Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/433487
25 Old and the new: Possibly the most famous aircraft to emerge from BAE, the Second World war veteran, the Lancaster, with the newest, the FLAVIIR Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Copyright © 2014 BAE Systems. All rights reserved. programme aimed at driving SME engagement within the emerging UAS markets. The aim is to raise the potential of the smaller companies in technology-led innovation as part of the contribution of the supply chain to BAE Systems' competitive advantage - a major contribution to the innovation infrastructure. Contacts with and support for the aerospace industry have also come from the University's global links as well as the local ones. Academic research on the innovation strategy and management practices of companies in Europe and the United States at the Institute of Innovation Research in Manchester Business School led to engagement with BAE Systems on open innovation and how it might be used by BAE Systems. The strong relationship with the BAE Systems Advanced Technology Centre led to the implementation of an open innovation approach which in turn has led to an increase in the proportion of BAE Systems funding which comes from exploiting knowledge and intellectual property outside the company and the types of programmes highlighted above. The origins of the links between the aerospace Industry and the University go back to the 19th century when Manchester Technical College was formed in 1883 to address the needs of industrialists by John Henry Reynolds (who arrived in Manchester in 1868). Fluid mechanics provided the basis of aerodynamics while G Coldstein, who came to Manchester in 1929, laid the base of the mathematics of aerodynamics. 1 TRL - Technology Readiness Level - a scale of 1 - 9 which indicates the distance of research and technology development from market