RTX's Collins Aerospace looks for collaboration with small- and medium-sized businesses
BENGALURU, India - Collins Aerospace, an RTX business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has launched the 2025 edition of its Powered by Collins Initiative at Aero India in Bengaluru. The program invites small- and medium-sized deep tech enterprises to collaborate on aerospace and defense technologies.
Collins says that this year's focus areas include real-time airport operating conditions, quantum-enabled navigation, and material informatics. Selected businesses will participate in funded rapid-development demonstration programs aimed at accelerating solutions for active aerospace and defense projects.
Regarding real-time airport conditions, Collins said participating companies will work with its connected aviation systems team to develop solutions that mitigate and recover from irregular operations events. These prototypes will be tested in a lab environment.
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For quantum-enabled navigation, Collins seeks partners to enhance positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) capabilities for commercial aircraft in adverse conditions. “As we continue to evolve our products to meet the needs of the changing global environment, we are looking to collaborate with sensor, sensor fusion, and novel PNT algorithm technology providers utilizing quantum-based technologies,” the company stated.
In material informatics, Collins is looking for collaborators to use computational tools to develop advanced polymer composites for aerospace applications. “Leveraging AI, integrated computational materials engineering, and data analytics, such providers will work with our advanced materials and methods team to integrate their solutions with our aerospace product requirements and validate the optimized solutions experimentally,” the company said.
Since its inception in 2023, the Powered by Collins Initiative has engaged companies in aerospace, defense, and adjacent industries. This year, Collins is expanding the program by launching the Powered by Collins ecosystem on SwitchPitch, an online platform that connects startups with enterprises, investors, and technology accelerators.
"Innovation and Collins' technology development needs are constantly evolving, and the Powered by Collins Ecosystem serves as a complement to our existing collaboration network, enabling Collins business teams to engage potential solution providers throughout the year," said Mary Lombardo, vice president of Advanced Technology at Collins. "We believe this will unlock even more dynamic collaboration and rapidly provide solutions to meet our customers’ needs."
More information is available at https://www.collinsaerospace.com/poweredbycollins.
