A new research partnership, for the joint research and development of quantum and nanotechnologies, has been launched today with the London Centre for nanotechnology (LCN) at University College London (UCL).

Announced at an event hosted by HRH Prince Andrew in Buckingham Palace, London, it combines the world-class research facilities at UCL with the global innovation and manufacturing capabilities of our company.

The partnership will identify projects which support undergraduate, graduate, post doctoral and faculty research and development programmes at Lockheed Martin, named one of the world’s top 100 most innovative companies in a Thomson Reuters list of global innovators, published December 4.

Commenting on today’s news and this extension of our links with UK academia, Brad Pietras, director of advanced research and development programmes, said: “Partnerships between academia and industry enable technology transition from the laboratory to the marketplace and support innovation and economic development. We look forward to working with LCN”

The discovery of quantum physics in the 1920s transformed science and unlocked whole new generations of technology, giving us everything from silicon chips to fibre optic communication.

Today, governments worldwide are making considerable investments in quantum science which is emerging as a new wave of technologies. It has the capacity to make major impacts across numerous fields, ranging from sensors so powerful that they can examine single biomolecules to computers so that can accurately predict the properties of materials we have not yet synthesised!

LMUK’s continued success – and the UK’s engineering excellence – depends on a constant supply of highly trained, highly capable technical talent.  For this reason, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities are a major focus of our education outreach.

STEM activities include pre-employment education activities to raise awareness of engineering, apprenticeship and graduate career programmes to attract and retain the workforce of tomorrow and academic partnerships which give students an opportunity to work with our engineers on innovative, practical projects.

Formed in 1826, our latest education partner UCL, was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.

It is among the world’s top universities, as reflected by performance by a range of international ranking tables, with 24,000 students from almost 140 countries.