The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), to be built at Ansty Park outside Coventry, has received public funding approval from the government.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) confirmed that of the £40m funding, £25m will be provided from Advantage West Midlands and £15m from the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA).
In total, £130m of public- and private-sector investments will be made in the centre over the next 10 years.
The MTC has the backing of some of the UK’s major global manufacturers. Founder industrial members of the MTC are Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, Aero Engine Controls and Airbus UK. Research partners include Birmingham, Nottingham and Loughborough universities, and TWI.
The centre will provide resources and a high-quality environment for the development and demonstration of new technologies on an industrial scale.
Research activity will focus on assembly, fabrication and joining technologies, including: high-integrity fabrication, net-shape manufacturing, advanced tooling and fixturing, and intelligent automation. This work will be underpinned by research into modelling and simulation.
Construction of the MTC will start in the first quarter of 2010 and the centre will open in early summer 2011.
Engineering industry reacts to Reeves' budget
I´d have to say - ´help´ - in the longer term. It is well recognised that productivity in the UK lags well behind our major industrial competitors and...