Accelerating R&D and the route to commercialisation

• We contribute directly to Rolls-Royce’s design process, proposing and validating improvements at both a system and component level.
• Our detailed aerothermal data supports engine performance and fuel consumption modelling before the need for expensive engine tests.
• We had a direct impact on the Trent XWB – the world's most efficient large aircraft engine – which powers the Airbus A350.

Sharing expertise and knowledge

• Our experiments and numerical simulations capture the fundamental physics which occur in the engine environment, supplying Rolls-Royce with much needed data.
• Rolls-Royce employees regularly spend time with us, and we have a unique secondment scheme allowing our researchers to spend a year at Rolls-Royce.

Contributing to the national infrastructure for combustion system research

• Our approach for developing aerothermal technology has been extended to a national level.
• In 2020, we opened the £15 million National Centre for Combustion and Aerothermal Technology (NCCAT).
• NCCAT will be the UK’s primary hub for R&D of future low-emission aero gas turbine combustion technologies.
• It was developed in collaboration with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), Innovate UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Rolls-Royce plc and the University.
• Its launch was described by the Government as “investing £14 million with Rolls-Royce and Loughborough University in a collaborative research and technology project to reduce engine emissions”.