Transferring design research into Rolls-Royce

摘要

Some ten years ago Rolls-Royce decided that to strengthen its capability acquisition strategy it needed a fully co-ordinated university research programme. This was to be focused in a relatively small number of academic centres whose commitment in each case would be reinforced by a long-term business agreement with the company. The outcome was the concept of the University Technology Centre or UTC [1]. It is flattering to note that the UTC concept is currently being copied closely by GE Aero Engines (Rolls-Royce's prime competitor in the global aero engine market). This fact has been acknowledged explicitly by David Wisler of GEAE [2]. The Design University Technology Partnership is a recent development of the basic UTC model in which two companies (BAE SYSTEMS and Rolls-Royce) and three universities (Cambridge, Sheffield and Southampton) have come together to research matters of common interest in the field of engineering design. The prime themes of the UTP research at present are knowledge management, human factors creativity and innovation, and design optimisation. Much of the research is destined to appear in the design systems of the two companies by means of technology transfer'. This paper will take a holistic view of technology transfer and discuss its nature based on the experience gained with the UTCs.