EADS, Canada cooperate on aero research

By Paul Lowe

July 16, 2008
Aerospace Industry

The National Research Council of Canada signed a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EADS last month to cooperate on aerospace research and technology development.

The agreement builds on 20 years of research collaboration between NRC and EADS, which includes current projects involving Airbus and EADS Innovation Works. The MoU will allow NRC to begin collaborative work with other EADS business units, such as Eurocopter and EADS’s Military Transport Aircraft Division.

“Canadian researchers will collaborate on projects related to manufacturing and environmental technologies as well as aerodynamics and airborne tests that should help reduce fuel consumption and adverse environmental impacts,” said NRC vice-president of engineering Dr. Sherif Barakat.

EADS Canada has been an active participant in the Canadian aerospace industry since its formation as a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS International in 1989. EADS is the sole shareholder of Ontario-based Eurocopter Canada and a 50 percent shareholder of Composites Atlantic with the Province of Nova Scotia. The company also recently acquired Plant CML in Gatineau, Quebec.

Earlier this year, Canada officially opened the McGill Aerospace Materials and Alloy Development Centre at the NRC Industrial Materials Institute in Boucherville, Quebec. A collaborative initiative between NRC and McGill University, the aerospace research and development center was created to develop a new generation of highly resistant materials, surface treatments and manufacturing processes designed to meet the extreme requirements of the aerospace industry.

Meanwhile, Bombardier Aerospace chose the NRC’s Institute for Aerospace Research to test the high-lift aerodynamics of its prototype Learjet 85.

For more than 15 years, the NRC’s 1.5 meter trisonic blowdown wind tunnel has been Bombardier’s go-to place for high-lift tests, helping the company develop the high-lift systems for three other aircraft–the Global Express and Challenger 300 business jets and the CRJ700 regional jet.

The NRC also acquired an Extra 300 as a platform for aeromedical research at its flight research laboratory. It chose the aircraft for its proven aerobatic performance, easy handling and dependable stability.

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