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National Composites Centre case study
Project summary
The UK’s new National Composites Centre (NCC) - a brand new
research facility for composite materials, which are increasingly
used to improve efficiency in the aerospace, automotive and wind
turbine industries - is to be built at SPark, the Bristol and Bath
Science Park.
Main messages
- The centre will be an independent, open-access facility for the
design and rapid manufacture of high quality composite
products
- The 70,000 sq ft (6,500 sq m) building will provide the very
latest in design and a high-tech manufacturing facility, all in one
place
- More than 200 leading industry researchers and academic experts
will be based at the centre, working together to speed new
technologies through the design and laboratory phases and into
production
- This new centre will help create the conditions to support long
term growth in the low carbon sector and position the South West at
the forefront of the industry.
Facts and figures
The state-of-the-art Centre will be supported with £16m of
public sector investment comprising £12m from the Department of
Business, Innovation and Skills (the Strategic Investment Fund
announced in the last budget) and £4m from the South West RDA
(Regional Development Agency). Public sector investment will be
supplemented with contributions from some of the world’s leading
engineering companies.
Other partners include
- Airbus, AgustaWestland, GE, GKN, Rolls-Royce and Vestas
- University of Bristol.
Case study
The National Composites Centre will be an independent,
open-access facility for the design and rapid manufacture of high
quality composite products. The 70,000 sq ft (6,500 sq m) building
will provide the very latest in design and a high-tech
manufacturing facility, all in one place. More than 200 leading
industry researchers and academic experts will be based at the
centre, working together to speed new technologies through the
design and laboratory phases, and into production.
Composites are light weight, high performance materials that are
key to cutting the environmental impact of industries that have
traditionally been heavy carbon emitters. This new centre will help
create the conditions to support long term growth in the low carbon
sector.
The new SPark in Bristol has been chosen as an ideal location
for the NCC, where it will be surrounded by cutting edge research
and development by some of the world’s most innovative firms. The
RDA will oversee the construction of the purpose-built facility
with workshop space, open-plan offices, meeting rooms and teaching
facilities, in collaboration with the University and industry
partners
Composite materials are playing an increasingly important role
in engineering, from aircraft engine casings to tidal generation
turbine blades. The Centre will help companies to understand better
the possibilities and to test the new materials.
The South West is already home to some of the leading companies
exploiting the potential of these high-tech, super-strength
materials. The skills, manufacturing and products developed through
this centre are part of the high-end, low carbon manufacturing that
will grow the region’s industrial strengths for the 21st
century.
Major industry players such as Airbus, GKN, Rolls-Royce and
Vestas, with interests in renewable energy, aerospace, automotive
and marine sectors, are already on board. The RDA hopes that once
other companies see what will be on offer – from state of the art
computer design suites to on site manufacturing facilities – many
more will sign up.
While the NCC will not be fully operational until 2011,
activities will get under way before then via centres of excellence
around the UK, including the University of Bristol’s Advanced
Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS).
Conclusion
The RDA and its partners had to fight off stiff competition to
secure the site for the NCC in Bristol.
The National Composites Centre will provide huge opportunities
for industries across the whole region, and nationally, to develop
and remain competitive on an international stage.
Housing the NCC at SPark will encourage the cross-fertilisation
of ideas and research across industry sectors and academic areas.
This will result in new products, new businesses and new jobs - the
benefits of which will be felt across the South West and the UK as
a whole.
Further information
Date case study written: April 2010
Theme: Future growth sectors
Contact: South West RDA press office by email
news.enquiries@southwestrda.org.uk or telephone 01392 229389