Redefining the future of vertical flight

Stratford, CT – Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has launched its new technology development organization – Sikorsky Innovations, whose mission is to develop and mature the technologies, products, and processes that will redefine the future of vertical flight. To do this, the company will expand collaborative arrangements spanning government technology agencies, academic institutions, other United Technologies Corp. facilities, and entrepreneurial businesses where research and product development will take place in cooperation with Sikorsky’s engineers and technicians. Projects are currently under way at more than 20 locations nationwide. Sikorsky Innovations, while a “virtual” organization, is based at the company’s main facility in Stratford, Conn.

Sikorsky Innovations will tailor Sikorsky Aircraft processes to provide technology customers with compelling proposals that shorten execution timelines and reduce costs. They plan to align more than $1 billion of investments and contract R&D in the organization’s work over the next 10 years. To grow Sikorsky Innovations global network they will increase collaborations and investments in small, agile high-technology companies with aligned interests. One such is an investment in Eagle Aviation Technologies LLC of Hampton, Va.

“Sikorsky Innovations will identify our customers’ toughest, high-value challenges and create solutions by understanding the requirements, quickly maturing technology options, and demonstrating solutions in flight,” said Mark Miller, vice president of research and engineering. “We are currently working on challenges in the areas of high speed flight, optionally piloted aircraft, systems that enable safe operation in blinding, brown-out conditions, and many others that only a few years ago might have been considered technologically and economically unfeasible.”

Sikorsky Innovations will be engineering new process technologies that will result in new rapid-prototyping tools, advanced manufacturing automation, virtual reality simulation, high-performance computing, and many other development game-changers.

William C. Harris, principle engineer – Manufacturing Technology, will describe the launch and purpose of Sikorsky Innovations and the work they will be doing in the foreseeable future at this year’s SALA (5th Symposium for Advanced Laser Applications) to be held April 14-15 in East Hartford.

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is a world leader in helicopter design, manufacture, and service. United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries. Visit www.sikorsky.com for more information on Sikorsky Innovations and Sikorsky products and services.