Cranfield lands £5M in industry collaboration

Collaboration agreement

The aerospace companies BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Meggitt Plc have each committed £1 million over five years for integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) research at the IVHM Centre of Excellence at Cranfield University in the UK. The centre was set up the university with support from Boeing in late 2007.

IVHM aims to advance existing approaches to vehicle maintenance, repair and overhaul, offering a total health check for high-tech, high-value vehicles such as aircraft, ships, high-speed trains and high-performance cars.

The technology works through a network of sensors that are distributed on the vehicle, collecting data on the condition components and subsystems. On-board processors assess a vehicle’s condition, predict its future life and record any deterioration. The results can be used to reduce operating costs, increase competitiveness and allow companies to assess the effectiveness of their fleets.

The research projects for the industrial partners will be conducted by academics from Cranfield and other research institutions that will be physically or virtually co-located in a purpose-built research centre due to open at the university in autumn 2008. The facility had had a £3 million grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

Cranfield University’s Vice-Chancellor, John O’Reilly, said, “The IVHM initiative complements Cranfield’s commitment to foster strategic relationships and pursue multi-disciplinary approaches to complex industry challenges. This multi-sector initiative, embracing aerospace, automotive, rail, marine and energy will, I am confident, stimulate others to see the long-term benefits of IVHM: we welcome further interest and collaboration.”

Peter Lawrence, Director of Support Technology at Boeing, said, “The partners expect that IVHM will significantly reduce maintenance time and improve vehicle availability.”

Ric Parker, Director of Research and Technology at Rolls Royce, said equipment health management is an area of growing importance and technical interest for the company. “We are very pleased to have found a way to combine our efforts with key industrial partners and with Cranfield University in this imaginative scheme.”

Richard Williams, Research & Technology Delivery Director of Military Air Solutions at BAE Systems, said, “We are fully committed to investment in academia as we have realised significant benefit from such partnerships in the recent past.”