The University of Limerick (UL) continues to lead the way in Irish aerospace research.

A recent visit to the UL facilities aims to further forge links with global leader in aerospace, EADS. Currently employing over 118,000 people across the world, EADS group includes Airbus, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial and military aircraft, Eurocopter, the world’s largest helicopter manufacturer, and EADS Astrium, the European leader in space programmes from Ariane to Galileo.

Speaking about UL’s aerospace research programme, Dr Trevor Young, co-director of the Composites Research Centre (CRC) said; “The University of Limerick based Composites Research Centre and Stokes Institute have an excellent track record in aerospace research, having participated in 10 EC funded research programmes to date.”

The Stokes Institute and the Composites Research Centre at UL have received a joint research grant of €1.4million for one of the biggest aerospace projects of recent years, MAAXIMUS. The project is part of a 57 partner €67M project funded under the European Commission’s 7th Framework programme, led by Airbus.

Dr Conor McCarthy, Course Director for the Aeronautical Engineering programme and leading the 0.9M€ structures activities on the MAAXIMUS project said; “Our involvement in projects of this magnitude gives further support to Ireland’s reputation as a leader in this field of research. Through industry, academic and research partnerships a collaborative environment can be created that will generate world-leading developments for the aerospace research. Such developments also naturally filter down to the class room and significantly add to the student experience.”

A second major European project led by Airbus which Stokes Institute are participating in is CRESCENDO (Collaborative and Robust Engineering using Simulation Capability Enabling Next Design Optimisation). This involves 59 European aerospace companies, research organisations and Universities with a total budget of €55.5M.

Dr David Newport of the Stokes Institute is leading UL’s participation in the MAAXIMUS and CRESCENDO projects; “We have been working with Airbus since 2003 with a number of successful projects examining thermal effects in aircraft wings, fuel tanks and engine pylons. Both MAAXIMUS and CRESCENDO projects have a strong focus on thermal analysis, and UL’s expertise was a natural fit.”

UL offers the only Bachelor of Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering course in the republic of Ireland and has developed strong links in undergraduate placement and support of PhD research with EADS. Over the years, in the region of 100 UL students have been recruited for placement opportunities at EADS and the group currently co-funds a number of PhD researchers at the University of Limerick through the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme in the areas of stress analysis of composite materials.

EADS is currently looking for a number of highly talented graduate engineers or PhDs to join the EADS group of companies — Airbus, Eurocopter, EADS Astrium and EADS Defence and Security.

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