Work officially began last month on the new multi-million-pound National Centre in Combustion and Aerothermal Technology at Loughborough University.
Representatives from the university, the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Rolls-Royce, Charnwood Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council got construction work under way by turning the first turf.
The centre will put Loughborough at the heart of UK aerospace engineering and technology research; it will focus on the development of low-emission aerospace combustion systems that will reduce the environmental impact of aircraft.
Rolls-Royce will be a lead partner in the project, building on its existing relationship with Loughborough University, and the centre will allow businesses to work closely with academic researchers to ensure that new technologies are translated from theory to practice as quickly and efficiently as possible.
It will also become a training ground for current and future aerospace engineers in a critical skill area for the UK.
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.
Simon Weeks, chief technology officer at the ATI, said: “The aerospace industry has a vision to reduce the environmental impact of aircraft, and the Aerospace Technology Institute is fully supportive of programmes that support the development of technologies that will achieve this aim.
“We are proud to support Loughborough University’s National Centre in Combustion and Aerothermal Technology. It will be key to the UK’s development of future low-emission aerospace combustion systems, and it will provide supply chain opportunities and spill-over benefits into other sectors.”
Last year, the Government awarded £10.8 million of funding towards the new facility (delivered through a partnership of the Business Department, the ATI and Innovate UK). Additional financial support is being provided by Rolls-Royce and Loughborough University.