Lockheed Martin receives designs under varsity challenge

Global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin Tuesday said that it has received conceptual designs to develop cargo aircraft modules for disaster relief operations under the university design challenge from India.

According to the company, teams from five leading Indian universities presented their conceptual designs to the company officials last week, under the C-130J 'Roll-On/Roll-Off' university design challenge.

"Perhaps more important than producing viable prototypes from this design challenge are the lessons in innovation and collaboration the students will gain from working hands-on with partners in government and industry," said Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Lockheed Martin senior vice president and chief technology officer.

Under the university design challenge, the company will over the next year fund each university team to work with local industry partners and mentors from theDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in developing design specifications for their proposed modules.

In addition to funding, Lockheed Martin will also support each team with engineering, technical and business development expertise.

The company will award three of the teams a second-year grant in November 2015 to develop a prototype of their module, as well as additional mentoring to develop a go-to-market strategy.

At the end of the design challenge, Lockheed Martin will work with each team to explore options with government and industry to mature the prototype for global markets.