Autoglass man receives top honour
Dr Chris Davies, head of technical superiority for Belron, the parent company of Autoglass, has been awarded the title of Honorary Professor in Practice from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).
The distinction is bestowed upon an individual to recognise academic and/or professional distinction in one of several disciplines aligned with the strategic intentions of the university.
Chris, who joined Belron in 2003, leads a dedicated research and development centre, which invests over two million pounds a year to address current and future challenges for vehicle glass repair and replacement and meet the future requirements of customers. The team works with a wide range of industry and academic partners to investigate future trends in glass, new materials and processes. Over recent years, Chris’s team has focused on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Chris and his team wrote the body of work that ultimately became the Thatcham Code of Practice for ADAS and automotive glazing, this is typical of the industry leading work his team conduct and why he is deserving of this accolade. In 2015, Autoglass launched a customer solution for ADAS calibration, which has since been rolled out across the UK.
Taxiarchis Konstantopoulos, managing director of Autoglass commented, ‘It’s a privilege to be able to congratulate Chris on this well-deserved recognition.
‘As recently as 2015 just over two per cent of windscreen replacements performed by Autoglass needed ADAS calibration, now, as the UK market leader, we are completing thousands every month. Chris has been pivotal in leading our technical expertise and raising the bar across the industry and globally.’
Through his association with the university, Chris will be involved in a range of initiatives to support UWTSD’s multidisciplinary Faculty of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, specifically in automotive engineering.
