Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) Ltd. (Prestwick, Scotland), a subsidiary of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. (Wichita, Kan., U.S.), has celebrated the official opening of its state-of-the-art Aerospace Innovation Centre (AIC) in Prestwick, Scotland on Sept. 22 in the presence of Scotland’s First Minister, government, customers and industrial and academic partners.

The AIC has been established as a center of excellence for the research and development (R&D) of advanced materials, digital manufacturing technologies and processes, where Spirit Europe will collaborate with industry and academic partners to innovate, train and develop skills for today and tomorrow.

“For true innovation to occur, we need a diverse range of ideas and collaboration from a number of areas across the spectrum of research and development. As one of the U.K.’s leading aerospace companies, Spirit Europe is proud to establish a collaborative space where we, with our partners in industry and education, will work together to develop new technologies that are competitive and sustainable for aerospace platforms of the future,” says Scott McLarty, senior vice president and general manager, Airbus, Spirit AeroSystems. “We are another step closer to achieving our ambition to become a diversified design and manufacturing champion.”

The 90,000-square-foot innovation center on the Spirit Europe campus in Prestwick is capable of manufacturing components of up to 20 meters in length, the company says. It also features 55,000 square feet of manufacturing space, a materials lab and office and conference space to accommodate more than 200 people. Spirit Europe’s investment of circa £25 million, together with almost £5 million in grant funding from Scottish Enterprise, will reportedly help advance technologies and capabilities to develop next-generation aerostructures.

“This investment from Spirit AeroSystems, at a time of considerable challenge for the aerospace sector globally, is an endorsement of Scotland’s engineering and manufacturing capability and it will complement existing facilities, such as the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland [NMIS],” notes First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. “As well as improving the efficiency of aircraft parts, and the way they are manufactured, this facility has the potential to enable growth for industry-leading aerospace innovations and create more high-value manufacturing jobs over the next decade. We are focused on building a stronger, sustainable and inclusive economy, with new, high-quality green jobs, and Scotland’s aerospace sector, with the highly-skilled workforce it employs, is an integral part of that.”

AIC is said to be already facilitating more than 20 industry and academic collaborations, working to deliver Spirit Europe’s and its partners’ ambitions. Further inquires regarding AIC opportunities are welcome at aicenquirie@spiritaero.com.