Forming research

A £25m research centre for creating state of the art manufacturing technologies for the UK's aerospace, energy, marine and automobile industries will open near Glasgow Airport in early 2010.

The Advanced Forming Research Centre will develop forming and forging technologies to support the design and manufacture of new products, including components and structures for aircraft wings and body parts, engines, cars, ships, medical devices, power generation and wind turbines.

The centre is a collaborative venture between the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise and engineering firms including Boeing, Mettis Aerospace and Rolls-Royce.

The group hopes the centre will make the UK’s engineering sector even more competitive globally by delivering advanced products to the market quicker and more cost effectively.