William “Bill” Cummings Chief, Combustor and Turbine Aero Rolls-Royce Corporation

Mr. Cummings has been with Rolls-Royce since 1998, focusing primarily on combustionaerothermal design work for in-production or near-production engines. He has worked on the AE3007, focusing on NOx and UHC reduction for regional jet applications, successfully meetingthe Class 5 requirements of the Zurich airport; the F136 for which he served as CFD specialistand then combustion aero tech lead; and the Trent 1000, for which he oversaw externalaerodynamics, i.e., the airflow emanating from the compressor and flowing around thecombustor. His work on the Trent 1000 took place during an assignment to Rolls-Royce Derbyin 2004-2005. Subsequent work back at Indianapolis included combustion aero for a supersonicbusiness jet program sponsored by NASA, alternative fuels programs, and the Rolls-RoyceDerby team that set the course for future large engines as recently demonstrated in the Advance 3tech demo. Mr. Cummings now manages the combustion and turbine aero team in Indianapolis,which is responsible for the functional design of combustion and turbine systems for enginesranging in size from 600 hp helicopter turboshafts up to 100k-lb thrust turbofans. The group isdeveloping the latest advances in fuel burn and particulate matter reduction and is involved inassessing alternative fuels for compatibility with engine hot sections. To support fuel burnreductions a turbine development partnership has recently been established with PurdueUniversity, where an annular cascade and rotating rig are being brought on line.