The future of vehicle technology has been under discussion in Sussex.

Delegates from the UK, Europe and the United States met at Sussex University for the first Total Vehicle Technology conference.

Organiser Peter Childs, from the university's engineering department, said: "Fifty years ago the mechanical engineer was king of the road in terms of vehicle design.

"Now car manufacture involves expertise from many different disciplines.

In particular, design is a key issue for the modern market place. "We brought together 25 speakers for this two-day conference, including Bernard Robertson, vicepresident of Daimler Chysler, from America.

"No two papers were the same style or topic. They were from all areas of vehicle production, analysing subjects from internal electronics to a whole market overview."

The next generation of vehicles could have controls more in common with aircraft than the familiar steering wheel and pedals.

Mr Childs said: "There was a buzz about research being carried out on a joystick-driven car.

A team at the University of Portsmouth spoke about how it is looking at replacing the steering wheel and accelerator pedal with a central joystick control.

"Previously, the mechanical nature of a car's internal workings have made levers a necessity but with electronics a whole new style of operation is possible.

"Early indications have shown the younger generation loves the concept and is even more road safe using the joystick than traditional controls.

It's not such a hit with older drivers."

Mr Childs arranged for an Arrows Formula One racing car to be exhibited on campus to raise the profile of the event.

He said: "We decided to place it smack in the middle of the university so everyone could see it.

"Too many specialist conferences take place without anyone else knowing they are going on and we decided to make an impression because our subject is something everyone can enjoy.

"We had a few worries about getting the car into place at first. It arrived outside my office on a much longer trailer than we had anticipated.

"We weren't sure if it was going to go round all the corners and it was a challenge to get it on to library.

The looks on people's faces and the interest it generated was well worth the effort."

Jim Mason, business development manager for Worthing-based engineering consultants TWR, gave the key note speech.

He said: "All of us in the automotive industry need to keep on refreshing our knowledge.

There is a tendency to go into brainsaver mode and do the same old things year after year.

We have a strong nucleus of automotive technology locally and this conference was great for making everyone think about new ideas and avoid getting stuck in a rut."

A TVT exhibition was also held, with displays by companies, including Shoreham-based Ricardo, showing information on electronics, instrumentation and testing.

www.tfmrc.com/tvt