Rolls-Royce, Purdue University To Develop Next-Gen Aircraft Propulsion Systems

Rolls-Royce has partnered with Purdue University to form $33 million jet-engine research and development programme to create next-generation aircraft propulsion systems.

The new programme will support research and technology development in thermal management for advanced propulsion systems, compressor and turbine technology, and analytical methods.

Rolls-Royce will also assign Purdue as a University Technology Partnership (UTP), which will initially include two research centres in the fields of advanced thermal management systems and advanced compressor systems, expanding the existing University Technology Center (UTC) designation, the company said in a statement Monday.

Established in 2003, the Rolls-Royce UTC at Purdue studies high-Mach propulsion and now the programme has shifted its focus on systems for advanced thermal management.

Last year, US-based philanthropic foundation Lilly Endowment provided $5m to Purdue University to expand the Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, as part of a $40m grant to support five transformational projects in the colleges of engineering and technology, as well as Purdue Libraries.

Purdue University chief corporate and global partnerships officer Dan Hirleman said: "The added signature initiative to advance aerothermal processes in compressors will make Purdue the first university outside of Europe to have two such research centers.

Last year, Rolls-Royce announced its move into a research and technology laboratory in the 980 acre Purdue Research Park Aerospace District, which is owned and managed by the Purdue Research Foundation.