Large engineering structures like turbines, bridges or industrial machinery are still manufactured by traditional processes such as forging, casting or by machining from solid blocks. These processes do not allow local control of material properties to achieve a specific function like anti-corrosion or hardness. To meet the functional specifications, engineers must operate within a limited range of design options, with high “buy-to-fly” ratios and long lead times. Unlike any other metal AM technology, wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) produces fully dense metallic structures with no porosity. WAAM is also unbeatable in terms of production times, making it uniquely suited for large and functionally demanding engineering structures. In Grade2XL, we will demonstrate the potential of multi-material wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) for large scale structures. The high printing rate of WAAM, combined with the ability to control material properties down to the nanoscale, will allow us to build strong and durable engineering structures. Grade2XL will deliver multi-material products of superior quality and performance, cut lead times by up to 96% and enable massive cost savings for the maritime and energy industry, as well as for industrial machinery. These outputs will rapidly roll out to other sectors with similar key performance indicators and become an attractive investment opportunity for SMEs. This project will strengthen Europe’s capacity to drive manufacturing innovation globally and withstand growing competition from Asia.

The GTC (Global Technical Proving Centre) is the first of its kind within the UK and UK Aerospace; helping to bridge the gap between initial research (i.e. with Catapult Centres) and competitive manufacture required to exploit the technology in the market. This novel approach by GKN encompasses a collaborative working environment, a space to ‘co-create’, in a flexible ‘Plug and Play’ Digital-Factory-of-the-Future; delivering accelerated technology to the market for GKN’s customers and supply chain. The GTC will be a key enabler to ensure GKN in the UK can be at the forefront of delivering cutting edge technology to the market ahead of our competitors. The GTC will support the accelerated exploitation of technology related to innovation programmes and critically reduce the time from concept to commercialization

GKN are seeking capital funding of £7.4 million from SEEDA to support the establishment of a preproduction facility to manufacture aircraft engine fan blades from advanced composite material and enable ongoing development of the 'Centre of Excellence for Composite Design and Manufacture' on the Isle of Wight. This activity forms part of the Environmental lightweight Fan (ELF) Programme which focuses on the significant challenges surrounding the acquisition and development of novel automated manufacturing processes, suitable for high volume production of the composite fan blade. This investment would be in the context of: • Previous investment made by SEEDA on the Isle of Wight supporting the development of a high technology design and manufacturing composite facility by GKN (SEEDA contribution £1.25m in 2004), which has supported activity leading to the ELF Programme, and further SEEDA support amounting to £180k in 2007 to part fund the 'Manufacturing Efficiency of Composite Wings' under the Integrated Wing Programme of the National Aerospace Technology Strategy (NATS). Together these have enabled GKN to start to build the 'Centre of Excellence for Composite Design and Manufacture' at its site on the Isle of Wight; the ELF Programme activity would contribute further to the development of this Centre of Excellence; • The ELF programme as a whole will run from 2007 through to 2015 split into four phases, through from material development to finalisation of the manufacturing process. The whole programme is costed at £54m to conclusion, and £43.8m through to the end of the third phase. Half of the funding up until the end of the third phase will be provided by 'CTAL' (which is a Joint Venture of GKN and Rolls Royce), and the other half would be from the public sector, namely SEEDA and the Technology Strategy Board ('TSB'). Although CTAL are delivering the ELF programme as a whole, GKN are taking the lead responsibility for the establishment of the pre-production facility. Of the £7.4m SEEDA investment, £2.65m would be towards the construction of the pre-production facility and £4. 75m would be towards the purchase and installation of the capital equipment required.

CO-MET is a technology development programme led by GKN Aerospace aimed at advancing current technologies and knowledge in Composite and Metallic processing for current product and advanced Structures for application on future new aircraft platforms. The programme is critical for the intermediate future operations given the potential gains in productivity-efficiency-repeatability and quality are compelling. GKN Aerospace, global Tier 1 supplier for the Aerospace industry, with its headquarters in the UK brings a wealth of experience and background managing research & technology initiatives.

Drivers in the U.K lose an average of 178 hours a year due to congestion costing them nearly £8 billion in 2018\. The largest impact is seen in London, one of the most congested cities worldwide, however the overall economic impact of travel delays, including public transport delays, across the UK is colossal. This creates an increasingly obvious need for more innovative and intelligent transport systems. The Skybus transport network, based on large electric Vertical Take-Off & Landing (eVTOL) vehicles capable of carrying between 30-50 passengers each, takes the "Park and Ride" concept into the air for mass transit over extremely congested routes eliminating the 2-Dimensional constraints of current surface transport modes including cars, trains and buses. This will not only offer direct benefits in reduced travel time at affordable fares but also reduce the congestion on current ground transport vehicles thus reducing overall travel time for all passengers travelling on these routes regardless of their chosen mode of transport. This new transport network could offer a larger, cheaper and more accessible aerial mobility solution in the most congested urban areas for the benefit of the wider public. A consortium of experts in aircraft manufacturing (GKN Aerospace), eVTOL infrastructure/operations (Swanson Aviation Consultancy & Pascall + Watson) and transport systems (Connected Places Catapult) has been assembled to carry out an extensive multidisciplinary study into this proposed transport system concept.