Over the last year, the University’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Faculty has launched more than £2m worth of research and development projects for one of the world's leading industrial technology companies. This is the latest step of a partnership which stretches back 20 years, first started by Professor Cecil Armstrong.
The news came when Frank Kirkland, the chief designer for Civil Aviation at Rolls-Royce, spoke at Queen’s University’s annual Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture.
Said Kirkland, on a visit to the team at Queen’s University Belfast: “The work which the team here at Queen’s is carrying out supports Rolls-Royce's aim to deliver more efficient engines when we’re designing for the future. We value the expertise which we get from the team and the partnership which stretches back many years.”
The latest projects to launch at the University are helping Rolls-Royce's Civil Aerospace business understand how aircraft will change in the future – and what those changes will mean for the engines it makes.
Other projects the University focuses on with the company is on the topic of geometry and meshing. This research seeks to speed up the design process, by making computational analysis more automated, integrated and efficient.
Dr Trevor Robinson from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s, who himself did his PhD in collaboration with Rolls-Royce, said: “The partnership we have with Rolls-Royce is hugely important to the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and is one of our most exciting projects.
“Aircraft of the future won’t look like the aircraft of today and Rolls-Royce need to know what that means for their engines; we’re helping them figure that out.”
One of the academics who started research in this area is Professor Mark Price, who is now pro-vice-chancellor of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Queen’s. He said: “It’s great to see relationships between the University and innovative companies like Rolls- Royce evolve over the years. These global leaders drive technology change because they strive to make their products better and better in a highly competitive market.
“This then drives us to be innovative in our research and to ensure that innovation and effort is focused on helping our company partners to progress. Our research in the aerospace engineering field, and especially this structural geometry and design team, is second-to-none and it bodes well for further collaboration with industry in the future.”
