Back to the Future with Queen’s Electric DeLorean 
22 October 2015
Queen’s has unveiled its own electric DeLorean, on the exact date – 21 October 2015 – that Marty McFly went Back To The Future in the iconic Belfast-built car!
Doc Brown famously modified the DeLorean as a time machine in the Back to the Future movies, the second of which saw Marty McFly travel to 21 October 2015 to prevent his future son being sent to prison.
On that very day, Queen’s and NIE Networks will unveil the latest version of the famous car at the Ulster Museum. Students and staff have modified the car as a hi-tech electrical vehicle, the first of its kind in the UK or Ireland. And it is thought to be the first DeLorean to be built in Northern Ireland since production came to a halt at Belfast factory in 1983.
With Queen’s Annual Fund and NIE Networks support students and staff from Queen’s School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have painstakingly restored and modified the DeLorean DMC-12 over the last eighteen months.
Local school children got a chance to view the car, along with the opportunity to find out more about the Electrical Engineering courses on offer at Queen’s, while members of the public found out more about the Queen’s Electric DeLorean project at a packed out free public lecture at the Ulster Museum at 6pm on Wednesday, 21 October.
Dr David Laverty, who leads the project is the ‘Doc Brown’ of Queen’s Electric DeLorean. He said: “In the future, more and more of our energy will come from renewable electricity – whether to power appliances in the home or our means of travel. The electrification of transport is a major global challenge, so projects like the Queen’s Electric DeLorean are crucial in equipping young engineers with the knowledge and expertise to build the electric vehicles of the future.
“This project was about modifying a car into an electric vehicle, but we wanted to do it in style. The DeLorean was the obvious choice because of its strong connection to Belfast and its starring role in the Back to The Future movies.
“As Doc Brown said, ‘if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything’. We are very proud of what our students have accomplished during this project. Queen’s Electric DeLorean has equipped them with the skills, knowledge and experience for a career in electrical engineering.”
Gordon Parkes, HR Director at NIE Networks, said: “It’s fantastic to see the electric DeLorean conversion completed. This has been a unique and exciting project that NIE Networks has been proud to sponsor.
“We’ve supported this project because it’s an original and innovative way of engaging and promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects to school children and students. What better way to prove that anything is possible with Engineering than with a project that has used ‘smart’ technology to convert the iconic DeLorean car into an electric vehicle.
“At NIE Networks we predict a skills shortage in power engineering throughout the next ten years and beyond, this is despite the power industry providing many opportunities for highly skilled and secure jobs with circa 38,000 new power engineering jobs across the UK over the next decade.
“The essence of engineering is to find solutions to new challenges and this project has enabled Queen’s students to gain excellent learning and build essential skills for the job market. Working with Queen’s we have a stimulating agenda planned for the future, where the DeLorean will visit schools and careers events to promote engineering and hopefully inspire the Electrical Engineers of tomorrow.”
Professor Stan Scott, Head of the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen’s said: “Today’s unveiling of Queen’s Electric DeLorean is not only an opportunity to celebrate the work of our students and staff, it is also a chance to give school children an insight into the exciting courses on offer at Queen’s.
“This project has attracted interest from around the globe with students from world-renowned Princeton University joining us at Queen’s over the summer to work on the project. Initiatives like this, alongside industry placements and study abroad schemes, ensure that Queen’s graduates are equipped with skills that set them apart in a very competitive job market – I doubt there are many others who can claim to have built an electric DeLorean! ”
For furthur information visit QUB Electric DeLorean on Facebook or follow @QUBDeLorean on Twitter.
Find out more about Queen’s Annual Fund and how you can help future student projects at Queen’s.
Media inquiries to Anne-Marie Clarke (Mon-Wed) or Michelle Cassidy (Thurs-Fri) at Queen’s Communications Office, tel: +44 (0)28 9097 5310
Photo (L-R): Stephanie McCullagh, NIE Networks, Queen's graduate electrical engineer Brian Moorehead (aka Marty McFly), Dr David Laverty, Queen's School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (aka Doc Brown), and Gordon Parkes, HR Director NIE Networks with Queen's Electric DeLorean.
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