FACC launches new technology & engineering test center

In future it will serve to bundle the company’s worldwide R&D activities. Yesterday also saw inauguration of the new Engineering Test Center. Annexed to the Technology Center, this is one of the most modern plants for the analysis, testing and certification of composite materials and components.

Numerous representatives of customers, suppliers and business partners from all over the world participated in the festivities, along with figures from politics and the business world.

Hub of global R&D activities

Through intense research activity and development of cutting-edge innovations, FACC has in the last few years successfully pressed through its technological advantage. Investment in research and development increased in the last financial year by 37.5 percent to €96.8 million and is set to keep rising.

The company received a specific acknowledgement of its innovative strength in the form of the “Frontrunner” award from the Austrian Ministry of Traffic, Innovation and Technology (bmvit), which was presented to FACC as the first company in Austria by Innovation Minister Doris Bures during her visit in May this year.

The global presence of its engineering organization with locations in Germany, Slovakia, USA, Canada, China and India enables FACC to develop components and processes in cooperation with leading customers across the world. The new technology center will in future serve as the hub of the company’s global R&D activities. Additionally, the engineering departments of the divisions Aerostructures and Interiors, which have to date been situated in separate facilities, will be brought together in the new building.

Innovative strength bundled, growth secured

In line with the motto “growth through innovation”, FACC is setting a clear signal with its new Technology Center that the company intends to continue developing its innovative strength in the future. “The challenges which the aviation traffic of the future presents for aircraft are immense and various. Therefore the development of aircraft and their components will require further innovations in lightweight construction”, stresses Robert Machtlinger, COO at FACC AG.

The new Technology Center has created the ideal preconditions for research and development. Its focuses of work include research into process and material technologies, component design and development, including stress engineering, testing and certification, tool design and production, right up to the introduction into serial production. With the additional capacities FACC can continue its growth successfully and set new standards in advanced lightweight aircraft construction.