Projects: Aviation

With the Center for Computer Applications in AeroSpace Science and Engineering (C²A²S²E), a competence center for the so-called "numeric aerophysical simulation" in which it will be possible to create computer flight simulations of the newest means of air travel within ten years, is emerging at the research airport Braunschweig.

Using the technology developed in C²A²S²E it should be possible to calculate aerodynamic loads during flight precisely and to determine flight performance and characteristics digitally before the first flight. The purpose is to decisively reduce the technological, economic, and ecological risks of future air traffic development. An important partner in the competence center is T-Systems SfR (Solutions for Research). This information and communication technology company operates the C²A²S²E supercomputers. The computer center is among the top 40 HPC computers in the world and is the second-fastest computer used by industries worldwide.

Approximately 500 kilometers south of the Braunschweig C²A²S²E campus lies the Munich "campus" of MTU Aero Engines: the main administration, production, research and development center of Germany’s leading engine manufacturer. In December 2007, MTU Aero Engines and T-Systems signed a basic contract that includes all services in the area of computing services: support of computer workstations, network infrastructure, as well as system integration services.

At first, T-Systems will make available to MTU a 20-person operating team that will take care of the on-site service. Protecting sensitive data and expert handling of confidential know-how are what the company does best in an environment where nearly all airplane engines for the German Federal Armed Forces are built, including for Eurofighter. "The package that we have created together with T-Systems ensures that we will continue to cooperate with our long-standing partner, whose professional expertise is unmatched," says Erwin Pignitter, Vice President Information Management at MTU Aero Engines.

The tasks of the T-Systems employees include, among others, guaranteeing MTU server operation and providing failsafe systems reliably around the clock. These tasks, report T-Systems employees with due respect, represent a special challenge because MTU Aero Engines' server farm is one of the 100 most capable of its type worldwide.

Read more about MTU and DLR in the printed edition of Best Practice.