Professor Iain Gray CBE, Cranfield's Director of Aerospace, said: "The AIRC will foster close collaboration between leading researchers, the Centre partners and the wider aerospace supply chain. It will directly contribute to the competitiveness and prosperity of the aerospace industry and the wider UK and European economy.
"Work at the Centre will focus on the development of new integrated propulsion, airframe and subsystems technologies with resulting benefits in the performance, emission control and efficiency targets of future aircraft."
The ground floor of the three-story building will comprise open laboratory space capable of housing large airframe integration projects, with presentation and visualisation space and state-of-the-art simulation facilities on the middle floor. Researchers and engineers from Cranfield and its partner companies will be working closely together in an open plan office environment on the top floor.
The AIRC is due to open in autumn 2016 and is part of a broader £54m investment in the University's aerospace and transport facilities.
