Forensic Institute transformation – part one

Image: Student and staff common room area in B39 

This is a time of big changes for Cranfield Forensic Institute. I will be writing a series of blog posts to share with you the exciting events that will happen over the next year as we transform our Forensic Institute into a world leading new facility. Cranfield University has invested over £3.5 million in producing a new home for us, with new laboratories and equipment, helping our teaching and research facility to be unparalleled in the UK. Students and staff will have access to new facilities such as a virtual reality autopsy table, crime scene investigation rooms and a simulated mass grave excavation site. 

The new Institute will be in Building 39 (B39) in the heart of Cranfield’s campus in Bedfordshire. The plans for B39 are now being finalised and will include six new laboratories, new student spaces, technician offices and support areas. Over the next few months, this blog will share with you our plans and show you something of what the new facility will look like when we take it over in September 2020. 

The first area I would like to tell you about will be the very centre of the whole Institute, the student and staff common room area. Based on the first floor of the building, it will have easy access to all the teaching spaces and labs. The plan for this was signed off recently, and you will see in the image how the space will look. It includes multi use areas for students and staff and screens which students can plug laptops into for discussion. As more rooms and labs are signed off I will add them to the blog and detail exciting equipment that we have ordered for staff and student use.  

If you want to chat to our forensics team about the move, explore the Cranfield campus or have questions about the Forensic MSc programme, come to our next Open Day.

You can also read ‘Part Two’ of the Forensic Institute transformation…