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Sunderland drives forward ?great British adventure'

Experts at a North East university are working on plans for the world’s fastest ever car, capable of reaching speeds of 1,000mph.

The University of Sunderland team is working on the Bloodhound Super Sonic Car (SSC) Project, a car powered by a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine and hybrid rocket that will be capable of approximately 1,050 mph - twice the speed of a bullet fired from a handgun.

The car is being developed and built with the intention of blowing away the land speed record, which currently stands at 763mph.

Construction of the Bloodhound SSC should be complete by the end of 2009. It is expected to reach a speed of 0-1,050 mph and back to zero in 40 seconds.

Professor Dave Crolla, leading the team at Sunderland, said: “Sunderland is recognised as one of the UK’s leading universities for automotive engineering for its work on advanced manufacturing with Nissan and research into hybrid electric and low carbon vehicles. It is now involved in what Science Minister Lord Drayson has described as ‘a great British engineering adventure’.

“One of the most challenging aspects of this ambitious project is to keep the vehicle stable and in contact safely with the ground at speeds of up to 1,000mph.

“We’re using the latest prediction techniques to ensure safe vehicle stability in the supersonic region. Only one vehicle that we worked on - the ThrustSSC - has ever achieved safety at supersonic speeds.”

A key element to the project is to excite and motivate the next generation of UK engineers and technologists through schools, colleges and universities.

Prof Crolla adds: “I hope our students in Sunderland will be able to follow this engineering programme and contribute to it. They certainly have the talent, as projects such as Formula Student race car designs show.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .