Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has announced a major £9million collaborative research and development project for the local aerospace sector.
‘Project SCENIC’ is a collaboration between The Northern Ireland Technology Centre (NITC) and a consortium of Northern Ireland aerospace sector companies: RLC UK, Moyola Precision Engineering, JW Kane Aerospace UK and Travan Precision Engineering.
Due to complete by 2023, Project SCENIC will address the gap in titanium and hard metal machining by increasing Northern Ireland’s capabilities to ensure lightweight technologies meet the increasing use of composite materials in the aerospace sector.
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Commenting on the importance of Project SCENIC, Gordon Lyons said: “Through this powerful collaboration between industry, government and academia, Project SCENIC will establish Northern Ireland as a globally recognised region in the manufacturing of advanced metallic aerospace components and serve to increase the skills and knowledge of the consortium involved.”
Invest Northern Ireland has offered Project SCENIC £5million of R&D support, with the remaining £4million offered by the consortium of aerospace companies involved in the project.
Head of the Northern Ireland Technology Centre, Colm Higgins, said: “Project SCENIC will give Northern Ireland a strategic advantage and ensure that we are at the forefront of expertise for titanium and hard metal machining within the global aerospace sector. Collaboration with industry will be enhanced further as part of the new £98million state-of-the art Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre. This is one of the three Queen’s-led Belfast Region City Deal Innovation Centres, which will be a springboard for manufacturing companies to compete internationally.”
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Invest NI’s R&D support is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth and Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.
Invest NI is committed to driving innovation in Northern Ireland and is a proud partner of Innovate NI, a Department for the Economy programme, helping local businesses innovate successfully. For further information, visit www.innovateni.com
Source: Written from press release.
