MAAT International Airship Project

Comparative size of airships and aircraft

International research collaboration for Lincoln

Lincoln’s PVC Research, Professor Paul Stewart and Professor of Energy Conversion, Chris Bingham, have been awarded high profile European funding for a new research project.

The MAAT (Multibody Advanced Airship for Transport) project sees Profs Stewart and Bingham working as part of a global consortium to take forward airship technology, through funding from the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

The project is being led by the Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy and the Lincoln team will focus on ‘Energy and Propulsive Systems’ with Paul in the role of principal investigator and Chris as co-investigator.

Prof Stewart said: “Airships are currently being developed by various organisations. They open up possibilities for the future of air travel; they are quieter, don’t require runways and are low carbon.

“Chris and I will be looking at how we can make the most efficient use of the energy generated by the photovoltaic cells on the outer body of the airships. We will focus on elements such as the electrical power systems, energy storage and propulsion and the control systems used for flying. By introducing innovative systems we can overcome the limitations of traditional propellers at high altitudes.”

The €multi-million project will run over three years and is one of two FP7-funded projects recently secured by the University. FP7 is the EU funding programme for research and technological development and is open to all disciplines – including social sciences and humanities. With a budget of €50 billion FP7 funds a range of project types, from large scale strategic collaborative research to individual fellowships. It runs until 2013, with new calls for proposals each year.

Why participate in FP7 research?

  • • Internationalisation of research
  • • Benchmarking performance in European context
  • • Range of project types (multi-disciplinary, industrial)
  • • Networking opportunities – research and teaching
  • • Opening up new opportunities
  • • Mobility of staff and students
  • • Research capacity
  • • Pan-European university networks
  • • Links to ‘third stream’ activities

 

The UK does exceptionally well out of all the countries involved in FP7. A recent UKRO report highlighting UK success rates found that:

 

  • • proposals from UK applicants were the second highest number from any country (as of October 2010).

 

  • • the UK has an above average applicant success rate: 24.5%, as opposed to 21.9% for the EU as whole. It also has a higher ‘financial contribution’ success rate: 22.6% as opposed to 20.9%.
  • • to date, 3721 grant agreements have been signed. 19% of participants  are from the UK, the second highest number of participations.
  • • 23.3% of EU funding has gone to UK beneficiaries; again, this is the second largest budget share.
  • • the UK also has an above average SME success rate: an applicant success rate of 22.1%, against EU 19.4%; a financial contribution success rate of 21.4%, against EU 18.3%.

The University’s David Young, Senior Research Facilitator in the  Research and Enterprise Office, is keen to advise and support staff with applications to this fund. For more information about the application process or the specific programmes within the framework contact him via email or on ext 6902.

Transport research R&D skills profile

Prof Stewart presenting on the School of Engineering's Transport R&D capabilities in Brussels at the EU

The Transport Research open days gave us a great opportunity to present on our capabilities, network, and engage in brokerage activities with potential project collaborators.

We have long-standing, significant research experience in these areas and our capabilities in this area can be summarised:

  • Power optimised systems for aeronautical and automotive applications, including the More Electric Aircraft  and Electric/Hybrid Vehicles
  • Electrical machines, power converters and energy storage
  • Autonomous vehicles
  • Electromechanical/Electrohydraulic actuation systems
  • IC and gas turbine combustion, emissions and performance testing, analysis and multi-dimensional (CFD) modelling
  • Fluid-Solid interactions
  • Dual fuel and alternative fuel combustion
  • Advanced, intelligent engine modelling, design and control
  • Artificial Intelligence for low carbon transport operation
Part of the Brokerage area at the event, which was populated with R&D expertise pro-formas, and project proposals

 

This is a selection of some of the EU projects which our staff have worked on:

‘PeakFly’ Flywheel Energy Storage PL95-0904

‘FlyTech’ Flywheel Energy Storage BE-95-1616

‘FPEC’ Free Piston Energy Converter GRD2-2001-51813

‘ELVAS’ Electronic Valve Actuation Systems GRD1-2000-25251

‘MOET’ More Open Electrical Technologies AIP5-CT-2006-030861

MAAT Multi-body Advanced Airship for Transport FP7-AAT-2011-RTD-1 Project:285602 (Sept 2011 start.)

 

Prof Stewart queries the multi-lingual facilities of the conference centre

R&D Keywords:

Power and Energy, Systems Modeling and Optimisation, Electrical Machines and Drives, Advanced Fuels and Combustion, Control and Simulation, Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, More Electric Aircraft, Gas Turbines, Internal Combustion Engine, Advanced Powertrains, Electrical Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Low Carbon Operation, CFD

 

EU Framework 7 Aeronautics and Air Transport briefing Brussels 18 July 2011

Aeronautics and Air Transport plenary session at the European Commission Charlemagne Building

Profs Chris Bingham and Paul Stewart from the School of Engineering attended the Framework 7 Aeronautics and Air Transport  – 5th Call briefing in Brussels on Monday

The event provided information on the forthcoming calls, and most importantly provided a vital opportunity for networking and project brokerage with potential collaborative partners.

