Advanced materials group Solvay this month launched a partnership with Wichita [Kansas] State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to develop technology solutions for companies for new types of aircraft, including eVTOL models. Solvay is deploying scientists and engineers to work with a team from NIAR in its Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS).
The initiative is Solvay’s latest move into the advanced air mobility sector, where it is already a partner in Vertical Aerospace’s VX4 eVTOL program. “We’re working in the aviation sector to enable a step-change in the performance of vehicles, focusing on three factors: engineering, aerodynamics, and propulsion,” Marc Doyle, Solvay’s executive vice president for aerospace and defense, told FutureFlight. “We want to be part of advanced air mobility to make it work and also because the learnings that come from this will always have a positive applicability to the rest of aerospace.”
