in Turin....
design company in Turin, Italy.
On 10 May 1971 Peter Walker opened a £1 million engine emissions
Transportation emissions
Transportation emissions are gases released into the air that come from fossil fuels. The gases emit , which is not only a green house gas but one the most emitted gases. Transportation emissions are one of the biggest contributors to emitting since everyone needs transportation. Along with...
laboratory, the largest of its type in Europe. In November 1974 it opened the world's first automated (computerised) multiple engine (six) test bed. It was built in co-operation with the engineering drocessepartment of Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Previously engine research was carried out manually.
The computer age
In 1974 it installed a Honeywell 6050GE-600 series
The GE-600 series was a family of 36-bit mainframe computers originating in the 1960s, built by General Electric . When GE left the mainframe business the line was sold to Honeywell, who built similar systems into the 1990s as the division moved to Groupe Bull and then NEC.-Architecture:The 600...
computer at a cost of £820,000. It was linked to Merkenich, and the test track at Lommel
Lommel Proving Grounds
The Lommel Proving Ground also known as the Ford LPG, is a automotive proving ground, constructed by Ford of Europe on ground rented from the city of Lommel, located south of the Belgian hamlet of Kattenbos...
in Belgium. In 1978 it had access to a CDC Cyber 176
CDC Cyber
The CDC Cyber range of mainframe-class supercomputers were the primary products of Control Data Corporation during the 1970s and 1980s. In their day, they were the computer architecture of choice for scientific and mathematically intensive computing...
computer at the USA base in Dearborn.
By 1984 they were video-conferencing with colleagues at Merkenich, using the ECS-1 satellite, and enabled by British Telecom International, who developed video codec
Video codec
A video codec is a device or software that enables video compression and/or decompression for digital video. The compression usually employs lossy data compression. Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on magnetic tape...
s at their laboratories (BT Research
BT Research
BT Research is part of the BT Innovate & Design division of BT Group, a provider of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries....
) at Adastral Park
Adastral Park
Adastral Park is a science campus based at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk.When the site opened it was known as the Post Office Research Station, but it was subsequently renamed BT Research Laboratories or BT Labs and later Adastral Park to reflect an expansion in the...
, Martlesham
Martlesham
Martlesham is a village in Suffolk, England about two miles South-West of Woodbridge and East of Ipswich. It is often referred to as "old Martlesham" by locals in order to distinguish this old village from the much more recent Martlesham Heath development to the south although both form a...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
In 1988 it prepared the way for design of the Mondeo (codename CDW27
Ford CDW27 platform
The Ford CDW27 platform was Ford's midsize car automobile platform from the early 1990s and was designed to be used as its 'World Car' platform. The platform was developed over six years and at a huge expense totalling $6 billion, but was expected to save 25% compared to developing separate models...
) by pioneering, with Merkenich, the World Engineering Release System (WERS). Dunton at this time was the most advanced automotive development centre in Europe.
On 16 December 1997 Alexander Trotman, Baron Trotman
Alexander Trotman, Baron Trotman
Alexander James Trotman, Baron Trotman was Ford Motor Company's first foreign-born chairman and CEO.-Life and career:Trotman was born on July 22, 1933 in Middlesex, England...
opened a £128 million environmental engine testing facility at Dunton.
In 2003 it built a Silicon Graphics International
Silicon Graphics International
Silicon Graphics International Corp. , is an American manufacturer of computer hardware and software, including high-performance computing solutions, x86-based servers for datacenter deployment, and visualization products...
(SGI) Reality Centre, with SGI Onyx 3000
SGI Origin 3000 and Onyx 3000
The Origin 3000 and the Onyx 3000 is a family of mid-range and high-end computers developed and manufactured by SGI. The Origin 3000 is a server, while the Onyx 3000 is a visualization system. Both systems were introduced in July 2000 to succeed the Origin 2000 and the Onyx2 respectively. These...
visualisation supercomputers, using the InfiniteReality3
InfiniteReality
InfiniteReality refers to a 3D graphics hardware architecture and a family of graphics systems that implemented the aforementioned hardware architecture that was developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics from 1996 to 2005...
graphics rendering system.
In March 2010 Ford announced plans to develop a new generation of environmentally friendly engines and vehicle technologies at Dunton following an announcement by the UK Government that it would underwrite £360 million of a £450 million loan to Ford from the European Investment Bank. In July 2010 the new coalition government confirmed that it would honour the loan commitment, and the contract was signed in a ceremony at Dunton attended by the business minister Mark Prisk on 12 July.
