Closure of CDS Impact and Armour Group and Ranges: Impact on Student Experience

These departments/facilities greatly enhanced my degree and influenced my decision to study at Cranfield in the first place

Without these facilities and academia personnel, courses at Shrivenham will not be able to teach to the high level they have and crucial experience and knowledge will be lost.

The decision to close this world leading capability is flawed. I speak as an ATO of many years experience having undertaken several operational deployments conducting threat analysis including post IED attacks. It is no exaggeration to say that the contribution from the Impact and Armour Group has been game changing. The group has influenced and directed protective equipment design to such an extent that the lives of service personnel have been saved. I urge the University to reconsider the true value of the group rather than the financial value.

I have been a student of both the ATO course and EOE MSc, and now use those qualifications as Operations Major in 11 EOD Regt RLC on a daily basis keeping the country safe from explosive threats. Shutting these facilities, would be an absolute crying shame and would leave the university and country in a worse of state. It is spending in year money to ensure that H&S standards are met, I would urge you that it is worth the investment several times over.

The move to close IAG and the ranges is ludicrous. Without these facilities Cranfield University will loose many of its unique selling points. Having studied at the Shrivenham campus for an MSc in EOE, I know first hand the value of the ranges, if these are closed I will most certainly not be returning to Cranfield for my Phd studies!

As a friend to several IAG members of staff and fiancée to a former Cranfield PhD student, I must express my huge disappointment regarding the planned closures of the IAG and associated facilities. It is clear that the quality of education and research at Cranfield would be significantly diminished without these valuable professionals and resources. I sincerely hope this decision will be reconsidered and overturned, for the sake of current and future Cranfield students and staff.

This will not only have operation effects for the Armed forces but it will affect the quality of courses for the military such as the Battlespace Technology Course

I am a previous MSc GSD student and supervise a number of engineers likely to undertake it in the future. I cannot stress more the absolute importance of maintaining these facilities. A purely theoretical curriculum would degrade the quality and value of the course significantly.

The research conducted by the IAG has shaped international standards, to lose such an asset would be to the detriment of the international community. IAG's work has influenced standards both in the UK and globally, with aspects of their research featuring in protective equipment standards and procurement decisions in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, USA, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Israel, India, South Africa, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and many more countries. Their reputation and status is second to none. The dissolution of such an asset will be viewed in future years as short sighted and ultimately reversed at far greater costs than the initial savings gained. I urge you to take a long term look at the impact of your decisions. The short term savings will pale into insignificance when balanced against what academia will lose with the closure.

The proposed closure of the Impact and Armour Group would be a huge loss to the research community. My own MSc and PhD research has greatly benefitted from an extended collaboration with researchers there, and use of the incredible facilities. The collaboration has had impact in the field of archaeology, and has resulted in some fantastic interdisciplinary publications - what a loss to the UK research community this would be!

A valuable facility, logically and cost effectively located within CDA, which continually provides strategic and educational benefit. Due to its mix of location, resources, teaching staff expertise and set up, there is appeal to stimulate and nurture unique talent.

A vital facility offering an unique capability. I am also hoping to complete my MSc project in armour technology.

Please dont close

The closure of this would have a negative effect on my MSc. It is a valuable resource.

Despite this not directly affecting me, this is a valuable and unique resource that the company who I work for would be particularly disappointed to see closed.

This planned closure will have a detrimental effect on the teaching outcomes of many courses.

Currently studying an in service masters as part of the Battlespace Technology Course (BTC). By not having the IAG and access to the ranges not only would the course by the poorer for it but it would also create a genuine loss in the depth of knowledge available to the nation when it comes to understanding the effects of armour and weapon systems.

As a previous Student and about to start further study here I feel that this will have a large and negative impact on my studies.

The staff of impact and armour group as well as ranges are very important for my research work. Please don't close.

The research done by the Impact Group is definitely world class, and it is definitely not in Cranfield's best interest to lose such a valuable research entity. The ranges form one of the most attractive possessions that Cranfield has on this sight and explaining "how a gun works" on a Powerpoint slide is fairly obsolete considering the speed at which Universities are modernising their academic programs.