Airbus and Georgia Tech Open Center for Overall Aircraft Design

Airbus and Georgia Institute of Technology have officially opened the Airbus / Georgia Tech Center for Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)-enabled Overall Aircraft Design (OAD).

This center will contribute to the development and demonstration of a concurrent overall aircraft design process – taking full advantage of MBSE, interactive, parametric design space exploration and digital enablers with a team of 30 Georgia Tech researchers, doctoral students and Airbus experts.

The opening ceremony was attended by Marc Fischer, Senior Vice President Flight Physics at Airbus; Amanda Simpson, Vice President of Research and Technology for Airbus Americas; and Mark Costello, chair of Georgia Tech’s Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering.

“We are proud to take the partnership with Georgia Tech to the next level,” said Fischer. “Our future aircraft developments will benefit from much more integrated and interdisciplinary processes. Model Based Systems Engineering is at the foundation of this ambition and allows us to cover not just the conventional OAD disciplines, but also trade opportunities between engineering and manufacturing. This partnership aims to build a much larger ecosystem within and beyond Airbus, bringing our European and international partners on board.”

"This collaboration between Airbus and our Aerospace Systems Design Lab provides a unique opportunity for our students and faculty to work on research projects that are defining the next generation aircraft,” Costello said. “Model-based Systems Engineering is a specific strength of the Aerospace Engineering School, and this collaboration with Airbus will enable us to help develop the next generation of aircraft design thinking."

The collaboration has moved from a framing and ideation phase into project mode - delivering along a multi-year roadmap. Beyond contractual research work in the traditional sense, Airbus and Georgia Tech have engaged in a truly collaborative effort, where industrial experience and state-of-the-art research are combined.

“This Center is further demonstration of the value our American education institutions contribute to our entire global enterprise,” said Simpson.

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Media Relations Contacts: Georgia Tech: John Toon (404-894-6986) (jtoon@gatech.edu); Airbus: James Darcy (571-214-1722) (james.darcy@airbus.com).