Development work
In the 1960s Dunton worked on an experimental electric car, first shown on 7 June 1967, and called the Ford ComutaFord Comuta
The Ford Comuta was an experimental electric vehicle designed by Ford in the 1960s. The vehicle was powered by four 12-volt 85-amp lead batteries....
.
In 1995 Ford Dunton, in collaboration with the University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
, developed a device which is capable of detecting different types of plastic (for recycling) using the triboelectric effect
Triboelectric effect
The triboelectric effect is a type of contact electrification in which certain materials become electrically charged after they come into contact with another different material and are then separated...
, including polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
(ABS).
Ford Dunton is the home of Ford Team RS, and as part of the Special Vehicle section of Ford, developed the XR family
Hot hatch
Hot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
of 'boy racer
Boy racer
Boy racers refer to people, usually males in their late teens or early twenties, who "cruise" around in vehicles modified with loud exhausts and stereos, or modified body kits. This behavior is frowned upon by members of the public irritated by the noise and the criminal behavior associated with...
' vehicles with the Ford Fiesta RS Turbo
Ford Fiesta RS Turbo
The Ford Fiesta RS Turbo was a performance model of the Mk 3 Ford Fiesta. It was introduced in April 1990 and production continued until 1992 when it was replaced with the normally aspirated 1.8 RS 1800....
, more recently becoming the RS family of vehicles. Ford also notably worked in this area of design with Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...
of Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
.
Recently Ford Dunton has developed the ECOnetic
ECOnetic
ECOnetic is a tradename for certain car models produced by Ford of Europe, currently consisting of one model in each of the Fiesta and the Focus range, with an emphasis on higher fuel efficiency and low-CO2 emissions.-Design philosophy:...
range of vehicles, and contributed to development of the EcoBoost
Ford EcoBoost engine
EcoBoost is a family of turbocharged and direct injected six-cylinder and four-cylinder gasoline engines produced by the Ford Motor Company. Engines equipped with EcoBoost technology are designed to deliver power and torque consistent with larger displacement, naturally aspirated engines while...
range of engines.
Activities
Dunton houses the main design team of Ford of Europe, alongside its Merkenich Technical Centre in Cologne (Ford of Europe is headquartered in Germany, Ford in the UK is headquartered at Warley, EssexWarley, Essex
Warley is a suburb of Brentwood in Essex. It is a particularly affluent part of Brentwood and is situated to the south of the town. It is notable for being home to the British headquarters of Ford Motor Company....
, south of Brentwood).
Dunton designs the Ford Fiesta
Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is a front wheel drive supermini/subcompact manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company and built in Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India, Thailand and South Africa...
, the Ford Ka
Ford Ka
The Ford Ka is a city car from the Ford Motor Company marketed in Europe and elsewhere.The current European version is produced by Fiat Auto in Tychy, Poland, while the model sold in Latin America is built in Brazil and Argentina....
, engines for Ford of Europe (powertrain), and commercial vehicles. Dunton has also has responsibility for the interior of Ford of Europe cars. It has facilities to simultaneously test fifteen cars and around one hundred engines. It is claimed to have the world's largest anechoic chamber
Anechoic chamber
An anechoic chamber is a room designed to stop reflections of either sound or electromagnetic waves.They are also insulated from exterior sources of noise...
.
Around 3,000 engineers currently work at Dunton.
See also
- Whitley plantWhitley plantThe Whitley plant, situated in Whitley, Coventry in the West Midlands of England, is one of the engineering centres of Jaguar Land Rover and the headquarters of Jaguar Cars...
- was also owned by Ford - National Engineering LaboratoryNational Engineering LaboratoryThe National Engineering Laboratory was originally one of several large government-funded public research laboratories in the UK, staffed by scientists and engineers of the Scientific Civil Service...
- Transport Research LaboratoryTransport Research LaboratoryTRL is a British transport consultancy and research organisation based at Wokingham Berkshire with approximately 500 staff. TRL is owned by the Transport Research Foundation , which is overseen by 80 sector members from the transport industry. TRL also own small UK regional offices situated in...
External links
Video clips
- Environmental Test Laboratory
- University of Cambridge solar powered vehicle built by Cambridge University Eco RacingCambridge University Eco RacingCambridge University Eco Racing is a student-run team which designs, builds and races solar vehicles. Founded in 2007, its first prototype vehicle, Affinity became the first solar-powered car to drive legally on UK roads...