Aerodays 2015: Innovate UK highlights game-changing technologies

21 Oct 2015 03:06 PM

Major European aeronautics and air transport industry event in London features funded projects with the potential to meet huge challenges.

Innovate UK is promoting the best of British aerospace innovation at Aerodays 2015, Europe’s flagship event for research in aeronautics and air transport, being held in London this week.

Aerodays is a major networking opportunity for the entire European aeronautics and air transport community, organised as part of the EU Research Framework programme.

Ashley Bryant, managing director of VTOL Technologies, at his stand exhibiting a wing design at Aerodays 2015.

Ashley Bryant, managing director of VTOL Technologies, at Aerodays 2015.

It attracts more than 1,000 delegates, including ministers from national governments, European Commissioners, aviation industry CEOs, technology organisations and universities from across Europe and further afield.

The event focuses on goals being set for the industry under the ACAREFlightpath 2050 vision for European aviation:

a trebling of air capacity
CO₂ emissions cut by 75%
one accident per 10 million flights
nitrous oxide emissions cut by 90%
flights landing within one minute of schedule
perceived noise reduced by 65%

Paul Miller, of Rolls-Royce, with a model of a new aero-engine concept

Paul Miller, of Rolls-Royce, with a model of a distributed fan propulsion concept.

Innovate UK works with government and other agencies, such as Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and the Aerospace Growth Partnership(AGP) to help the UK make the most of global market opportunities in a total civil aerospace market of $5 trillion.

They include a need for 27,000 aircraft of 100-plus seats, 24,000 business jets and 40,000 helicopters by 2033.

Funding for SMEs

Aerodays 2015 will feature companies being funded by Innovate UK to develop ‘highly innovative technology enablers in aerospace’ (HITEA).

HITEA competitions look for entries that offer solutions to key aerospace industry challenges and for opportunities to bring in technologies and capabilities from outside the traditional aerospace sector.

Innovate UK has invested a total of £19 million in HITEA 1 and 2 projects. More than 30% of that funding has gone to SMEs among the 80-plus project partners from industry.

Innovate UK exhibition area at Aerodays 2015, with a UAV in the foreground.

Winners of HITEA challenges are on the Innovate UK stand along with examples of enabling technologies, high-value manufacturing, energy and transport projects.

All demonstrate wider participation in aviation-related research and knowledge transfer across industry sectors.

Read about all about HITEA projects from the SMEs’ point of view