Notre Dame Collaborating on Top Flight Research Facility
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe University of Notre Dame and five partners, including General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), have announced plans to build a $36 million research and testing facility in South Bend's Ignition Park. The Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility is billed as the top center of its kind in the nation and will focus on advancing technology used in big gas turbine engines for aircraft, power plants and the oil and gas sector. The project is expected to create 60 jobs. GE is contributing $13.5 million to fund research and testing for five years. The announcement comes about three months after GE Aviation announced plans for a $100 million jet engine aircraft engine plant in Lafayette. When GE announced plans for the Lafayette plant, Indiana Economic Development Corp. Chief Executive Officer Victor Smith predicted it would spark additional investment in the state. Officials say the South Bend facility will provide “world-class research” and generate substantial economic impact for the region.
In addition to Notre Dame and GE, partners on the project include the city of South Bend, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Great Lakes Capital and Indiana Michigan Power.
Construction on the 43,000 square foot complex will begin this summer and is to be complete by next March. It is expected to be fully operation in July, 2016.
The announcement is the latest in a series of major deals in the aerospace sector in Indiana. In addition to the Lafayette announcement, Alcoa has broken ground on a $100 million expansion at a jet engine components operation, with plans to add more than 320 jobs.
June 26, 2014
News Release
South Bend, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame and five public and private partners announced Thursday (June 26) a $36 million project that will be the nation’s foremost research and test facility for advancing the technology used in the massive gas turbine engines used by commercial and military aircraft, power plants and the oil and gas industry.
Construction in South Bend’s Ignition Park on a 43,000-square-foot building – of which 25,000 square feet will be for the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility – will begin this summer and be completed by March. The facility will be fully operational in July 2016.
“This venture will be a cutting-edge research and testing facility for the turbine engine industry as well as a tremendous economic driver for our region,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president. “Notre Dame is grateful to our partners for their support of this project and excited about all that it will mean to our University, the city and state, the industry as a whole and our nation.”
Notre Dame will contribute $7.5 million to the project. Other partners are the General Electric Co., which has committed $13.5 million to fund research and testing for five years; the city of South Bend, which is contributing $4.4 million inclusive of equipment, land for a new power substation and tax abatements; the state of Indiana, through the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which is providing up to $600,000 in training grants and up to $2 million in infrastructure assistance; Great Lakes Capital, which is providing upfront capital of approximately $6 million to construct the facility; and Indiana Michigan Power, which will be investing $2 million in a new substation to provide the considerable power needed to operate the facility’s multiple test cells.
“The center will allow GE’s industrial businesses to simulate full-scale engine operating environments,” said Rick Stanley, vice president and chief technologist for GE’s Power and Water business and a Notre Dame graduate.
“The important rig testing we will do at the center builds upon GE’s already strong and long-standing technical relationship with the University. For years, GE has turned to Notre Dame for top technical talent.”
When fully operational, the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility will provide about 60 new jobs to directly operate the center, with an average salary and benefits package of about $79,000. An additional 60 jobs are expected through the growth of local suppliers to support the facility’s need for precision manufactured components. At full operation, research expenditures generated through work conducted at the facility are expected to exceed $15 million annually.
“The aerospace industry is reaching new heights in Indiana,” said Gov. Mike Pence. “Universities like Notre Dame and others across the state are providing avenues for discovery, proving that the sky is the limit in Indiana when it comes to bringing a big vision to life. The next great technological innovation could come from the mind of a Hoosier, highlighting for the world the full range of possibilities when investing in a state that works.”
Mark Neal, deputy mayor of South Bend, added: “Attracting such major investment speaks to South Bend’s economic future and its capacity to attract high-tech businesses. This project continues our city’s history of innovation and is more evidence of the benefits that South Bend’s economic and geographic advantages offer.”
Notre Dame’s current Turbomachinery Laboratory has worked with industry and government partners to advance gas turbine engine technologies since 2003. Center researchers focus on the design and operation of test facilities that simulate full-scale engine operating environments.
The new facility, which will feature five test bays for compressor and turbine rig testing, will take previous work to new heights by testing engine components at pressures and temperatures higher than any that exist at current U.S. university facilities. It also will be used to advance current working relationships with both government sponsors and all manufacturers of gas turbine engines.
“We are very excited to be launching the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility,” said Robert J. Bernhard, the University’s vice president for research. “It will be a significant combination of world class research, building on an outstanding program, and local economic development. We are very grateful to our collaborating organizations, who have been outstanding partners in putting this project together.”
In addition to the industry and government partnerships, Notre Dame plans to collaborate with researchers and staff at local and state colleges and universities in order to widen the educational mission of the new facility.
More information is available at http://www.nd.edu/turbomachinery/
Source: University of Notre Dame
June 26, 2014
News Release
South Bend, Ind. — The University of Notre Dame announced plans today to establish a turbomachinery research facility here, creating up to 60 new jobs by 2018.
The university, in partnership with General Electric, will invest $25.2 million to establish the Notre Dame Turbomachinery Facility located in South Bend’s Ignition Park. The 43,000 square-foot facility, of which Notre Dame will occupy 25,000 square-feet, is expected to be complete in March of next year. Notre Dame plans to house five test facilities, a machine shop and a supercomputing center at the new facility to conduct research and test the performance of new gas turbine engine technology used by commercial and military aircraft, power plants and the oil and gas industries.
“The aerospace industry is reaching new heights in Indiana,” said Governor Mike Pence. “Universities like Notre Dame and others across the state are providing avenues for discovery, proving that the sky is the limit in Indiana when it comes to bringing a big vision to life. The next great technological innovation could come from the mind of a Hoosier, highlighting for the world the full range of possibilities when investing in a state that works.”
As part of the project, Notre Dame plans to begin hiring engineers and technicians early next year. Also, it will develop a program to train engineers, scientists and