NI businesses to benefit from £1m Innovate UK funding for AMIC
Summary
A \xa31m investment from Innovate UK will enable Northern Irelands Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) to start supporting local businesses in the next few months.AMICs flagship building, which was granted planning permission in May, will be a 10,500m2 state-of-the-art Factory of the Future, set to open in 2026 at Global Point Newtownabbey.Its part of plans for a \xa3100m investment in AMIC, a Belfast Region City Deal project delivered by Queens University in partnership with industry, Ulster University and Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, to reinvigorate local industrial potential and address the future technology and skills challenges faced by the regions manufacturing sector.The Innovate UK funding will help build capabilities within AMIC this year in automated food manufacturing, digital twins, and embedded digital verification technology. The regions full potential can be unlocked with the combined industry expertise and academic knowledge from AMIC, HVM Catapult, Queens University Belfast, Ulster University and the thousands of SMEs which are the sectors backbone. I look forward to further developing this new hub to benefit both Northern Irish and UK manufacturing innovation.The announcement comes ahead of the Northern Ireland Manufacturing Conference and Supply Chain Expo at Titanic Exhibition Centre on 22 June where AMIC, as key partner, will share more plans with industry on how it will turbocharge Northern Irelands manufacturing capabilities and embed a culture of innovation to act as a driver for increased productivity.AMIC experts will share a stand with HVM Catapult partners including representatives from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Manufacturing Technology Centre, National Composites Centre and CPI, organisations which are delivering industrial transformation across the UK.Katherine Bennett CBE, chief executive of HVM Catapult, said: Innovate UKs support will further strengthen the relationship between AMIC and HVM Catapult. The businesses we work with will be even better equipped to make the most of exciting opportunities that manufacturing innovation has to offer across the whole of the UK.RELATED: Ulster University-led partnership to address skills-based challenges in Northern Ireland with new UK Government fundingManufacturing investment is a key driver of future growth, and we must ensure that all manufacturers have access to new productivity, efficiency and sustainability-boosting technologies and approaches.Dave Wilkes, Director of Innovation Ecosystem, Innovate UK, said: Innovate UK is committed to supporting growth and increased productivity across the UK, and Catapults are a huge part of that. "AMIC will build on 50 years of sustained innovation and industry support through the Northern Ireland Technology Centre (NITC), the Polymers Processing Research Centre (PPRC) and the more recent university-industry partnership, the NI Advanced Composites and Engineering (NIACE).The UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive are providing funding towards AMIC as part of the Belfast Region City Deal, which unlocks \xa31billion of transformative co-investment to deliver more than 20 highly ambitious projects and programmes, create up to 20,000 new, and better jobs and help make the region a global investment destination over the next decade and beyond.