Helicopter technology – a research field of the future

Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH endows chair at Munich University of Technology

10.01.2008, Press releases

• New professorship endowed with €4.3 million
• Cornerstone of “Centre of excellence in aerospace engineering”

Eurocopter, one of the world’s leading helicopter manufacturers and a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), came to an agreement with Munich University of Technology (TUM) today to establish an endowed professorship at the university. With an investment volume of €4.3 million, Eurocopter is the prime sponsor in establishing an “EADS chair of helicopter technology” on the TUM campus in Garching near Munich.

By accepting this endowment, Munich University of Technology is placing further emphasis on aerospace engineering, already a traditionally strong research area at TUM. “The establishment of the EADS chair of helicopter technology underscores the long-standing and successful partnership between Munich University of Technology and EADS,” comments TUM president Wolfgang A. Herrmann. The requirements to be met by today’s helicopter engineers are multi-layered and extremely complex. The new EADS endowed chair will enable Munich University of Technology to explore all modern aspects of this promising field of technology in its teaching and research activities. “By establishing the endowed chair, we are helping to ensure that research in the field of helicopter technology does not become dispersed across the international markets, but is strongly represented within Germany and cultivates its young engineers and scientists here at home.”

The new chair at the TUM campus in Garching is to be the cornerstone of a future “Centre of excellence in aerospace engineering” (KLR). In addition to helicopter technology as such, the interdisciplinary co-operation at the centre will focus on the topics of flight systems dynamics, aviation systems engineering, space technology, flight propulsion systems, lightweight construction, aerodynamics and gas dynamics. The new centre is located in the faculty of mechanical engineering, in the immediate vicinity of the faculties of chemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science. Explaining the reasons for placing the new research area at this location, TUM president Wolfgang A. Herrmann says: “The Garching technology campus is the ideal environment, combining all relevant expertise in the natural and engineering sciences.”

The “EADS chair of helicopter technology” has been established for an initial duration of eight years. “In no other sector is the close dovetailing of university teaching, basic research and applied engineering so crucial to competitive ability as in aerospace technology,” said Dr. Wolfgang Schoder, CEO of Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH, at the foundation ceremony. “As a technology group with a high global reputation and strong national roots, we have a firm commitment to actively boost Germany as a business location and Bavaria as a centre of technology. Only if we can offer the best possible education and training, and only if university teaching is closely aligned with industry and the markets, will engineering sciences and aviation companies in Germany be capable of competing in a global context.”


TUM:
Munich University of Technology (TUM) is one of Germany’s leading universities. It has roughly 420 professors, 8,500 academic and non-academic staff (including those at the university hospital “Rechts der Isar”), and 22,000 students. It focuses on the engineering sciences, natural sciences, life sciences, medicine and economic sciences. After winning numerous awards, it was selected as an “elite university” in 2006 by the Science Council and the German Research Foundation (DFG). The university’s global network includes an outpost in Singapore. Munich University of Technology is dedicated to the ideal of an entrepreneurial university.

Eurocopter:
Established in 1992, the Franco-German-Spanish Eurocopter Group is a division of EADS, a world leader in aerospace, defence and related services. The Eurocopter Group employs approximately 14,000 people. In 2006, Eurocopter confirmed its position as the world’s no. 1 helicopter manufacturer with a turnover of 3.8 billion euros, orders for 615 new helicopters, and a 52 percent market share in the civil and parapublic sectors. Overall, the Group’s products account for 30 percent of the total world helicopter fleet. Its strong global presence is ensured by its 17 subsidiaries on five continents along with a dense network of distributors, certified agents and maintenance centres. More than 9,800 Eurocopter helicopters are currently in service with over 2,800 customers in 140 countries. Eurocopter offers the largest civil and military helicopter range in the world.

Corporate Communication Center TU München:
Dr. Ulrich Marsch
Phone: +49-89-289-22778
Mobile +49-173-8902400
Fax +49-89-289-23388
marsch@zv.tum.de
Internet: www.tum.de

Eurocopter corporate communications:
Christopher M. Bach
Phone: +49-906-714565
Mobile +49-151-14229089
Fax +49-906-713939
christopher.bach@eurocopter.com
Internet: www.eurocopter.com

Kontakt: presse@tum.de