Paul Nieuwenhuis was born in the Netherlands and studied in Australia, Belgium, Spain and Scotland, where he obtained his PhD from Edinburgh University. After a spell in consultancy, carrying out projects for most of the world’s car and truck makers and acting as a special advisor on state aid in the automotive industry to the European Commission (DGIV), he joined the Centre for Automotive Industry Research (CAIR) at Cardiff University in 1990.
CAIR specialises in the economic and strategic aspects of the world automotive sector, giving it a rare overview of the industry. The centre has attracted contracts from car manufacturers, suppliers and governments, world-wide. Here he also developed his special interest in the problems of making personal mobility compatible with the need for sustainability. In 2001 he became a founder member of the ESRC-funded Centre for Business Responsibility, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS) at Cardiff University.
He co-created an innovative course in Motoring Journalism together with the highly regarded Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies and is also a director – in partnership with colleagues at the Cardiff School of Engineering – of the Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence at Cardiff University.
Humans strive for efficiency but could learn so much from nature's resilience
Dec 17, 2016 06:49 am UTC| Nature Technology
Since the industrial revolution, humans have been driving towards ever greater efficiency. In fact, efficiency making the best possible use of the resources at hand has become the core concept of how we run the...
How the car fueled global economic and foreign policy
Jul 28, 2016 02:46 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy
Cars are rarely at the centre of either the economic or political debate. In media terms, cars are often in the realm of the likes of Jeremy Clarkson, with some more serious commentators such as the RAC, FIA or SMMT as...
How Dyson can offer a challenge to Tesla and the electric car giants
Apr 04, 2016 15:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Business
British vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson may be steering into a brand new market. News that the company owned by inventor and entrepreneur, James Dyson, has received UK government research funds for electric vehicle...
Riversimple's hydrogen fuel cell Rasa gives car design a clean slate
Feb 22, 2016 14:13 pm UTC| Technology
The prototype of a car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell was unveiled this month by the Welsh company Riversimple. The company has named its vehicle named Rasa after the Latin phrase tabula rasa, which means: clean...