Cranfield University has secured a £130,000 grant for defence and civil sector research from Lockheed Martin Corporation.

The funding will be used in two study projects that investigate unmanned and autonomous systems; Swarm Eye, which will focus on sensors, and information superiority, which will focus on situational awareness.

The Cranfield University research projects were identified for funding, based on alignment with Lockheed Martin’s research goals. The research will be guided by Lockheed Martin UK and could lead to a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) helping troops on the front line.

Professor Sir John O’Reilly, Cranfield University Vice-Chancellor, said: “We are honoured to have been selected to receive a Lockheed Martin corporate research grant. This provides further demonstration of the beneficial partnership between academia and industry, enabling research to be pursued and taken forward to achieve environmental and societal benefit.”

Alan McCormick, Lockheed Martin UK - INSYS Vice President and Managing Director, said: “It’s very important that we do what we can to nurture new talent and new thinking in engineering and working directly with universities is a great way to do this. Cranfield University has a world-class reputation in this field and we are happy to be able to help them with their important work.”

“This grant will encourage fresh thinking, fresh ideas and allow the students and experts at Cranfield to investigate some of the key challenges to the defence industry.”

Lockheed Martin UK, a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. The organisation works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1700 people at sites across the UK.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

NOTES TO EDITOR
Cranfield University is a wholly postgraduate institution with a worldwide reputation for excellence and expertise in aerospace, automotive, defence, engineering, environment and water, health, management and manufacturing. The University is made up of the following Schools: Cranfield Health, School of Management, School of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering, and Cranfield Defence and Security at Shrivenham. For more information visit www.cranfield.ac.uk