May 13th witnessed the inauguration of the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence construction, the newest investment of the Institute of Aviation. The modernization and construction project of the new research infrastructure of the consortium comprised of the Institute of Aviation, the Military Academy of Technology and the Warsaw University of Technology is aimed at enabling the numerical and experimental research on turbine engines. The implementation of the project is co-financed from the European Regional Development Fund within the Innovative Economy Programme 2007-2013. By the end of 2015 the new center will have started its operations.
The task of the Institute of Aviation is to construct the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence and the Vacuum Chamber to test rotor turbine engine of maximum 40 MW generated power. The aim of the project is to maximize the research potential in the field of turbine engines, increasing the opportunities for the commercialization of developed technologies and the creation of scientific and research base for Polish General Aviation and energy industry sector.
The ceremony of the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence construction was attended by: prof. Witold Wiśniowski – the Director of the Institute of Aviation, Rafał Kajka, PhD. Eng – the Deputy Director of the Institute of Aviation and Director of the Engineering Design Center, and invited guests: Magdalena Nizik – the Chairman of General Electric Company Polska and Michael Leary – the General Manager, GE Gas Turbine Engineering.
In the first part of the meeting the range of activities of the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence and business results as well as scientific possibilities of cooperation with Polish scientific community were discussed.
The second part of the meeting was held on the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence future construction premises. An investment presentation on the laboratory and office area, as well as equipment and prototype laboratory, was given by the appointed director of the center – Piotr Steckowicz. Occasional speeches on the importance of the new center for both the Institute of Aviation and potential clients were delivered by: Witold Wiśniowski, Magdalena Nizik and Michael Leary.
– The new center is of great importance to the Institute of Aviation. The laboratory will work on state-of-the-art engineering solutions and will give us access to technologies of the highest rank – said the Director of the Institute of Aviation, prof. Witold Wiśniowski.
The new center will develop repair and maintenance technologies for gas turbines. The aim of the tasks performed in the center will also include developing solutions for gas turbines and their instrumentation for the needs of inspection facilities at the site of their installation without the need for dismantling and costly transports to, for example, repair shops.
The highlight of the ceremony was the groundbreaking with a golden shovel on the premises of the future investment.
Subsequently, the ceremony guests signed and placed a commemorative scroll in the bottle, which was then given to the Director of Infrastructure to be buried under the foundations of the Gas Turbine Center of Excellence.
Commemorative statuettes of the occasion of the construction of the new Center were delivered to: Witold Wiśniowski, Magdalena Nizik, Michael Leary, Rafał Kajka, Roman Domański, Kevin Worley, Piotr Steckowicz, Michał Małecki, Grzegorz Szymanowski, John Lammas and Steve Hartman.
The ceremony was ended with a photo of the management, the guests and the engineers team.
