Loughborough Universities £10.8 million hub for aerospace engineering and technology

For the past year, construction has been taking place on Loughborough University based hub for aerospace engineering and technology. The new multi-million-pound National Centre in Combustion and Aerothermal Technology will allow industrial problem-owners to visit and work closely with academic researchers to ensure that new technologies are translated from theory to practice as quickly and as efficiently as possible. PIF spoke to Loughborough University about the project. Read on to find out more.

What will the National Centre do?

The National Centre will put Loughborough at the heart of UK aerospace engineering and technology development. It will focus on the development of future low emission aerospace combustion systems that will reduce the environmental impact of aircraft.

The aerospace industry has a vision to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft and the national Centre will develop technologies to achieve this aim. The facility will be key to the UK’s development of future low-emission aerospace combustion systems, which will reduce the environmental impact of aircraft, and it will also provide supply chain opportunities and spill-over benefits into other sectors.

The facility

The new building will include laboratory and office space, which will sit alongside the existing Unsteady Fluid Mechanics Laboratory – part of the Loughborough-based Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre (UTC) – on Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park. The facilities will be available to a range of users from a variety of industrial sectors.

Professor Robert Allison, Vice-Chancellor of Loughborough University, said:

“The National Centre of Excellence will be a significant addition to Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park and reinforces our commitment to provide a world-class research and development base, skilled graduate supply and innovation partnership opportunities.”

Funding

In 2016 the Government awarded £10.8 million of funding towards the new facility. The funding is being delivered through a partnership of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the ATI and Innovate UK. Additional financial support is being provided by Rolls-Royce and Loughborough University.

Rolls-Royce will be a lead partner in the project, building on the existing relationship between Loughborough University and Rolls-Royce. It will also become a training ground for current and future aerospace engineers in a critical skill area for the UK.

It is expected that the Centre will be operational in 2019. For more information on the project get in touch with Loughborough University.