Airbus is working with three UK universities to transform air travel in a project sponsored by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Three UK universities are taking part in a project to design a machine to transform air travel for future generations in a £16m ($23.9m) project.
Teams from Loughborough University, Cranfield University and Bristol University will work with UK-based aerospace and defence company Marshalls Aerospace on the project that is led by France-based aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Funding will be provided by Innovate UK, previously the Technology Strategy Board, that is sponsored by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Loughborough team has been awarded £519,000 for their part in the project.
A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “The Agile Wing Integration research project is aimed at developing rapid and world-beating wing design for aircraft, as well as helping to shape future air transport operating systems. It will explore the changing demands on air transport systems, and develop the high-value technologies and game-changing wing concepts that aircraft will need to serve them.”
Roy Kalawsky, director of Loughborough University’s Advanced VR Research Centre, said: “Clearly the project is of strategic national importance and has the potential to have a huge impact on the global air transport system, in terms of increased capacity, lower emissions and cost savings.
“This exciting project will integrate expertise from industry and academia. It will also allow us to really push the boundaries of our acknowledged research in virtual engineering.”
