Engineering news
Chancellor George Osborne has announced £30 million of funding for 3D printing and aerospace technology as he promised to "unashamedly" back British manufacturing success.
Osborne said "Britain needs to make things again" and the Government would help businesses maintain their competitive edge.
The money, which will be matched by industry to take the total to £60 million, was announced by the Chancellor on a visit to the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) at Ansty Park in Coventry.
Some £15 million of taxpayers' money will fund a new aerospace technology centre at the MTC that will help companies develop materials for aircraft fuselages and wings. Another £15.3 million will help create a new national centre for additive manufacturing, which will develop new products for aero-engines and aircraft landing gears, as well as automotive and medical devices.
Osborne said: "It's not about picking winners, but helping British companies to harness the best science and technology that our universities and research institutes are developing."
The investment is part of £2 billion of funding the Government and industry have committed to investing in the aerospace sector over the next seven years.
"We are already the best in Europe for aerospace and with this investment we can do even better," Osborne said.
"The dedicated facility will allow companies to develop new technologies, like using carbon fibre in jet engines, planes and helicopters, which will be exported around the world."
"We are doing the things that are needed to put British manufacturing at the heart of Britain's recovery and we must never again neglect our great manufacturing industry. Britain needs to make things again.”
Felicity Burch, Economist at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, said: “A national 3D printing hub should provide a boost for innovative manufacturers. It is encouraging that government is committing to this important new technology area. The hub will enable collaboration between companies and researchers which can accelerate the development of new technologies.
"In addition its location close to an existing branch of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult should help build a critical mass of research activity around the site.”