The EU funded project ETNA is organised a networking and brokerage event focussing on the topics covered by the next round of calls to be published in July of 2011. The networking and brokerage events followied the informational sessions carried out by the European Commission in the morning. The event on day 1 (Monday, July 18)  focused on the topics in the sub-programme Aeronautics and Air Transport (AAT). The event took place in the building Charlemagne, rue de la Loi 170 – the same location as the informational sessions in the morning.

The networking and brokerage event participants are contained in this PDF document: ETNA_2011_Brokerage_Participants_FINAL_15_07_2011

Prof Paul Stewart giving a talk on the Aeronautic and Automotive Engineering capabilities of the School of Engineering

Lincoln School of Engineering FP7 Transport R&D Profile

This is the information about our R&D expertise in this field which goes into our presentations for the Networking and Brokerage workshops which form part of the Partner and Project search at the Transport information days in Brussels this week.

Name of the Organisation University of Lincoln School of Engineering
Organisation Short Name UoL
Organisation Type Higher Education Institution
Country UK
Fields of Activity UK University School of Engineering focussed on Mechanical, Electrical and Control Engineering
Skills and Expertise Offered
  • Power optimised systems for aeronautical and automotive applications, including the More Electric Aircraft  and Electric/Hybrid Vehicles
  • Electrical machines, power converters and energy storage
  • Autonomous vehicles
  • Electromechanical/Electrohydraulic actuation systems
  • IC and gas turbine combustion, emissions and performance testing, analysis and multi-dimensional (CFD) modelling
  • Fluid-Solid interactions
  • Dual fuel and alternative fuel combustion
  • Advanced, intelligent engine modelling, design and control
  • Artificial Intelligence for low carbon transport operation

 

Keywords Power and Energy, Systems Modeling and Optimisation, Electrical Machines and Drives, Advanced Fuels and Combustion, Control and Simulation, Electric and Hybrid Vehicles, More Electric Aircraft, Gas Turbines, Internal Combustion Engine, Advanced Powertrains, Electrical Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Low Carbon Operation, CFD
Previous FP Projects Participated ‘PeakFly’ Flywheel Energy Storage PL95-0904

‘FlyTech’ Flywheel Energy Storage BE-95-1616

‘FPEC’ Free Piston Energy Converter GRD2-2001-51813

‘ELVAS’ Electronic Valve Actuation Systems GRD1-2000-25251

‘MOET’ More Open Electrical Technologies AIP5-CT-2006-030861

MAAT Multi-body Advanced Airship for Transport FP7-AAT-2011-RTD-1 Project:285602 (Sept 2011 start.)

Topic(s) Interested Aeronautics and Air Transport and Sustainable Surface Transport
Contact Person Professor Paul Stewart
Position in the Organisation Pro Vice Chancellor Research
Tel +44 7814 182578
Email pstewart@lincoln.ac.uk
URL http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/engineering/

 

FP7 Sustainable Surface Transport Agenda 19 July 2011

FIAT Electric Truck

FP7 Information Days for Transport (Incl. Aeronautics) 19 July 2011

Sustainable Surface Transport Draft Agenda Brussels (Charlemagne building, Rue de la Loi 170)

Morning: Plenary sessions (Plenary room GASP – second floor) Chairman: Liam Breslin, Head of Unit (RTD-H2)

Registration Welcome addresses

  • Welcome by Liam Breslin, Head of Surface Transport Unit, Directorate-General Research & Innovation (RTD-H2)
  • Welcome by Paul Verhoef, Head of Research and Innovative Transport Systems Unit,

Directorate-General Mobility and Transport (MOVE-C2)

Presentations of 5th calls for proposals for Sustainable Surface Transport and Cross-cutting Activities

  • “Overview of SST work programme and SST-RTD call”

Liam Breslin, Head of Unit (RTD-H2)

  • Topic Group No 1: “Increasing railway capacity”

Michal Klima (RTD-H2)

  • Topic Group No 2: “Ensuring safe, green and competitive waterborne transport” Dominique Ramaekers-Jorgensen (RTD-H2)
  • Topic Group No 3: “Implementing research for the ‘European Green Car Initiative” Maurizio Maggiore (RTD-H2)

European Green Car Initiative – Demonstration Activities

  • Hugues Van Honacker (MOVE-B4)

Coffee break

  • Topic Group No 4: “Activities and research areas of cross-cutting character (sustainable urban mobility, improving surface transport through ITS and safety and security)”

Patrick Mercier-Handisyde (RTD-H2)

  • “Transport horizontal call (TPT)”

Frank Smit (RTD-H1)

  • Overview of DG MOVE transport call

Paul Verhoef, Head of Unit (MOVE–C2)

  • “How to apply: call, rules, eligibility, e-submission, evaluation overview, typical mistakes” Joost de Bock (RTD-H2)

Questions and answers

  • Presentation of CORDIS service Magdolna Zsivnovszki, Simon Robinson
  • “National Contact Points and introduction of the brokerage activities”

David Doerr, ETNA coordinator, TÜV Rheinland PT

Lunch and networking Brokerage activities

14h00-18h00 Brokerage activities: further details on http://www.transport-ncps.net