Seeking to become a major player in jet engine research and development, the University of Rhode Island last week hosted its first international aerospace conference.
The conference was held Monday through Thursday, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, at the Hyatt Regency on Goat Island in Newport. It was the first time a university has hosted the two major organizations in the world advancing jet engine research – the U.S. Propulsion Instrumentation Working Group and the European Virtual Institute for Gas Turbine Instrumentation – said Otto Gregory, a professor of engineering and co-director of URI’s Surface and Sensors Technology Partnership.
The four-day event, which URI held in conjunction with the Ohio Aerospace Institute, drew about 150 engineers and scientists from around the world, who discussed issues relating to the safety and reliability of jet engines, Gregory said.
“The Propulsion Instrumentation Working Group, the U.S.-based consortium in this field, normally meets every fall, but this will be the first time that aerospace engineers and scientists from the United States, Europe and Canada will meet to present findings and discuss the latest issues facing the gas turbine engine industry,” he said.
Engineers and scientists in the aerospace industry work constantly to improve their methods of building jet engines. The cost of a Boeing 777 jet engine can be as much as $10 million, with safety testing representing up to 20 percent of that price tag.
On Oct. 31, participants at the conference toured the Surface and Sensors Technology Laboratory, a lab that Gregory oversees on the Kingston campus which works to develop sensors used to measure temperature, pressure and stress in jet engines.
The tour also included a visit to the Inner Space Center at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, run by Professor Robert Ballard, who became known worldwide for his work with the Titanic and has since taken on several other high-profile projects.
Through the Sensors and Surface Technology Partnership, Gregory has sought to establish URI as a leader in the highly focused area of jet engine instrumentation and testing. In one industry-wide testing program, URI’s sensors were used to test new materials used in the manufacture of jet engine turbine blades, which can reach velocities of 900 feet per second and reach temperatures of more than 2,700 degrees – near the melting point of steel.
“We analyzed sensor lifetime and how they performed,” Gregory said. “We need non-destructive ways of evaluating the integrity of jet engine components to determine if they can withstand the stresses, vibrations or temperatures seen during normal operation.”
Those who attended the conference included representatives from the “big three” jet engine manufacturers – Rolls Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney – as well as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force and Navy, the U.S. Department of Energy and many other groups.
Germany, Italy, Spain, England and France were among the European countries represented at the conference.
URI was the ideal location for such a conference, Gregory said, because it is close to three major jet engine facilities in the region: two Pratt & Whitney engine plants in Connecticut and a General Electric plant in Massachusetts. •
