Paddy Martin, Wrightbus.

“Long term, we aim to further develop and enhance composite materials technology for use in bus manufacture. To date through participation at NIACE, we have gained valuable information and contacts which will help us identify potential markets and opportunities. NIACE has also helped us identify funding options for new projects, which we hope to pursue. The NIACE facility provides an excellent environment for meetings and networking.

Robert McConnell, CCP

“We joined NIACE in early 2013 and we’ve already started to see movements on some key developments. We’ve been invited to participate in a few new research and development projects; our MD has begun to interact on some key Boards; we’ve met some potential collaborators and customers; and we’ve developed our own internal approach to research and development, setting aside an area and key personnel in pursuit of manufacturing advancements. “We want to develop our skills, capabilities and people, bringing them bang up to date with best practice and advanced techniques. Secondly we want to advertise ourselves as capable manufacturing and whole-project partners, building on our experiences in the sector over almost forty years. “In terms of quality the centre is excellent, Scott and his small team have done an excellent job in making the centre feel established, accessible and user friendly. It is an excellent place to work.”

Tom Walls, LPE

“We are pleased with the building and facilities at NIACE. We are keen to grow our company and we believe that R&D will be a cornerstone of any new growth. Being a participant in NIACE means that if we identify a product or service within our field of 3D Printing that we believe could provide a solution to other engineering companies, then NIACE gives us the opportunity to explore this further with industry experts. Ultimately we would like to take the lead in such a project with a view that it would help us gain a technical advantage over our competitors.

Gareth Caves, WIS

“WIS joined NIACE in September 2012. Participation in NIACE is very closely aligned with our 3 core ethos of Knowledge, Partnership and Innovation. We invest heavily in R&D to deliver the best engineering solutions to our customers, but pooling our knowledge with others through NIACE will undoubtedly improve our own capabilities. Long term we believe there will be opportunities to grow our business through collaboration with other NIACE participants to provide commercially viable products and processes.

The main benefit so far has been the networking element. Bombardier have been a key customer of WIS for many years, and with a large number of Bombardier R&D staff based at NIACE, participation only strengthens that relationship. As a company who constantly innovate to improve manufacturers processes, we are
already collaborating with other participants for mutual gain and as the number of participants grows, so does the number of opportunities.

NIACE has hosted many networking events, often in conjunction with ADS, which has given us exposure to some great contacts in the UK Aerospace market.

NIACE has excellent facilities and Scott and Kim are highly professional, very accommodating and more than helpful. I wish I could spend more time there as it is an inspiring working environment, but unfortunately I need to be at my own place of work or with customers! However, we look forward to engaging more and more with NIACE as it develops.”

Dr Leslie Orr, ADS Northern Ireland

“ADS is the trade body for Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Industries. We have held many industry events at NIACE – the centre is an ideal technology hub – where companies can meet and together develop new high technology products which will drive future growth. Our goal is to grow these important sectors which already contribute over £1bn per annum to the Northern Ireland