Work begins on new Uni centre
WORK has officially began on a new multi-million pound centre at Loughborough University which will involve a partnership with RollsRoyce.
Representatives from the university, the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Rolls-Royce, Charnwood Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council turned the first turf on the site where the National Centre in Combustion and Aerothermal Technology is to be built.
The centre is to focus on the development of future low emission aerospace combustion systems that will reduce the environmental impact of aircraft.
Professor Robert Allison, vicechancellor of the university, said the centre “will be a significant addition to Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park and reinforces our commitment to provide a world-class research and develop- ment base, skilled graduate supply and innovation partnership opportunities”.
Rolls-Royce will be a lead partner in the project, building on the existing relationship it has with the university.
The centre 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.
It will also become a training ground for current and future aerospace engineers in a critical skill area for the UK.
Paul Stein, chief technology officer for Rolls-Royce, said: “The new centre will help develop the next generation of highly skilled engineers and scientists who will play an important role in developing the advanced technologies needed by Rolls-Royce and the aerospace industry to meet international environmental performance targets.”
The new building will include laboratory and office space, which will sit alongside the existing Unsteady Fluid Mechanics Laboratory – part of the Loughborough-based RollsRoyce University Technology Centre (UTC) – on the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park.
The facilities will be available to a range of users from a variety of industrial sectors.
Dr Simon Weeks, chief technology officer at the ATI, said: “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.”
Last year the Government awarded £10.8m of funding towards the new facility which is expected to be operational in 2019.