GKN joins Airbus and Rolls-Royce on Bristol research centre board

Aerospace giant GKN has joined the board of a major technology and engineering research centre in Bristol. The company has been working with the Centre for Modelling and Simulation (CFMS) for a number of years.

GKN, which has a base in Filton, South Gloucestershire, will join industry heavyweights Airbus and Rolls-Royce on the board.

The announcement follows a long-standing relationship between GKN and CFMS, the organisations said.

Professor Sir Iain Gray, chair of CFMS, said: “We’ve been working with GKN Aerospace for a number of years to accelerate the development of aircraft manufacturing technologies and the next generation of low-carbon flight.

"Welcoming GKN to the board of CFMS is a natural evolution of our relationship, underpinning our commitment to aerospace, but also bringing together industry-leading digital engineering expertise which is being transferred to a growing portfolio of diverse, high-value sectors – including energy, infrastructure, space and transport.”

Max Brown, vice president technology at GKN Aerospace, said CFMS had been a "key digital partner" to GKN Aerospace.

He said: "We are delighted to step up our engagement and help steer the future of the organisation. It is vital that we enhance the UK’s digital engineering skills, and CFMS’s expertise in advanced simulation, robotics and autonomous systems, plus access to its unrivalled compute power, mean it is at the forefront of this essential work.”

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CFMS recently secured funding from the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to develop a high-tech computer system designed to tackle some of society's biggest issues.

It has also landed investment from the UK Space Agency’s Space Cluster Infrastructure Fund for a pilot data centre capability for next-generation space engineering, robotics, simulation and AI.