Boeing to Sponsor MIT Academic Wind Tunnel Replacement Project

Boeing has pledged to become the lead donor of an $18 million project to replace the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s academic wind tunnel.

The company said Monday it will help replace MIT’s 79-year-old Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel with a new tunnel that will be designated “The Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel — a Gift of the Boeing Company.”

The new tunnel will be built on the location of the current tunnel and will be operated by  MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Jaime Peraire, head of MIT’s AeroAstro Department, said the new wind tunnel will serve as a research and teaching platform.

More than 800 Boeing employees worldwide are MIT alumni, including approximately 50 executives and about 60 members of the Boeing Technical Fellowship.