12 Feb 2007 | Ref. 043/2007
FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom – BAE Systems welcomes the boost that the DTI/industry funding for the Centre for Fluid Mechanics Simulation (CFMS) will give to UK science and technology. The DTI has announced today that the centre has secured £17.4 million from public and private sector partners over the next three years to position the UK as a world-leader in simulation technology.
“Combining the funding and efforts of the DTI and industry partners in this key area will enable the UK to compete much more effectively in the international arena,” says BAE Systems group strategic development director Alison Wood. “This is a transformational, not incremental, change.”
The work to be carried out in the UK’s largest-ever fluid simulation research initiative for industrial design at the centre near the MOD procurement hub at Abbey Wood, Bristol will lead to cleaner, greener passenger aircraft and speed the design of ships, buildings, cars, renewable energy sources and military and sporting equipment . It will increase the power of fluid mechanics-based design processes by up to a million times by 2012.
One area of study will help reduce the cost and turnaround times on the clearance of new stores, such as reconnaissance pods and missiles, to be carried under aircraft wings.
Aerodynamics and hydro-acoustics for autonomous systems are also a key study area. Research activity within CFMS will feed into a range of ongoing and future programmes. The lightweight, flexible structures of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) also present major design challenges and an early programme will examine how key elements interact.
The CFMS project is due to come online in early 2007 with a South West Regional Development Agency-supported lab at Emerson’s Green, Bristol up and running by mid-2008. In the meantime the programme will use BAE Systems’ nearby Advanced Technology Centre (ATC).
Technical co-ordinator for the programme Dr David Standingford, of the ATC, explains: “The CFMS is unique in the range of support from across many industry sectors. We intend to develop and provide infrastructure enabling effective engagement of the academic research base as well as the specialist supply chain.”
Unlike the traditional approach to simulation, which demands expensive leading-edge computing technology, the UK approach for the first time relies upon reformulating problems so that off-the-shelf hardware for the consumer market can be used to tackle the same tasks much more cheaply.
Early work on the programme will include front-end research which will benefit key UK Ministry of Defence/BAE Systems programmes. “The main short-term benefits for us lie in the ability to design military equipment for UK forces better, faster and cheaper,” says Standingford.
“We will also be able to improve speed and accuracy in predicting the performance of in-service modifications on existing aircraft.”
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier transatlantic defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. With 88,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems' sales exceeded 12 billion pounds (US22 billion dollars) in 2005, excluding the Group's former interest in Airbus.
For further information please contact:
Mike Sweeney, BAE Systems
Tel: +44 (0)1252-38 3074 Mob: +44 (0) 7801 716452
Mike.sweeney@baesystems.com
