waiting for the research to flow;
it’s about a relationship that works
across a number of levels, and the
prestige locally of being involved
with the Academy is a very
important part of that too.”
Professor Brian Falzon said he was
looking forward to promoting
greater collaboration between
the academic world and the
requirements of industry.
But there is an international
dimension too: two of the
engineering professorships that
Bombardier sponsors in Canadian
institutions also cover the
important aerospace technology
of engineering composites. “We
hope to develop an international
network that will clearly benefit us
but also benefit the professors and
the universities”, said Campbell.
The direct impact of the new post
will be felt in three areas. “The
first is the pull-through of new
technologies and the validation
of ideas into projects with
clearer industrial application. We
recognise that it can take many
years to develop a product or a
process, but we also recognise
the need to keep the pipeline of
ideas topped up with projects at all
stages of maturity,” said Campbell.
The second is to ensure that key
skills within the company and the
universities are enhanced.
In tandem with this, there is an
emphasis on the transfer of skills
and knowledge. “There can be
frontline support, maybe some
personal mentoring and certainly
advice on challenging problems
from someone who is a leading
expert in their field.”
Chief Technical Engineer David
Riordan said that this kind of
knowledge transfer had been
a feature of the earlier joint
professorship with the Academy
“Professor Raghunathan brought
extremely good links into the
wider university and also into
other industrial companies. We
gained both from his specific
knowledge and from his breadth
of knowledge.”
The third specific area that
Bombardier Aerospace has for its
involvement with the Academy
is a local one. “We’re very much a
company that tries to live by its
corporate social responsibility, and
we run an educational outreach
programme,” Campbell said. “We
see this as an important part of
what Bombardier as a company
puts back into society locally
and nationally.” There is a strong
Northern Ireland aspect to this.
“When we were developing
the proposal with the Academy
we were obviously looking for
academic excellence,” Campbell
said.
“But the geography is also
important because it’s not just a
matter of writing a cheque and
“This is an exciting role which
facilitates the exploration and
exploitation of new ideas and
innovations with one of the
world’s leading aerospace
companies and with the support
of the Academy. The requirement
for reduced development and
production timeframes, lower
life cycle costs and increasingly
stringent environmental targets,
presents a number of intellectually
challenging and complex
problems.
For example, the further
development, utilisation and
integration of computational tools
for ‘high- delity’ virtual testing and
design of advanced composite
aerostructures has the potential
to transform current design
philosophies and methodologies,”
he said.
“We recruit very
actively from the
universities, both
at graduate level
and increasingly at
doctorate and postdoctorate levels,”
Campbell said.