Jet engines and power plant turbines are about to be redesigned by engineers trained to handle a flood of data, not just airflow physics. The UK’s aero-propulsion sector faces rapid change: jet engines must slash emissions through new architectures and electrified designs, while gas turbines for power generation need to flexibly back up intermittent renewables. At the same time, experimental tests and computer simulations are merging, generating unprecedented volumes of data. The old training model, focused solely on aero-thermal science, no longer suffices. Engineers now need to convert this data into innovative design changes. This Centre for Doctoral Training will produce graduates who combine deep aero-thermal knowledge with data science, AI, and systems integration skills. Industry partners—Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Dyson—are funding at least 35 studentships and will provide real-world manufacturing and operational context. If successful, the programme will create a workforce capable of delivering cleaner, more efficient aircraft and power plants, directly affecting aviation emissions and grid stability. The impact is practical and immediate: better-trained engineers mean faster, smarter design cycles for the propulsion and power systems that keep the UK’s economy and infrastructure running.
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The UK has an international reputation for excellence in the aero-propulsion and power generation industry and is at the forefront of research into the underpinning aero-thermal science and technology. Through the current CDT in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics, the UK has also established itself as the global leader in graduate training in the field. But this sector is entering a period of accelerated change and market disruption. In aerospace, the continuing drive to reduce emissions is necessitating major architecture changes in jet engines as well as entirely new electrified concepts with integrated engine-airframe designs. In power generation, fast response and flexible operation gas turbines are required to support the increasing capacity of renewables. In addition, the traditional physical (experimental tests) and digital (computational simulation) worlds are merging with the advent of rapid multi-disciplinary design tools and additive manufacturing. The common thread in these challenges is the rapid increase in the rate of generation of data and the requirement for engineers to convert this information into innovative design changes. To maintain its leadership position, the UK must train a new generation of engineers with the skills needed to innovate in this data-rich environment. The new CDT in Future Propulsion and Power will train engineers with the Data, Learning and Design, and Systems Integration skills required by aero-thermal engineers of the future. Engineers will need to handle an unprecedented volume of Data from the latest multi-disciplinary simulations, experimental tests, or from real engines in the field. From this, engineers will need to distil Learning by a critical evaluation of the data, using AI and data science as appropriate, against hypotheses developed with reference to the underpinning aero-thermal science. The critical output from this Learning is improved Design, be that of a an individual component or process, or an Integrated System (e.g. electrically driven propulsor, urban air taxi, fast-response power generation). This set of coupled, aero-thermal focussed skills will be provided by the new CDT in Future Propulsion and Power. The Centre is a collaboration between three universities and four industry partners, each with complimentary expertise and skills, but with a shared vision to deliver a training experience that sets the global benchmark for Propulsion and Power education. The laboratories of the partner institutions have a track record of research leadership in turbomachinery aerodynamics (Cambridge), heat transfer (Oxford) and combustor aerodynamics (Loughborough). The new Master's course will use expertise from the three universities to train students in the underpinning aero-thermal science, in the experimental and computational data generation and critical evaluation, and in the process of aerodynamic design. Data Science training will be provided by Workshops delivered by the Alan Turing Institute and by researchers using advanced data analytics in the Centre's universities. The Industry Partners (Rolls-Royce, Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Dyson) are committed to defining, delivering and supporting the Centre (they will fund a minimum of 35 studentships). As well as providing a pathway for research projects to contribute to real products, the sponsoring companies also deliver bespoke industry courses to the students of the CDT; they provide a manufacturing, operation and Systems Integration context that only industry can offer. The Industry Partners will include data analytics (from R2 Data Labs - Rolls-Royce, and MindSphere/IoT - Siemens) in their industry courses. These companies, and others in related sectors in the UK, ensure a demand for the graduates of the new CDT with their unique, aerodynamics-focussed, Data, Learning and Design skill set.
Alastair Walker (Co-Investigator)Andrew Wheeler (Co-Investigator)Jonathan Carrotte (Co-Investigator)Luca Di Mare (Co-Investigator)Peter Ireland (Co-Investigator)Robert Miller (Co-Investigator)
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