£5m aviation sector facility takes off
THE aerospace sector in the North West is about to soar to new heights with the opening of a new £5.3m centre for ‘virtual engineering’.
The Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC) will be created at Daresbury Laboratory, near Warrington, and will specialise in creating a new generation of products using cutting-edge ‘interactive simulation and modelling’ software.
Major aerospace companies are committed to virtual engineering because it provides a cost effective method of presenting future options to their customers and tailoring their products to meet specific requirements.
The VEC aims to stream-line this research and development process through a public-private sector partnership which will bring together the University of Liverpool, the Science and Technology Facilities Council at Daresbury, the Northwest Aerospace Alliance and its members as well as other prime contractors.
BAE Systems has also made a commitment to provide facilities and resources to take the project forward.
The centre will be financed by £2.5m from the Northwest European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £1.18 million from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and £1.64 million from the University of Liverpool.
In addition, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) – which is hosting the new centre – is providing £200,000 of support through access to its large computational science and engineering machines and to its scientists’ expertise in specialist software development.
Steven Broomhead, NWDA chief executive, said: “The region’s aerospace sector is the largest in the UK, contributing almost £7bn per annum to the North West’s economy.
“In order to drive further growth, aerospace companies must continue to innovate and embrace new technologies to improve efficiency and remain globally competitive.
“Adopting virtual engineering technologies can create significant advantages for aerospace companies and the Virtual Engineering Centre will be a catalyst for a cultural shift to ensure that this important technology is exploited to its full potential across the industry.”
