New collaborative centre for 'virtual engineering' at Daresbury Laboratory

The North West’s aerospace sector is set to benefit from a new centre for virtual engineering at STFC Daresbury Laboratory, on Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, following the confirmation of a £5.3 million investment.

The ‘Virtual Engineering’ Centre (VEC), which will be led by the University of Liverpool in partnership with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Northwest Aerospace Alliance and industry, will catalyse virtual engineering activities and joint research programmes across the sector and between industry and academia.

The VEC has been made possible by £2.5 million 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. STFC is hosting the centre at Daresbury Laboratory and 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.

‘Virtual Engineering’ (VE) involves integrated product/process modelling and the creation of virtual prototypes, It will form the basis of all future business in the aerospace sector. VE will explore solutions to many important engineering issues such as meeting the upcoming requirement to cut airliner fuel consumption by up to 50% by exploring improvements to the design of aeroplanes and their engines.

Major aerospace companies and contractors see the development of the VEC as critical to the survival of the region’s aerospace cluster as it provides a cost effective method of presenting future options to the customer and capturing their requirements. As yet, suitable, integrated VE tools and techniques have not yet been successfully implemented within single projects or companies, or across the whole lifecycle and the supply chain, which is a major barrier to organisations adopting the technology. The VEC aims to address this by bringing together the public and private sectors.

The centre will act as:

• A physical virtual engineering centre which will contain ‘best practice’ virtual engineering facilities that display integrated, interactive simulation and modelling software across the full range of virtual capabilities
  
  
• A research partnership that will add value to existing research activities within the region by providing a commercially relevant focus
  
  
• A knowledge transfer centre to increase awareness and give potential users an opportunity to ‘try before they buy’ so that they can become more confident of the business advantages that can accrue from using VE tools
  
  
• An educational centre to help meet the current skills shortages in VE in the UK.

Professor Keith Mason, Chief Executive of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) said: “Computational science and engineering is becoming an increasingly important tool in solving many of the important challenges facing businesses and society.

“STFC is delighted to host the new ‘Virtual Engineering’ Centre at Daresbury Laboratory. Daresbury has a strong track record in computational science and engineering and this new centre, coupled with the planned new Hartree Centre, will further build a critical mass that will enable scientists to develop virtualisations which are more detailed, larger and much more useful to researchers and industry. The VEC will be a welcome addition to the wider Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus, exemplifying its philosophy of developing highly skilled scientists and encouraging collaboration and innovation between academics, scientists and industry.”

Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive, said: “The region’s aerospace sector is the largest in the UK, contributing almost £7 billion per annum to the Northwest economy. In order for the sector to continue to grow, aerospace companies need to 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.”

John Flamson, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development at the University of Liverpool, said: “The ‘Virtual’ Engineering Centre reflects the University’s commitments to knowledge exchange and the development of strong academic-industry collaborations. Together with our partners from the public and private sectors, we have developed a centre which will translate our world-class research in aerospace engineering from the University and into industry.

“The centre will bring tangible impact to prime aerospace companies and to the region’s SME community, demonstrating our ability to produce cutting-edge research which has far-reaching economic and social benefits. We are delighted to have received investment from NWDA and ERDF and look forward to delivering another transformational project for the region.”

Professor Gareth Padfield, Head of the School of Engineering at The University of Liverpool and Chief Scientific Officer to the VEC said: “The use of high fidelity virtual prototypes of future aircraft, in synthetic operating and manufacturing environments, is becoming critical to getting designs right first time – a goal that the aerospace industry strives for. The VEC regional partnership between academia and industry will act as a catalyst for the supply chain to achieve this goal for the next generation of aviation systems.

Martin Wright, Chief Executive of the North West Aerospace Alliance, said: “The NWAA welcome the announcement of the funding for the VEC. It is a key element in the regional goal of creating a knowledge based, integrated aerospace cluster that will help the region compete in an increasingly global market. The investment also underlines the RDA's commitment to the regional aerospace sector.”

Alan Roff, ERDF Programme Monitoring Committee member, said: "I am pleased to welcome this latest investment from the Northwest ERDF Programme. It will help to strengthen links between businesses and universities to enhance the uptake of key technologies that are crucial to the future growth of the regional economy."

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Contacts

• Karen Coles
  Press Officer
  STFC Daresbury Laboratory
  Tel: +44 (0)1925 603 708
  
  
• Sarah Moston
  Press Officer
  Northwest Regional Development Agency
  Tel: +44 (0)1925 400 552
  Mob: +44 (0)7810 528 471
  
  
• Kate Spark
  Media Relations Manager
  University of Liverpool
  Tel: +44 (0)151 794 2247

University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool (link opens in a new window) is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive institutions in the UK. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than £93 million annually.

Northwest Regional Development Agency

The Northwest Regional Development Agency works to deliver economic success in England’s Northwest by building the competitiveness of its businesses, people and places. Utilising our technical expertise and strategic influence, we help the region’s 250,000+ businesses to develop and grow, as well as supporting international trade and encouraging inward investment.

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