Description

Digital Innovation Services and Facilities

Cranfield University is host to a range of Digital Innovation Opportunities, supported through its Research and Innovation Office and several domain-specific digital innovation centres, including DARTeC (Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre, IVHM (Integrated Vehicle Health Management), IMEC (Intelligent Mobility Engineering Centre), AIRC (Aerospace Integration Research Centre), CUBIC/Cranfield Innovation and Technology Centre, Cranfield Eagle Labs, with over 100 members from Aerospace, Transport, & Manufacturing sectors. Furthermore it supports SMEs through its ERDF grants (Innovation in Manufacturing, Aerospace and Green Economy https://www.cranfield.ac.uk/business/develop-your-technology-and-products/image). It offers data engineering testbeds supported by a range of state of the art digital design, modelling and simulation tools, IoT-enabled physical testbeds, as well as latest Augmented Reality and visualisation technologies, and a recently launched digital control centre, making it the first Digital Ait Traffic Control Tower in the UK. It includes High Performance Computing platforms, namely ‘Astral’ and ‘Delta’, with the latter distributed computing system offering 18 Tflops across its 1280 cores, equipped with 2.4GHz memory, 4x NVidia K80 GPUs for accelerated compute capabilities, accessed via its PBS pro scheduler, and using EDR Infiniband networking (100Gbps), 117TB of usable scratch storage, with applications software stored on separate redundant BeeGFS file store. Data-driven innovation is a key activity across a large spectrum of Cranfield University activities, benefiting direct industrial members of its centres, associate members, clients, and partners of the above.

Digital Innovation Hub Centres

• DARTeC: The 67m£ Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre with strong funding from industry (Thales, SAAB, Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited, Aveillant) and a strong focus on connected systems) presents new opportunities for Digital Twin technologies across the spectrum of activities supporting the Digital Aviation technologies of the future.

• Integrated Vehicle Health Management Centre (IVHM), with members/clients such as Boeing, BAE Systems, THALES and Meggitt involved in cutting edge development and innovation on data-driven vehicle health management services, strongly linked to Digital Twins.

• IMEC: The Intelligent Mobility Centre together with the MUEAVI (Multi User Environment for Autonomous Vehicle Innovation) offer a strong innovation environment to boost the impact of Digital Twin technologies on connected and autonomous vehicles.

• AIRC: The Aerospace Integration Research Centre jointly funded by Rolls Royce and Airbus is a central hub for Aerospace Research and Innovation, including facilities with visualisation screens, flight simulators, air traffic management simulator, drawing also also capabilities of the on-site Cranfield airport, National Flying Laboratory Centre, large scale gas turbine test area, would offer opportunities for Digital Twin technologies.

• Cranfield Innovation Centre, Technology Park (hosting among other the Nissan Technical Centre), and Cranfield University Business Incubation Centre (CUBIC), Cranfield Eagle Labs for avaiation technology supported by Barclays, along with IMAGE initiative (Innovation in Manufacturing, Aerospace and Green Economy) offer thriving Innovation Hub opportunities, which alongside Cranfield’s links with National Innovation Hubs (Digital Catapult, Transport Catapult, and High Value Manufacturing Catapult) in various contexts will offer interfacing and innovation diffusion opportunities.

Cranfield University Context

Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.

We are focused on the specialist themes of aerospace, defence and security, energy and power, environment and agrifood, manufacturing, transport systems, and water. Cranfield School of Management is world leader in management education and research.

We are home to many world-class, large-scale facilities which enhance our teaching and research. We are the only university in Europe to own and run an airport and to have airline status.

Cranfield teaches over 4,500 postgraduate students each year and employs 1,500 academic and support staff. We have the largest number of engineering master’s students in the UK. Our staff-to-student ratio is one of the best for any university in the UK (one member of academic staff to every seven students).

We work closely with business, industry and government across the world. Through our industry partnerships, applied research projects and our executive education and professional development programmes, we currently work with over 1,500 companies and organisations.

We are ranked number one in the UK for research income from industry per academic, with 81% of our research classed as world-leading or internationally excellent by REF (Research Excellence Framework, 2014). 

We formed in 1946 as the College of Aeronautics, the first postgraduate college of its kind. The School of Management was founded in 1967.

Cranfield University activities are fully aligned with UK industrial strategy for digitisation and are supportive of EU digital single market initiatives. Specifically Cranfield University and its innovation centres are directly addressing the UK’s Digital Strategy for industry in the areas of Digital Infrastructure Connectivity, Development of Digital Skills, Business Digital Transformation, Cyber - Secure, Safe, and Resilient workplaces and business environments, and unlocking the potential of Data-Driven innovation in the Economy, which are all also directly relevant to the EU’s digital single market.

Offered services are directly aligned with UKZ RIS3 priorities: 

Domain description 
Professional business services
Information economy
Oil and Gas
Nuclear
Offshore wind
Aerospace
Automotive
Agricultural Technologies.

Scientific Domains

04 - Transport, telecommunication and other infrastructures
05 - Energy
06 - Industrial production and technology
08 - Agriculture

Policy Objectives

H - Service innovation, H.51 - New or improved organisational models, H.52 - New or improved service processes, H.53 - New or improved service products (commodities or public services)

D - Digital transformation, D.24 - Digitising Industry (Industry 4.0, smart and additive manufactruing), D.25 - E-Commerce & SMEs online, D.26 - e-Government (e.g. e-Procurement, open data & sharing of public sector information), D.27 - e-Health (e.g. healthy ageing), D.28 - e-Inclusion (e.g. e-Skills, e-Learning), D.29 - ICT trust, cyber security & network security, D.33 - New media & easier access to cultural contents (e.g. heritage)

B - Blue growth, B.13 - Offshore mining, oil & gas

J - Sustainable innovation, J.68 - Sustainable energy & renewables

A - Aeronautics & space, A.01 - Aeronautics, A.02 - Aeronautics & environment, A.03 - Bio fuels & energy efficiency, A.04 - Remotely piloted aircrafts, A.05 - Safety & security, A.06 - Space, A.07 - Transport & logistics

J - Sustainable innovation, J.66 - Smart green & integrated transport systems

J - Sustainable innovation, J.67 - Sustainable agriculture

Examples of relevant H2020 projects:

PROTEUS - Development of simulation methods and tools to predict the idle and sub-idle behaviour of future very large high bypass ratio geared civil turbofan engines

FRIENDS2 - Framework for Innovation for Engineering of New Durable Solar Surfaces

I3DS - Integrated 3D sensors suite

Future Sky Safety - WP 3.3 (Lead project code)

pPHEV - Predictive energy management in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
SHERLOCK - Seamless and safe human-centred robotic applications for novel collaborative workplaces

Market sectors

• Agriculture, hunting and forestry
• Mining and quarrying
• Electricity, gas and water supply
• Construction
• Wholesale and retail trade
• Transport, storage and communication
• Financial intermediation
• Public administration and defence

TRL Focus

• TRL1 - Basic principles observed and reported
• TRL2 - Technology concept and/or application formulated
• TRL3 - Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof of concept
• TRL4 - Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment
• TRL5 - Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment
• TRL6 - System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment
• TRL7 - System prototype demonstration in an operational environment

Services provided

• Awareness creation
• Ecosystem building, scouting, brokerage, networking
• Visioning and Strategy Development for Businesses
• Collaborative Researchs
• Concept validation and prototyping
• Testing and validation
• Digital Maturity Assessment
• Incubator/accelerator support
• Access to Funding and Investor Readiness Services
• Mentoring
• Education and skills development