MTC leads the way for post-Brexit Britain with Austrian partnership

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is trailblazing the way for British manufacturing post Brexit after signing a five-year agreement with a key Austrian research organisation today (6th October, 2016).

Upper Austria Research (UAR), backed by the Upper Austria State Government, has agreed a partnership with the Midlands-based MTC, which is at the forefront of delivering manufacturing systems solutions across a range of industry sectors.

The MTC, one of seven centres in the government-backed High Value Manufacturing Catapult, and UAR will exchange specialist knowledge and information as part of the five-year collaboration, which will also see the two organisations co-operate on joint research projects.

A 35-strong Austrian delegation witnessed the signing of the agreement at the MTC’s state-of-the-art site, including State Government of Upper Austria deputy governor Thomas Stelzer, UAR CEO Dr Wilfried Enzenhofer, the Austrian Ambassador to the UK Dr Martin Eichtinger and Austrian trade commissioner Dr Christian Kesberg.

The agreement is viewed as a significant marker in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU according to Prof. Ken Young, the MTC’s technology director.

He said: “The MTC has always worked closely with Europe on the future technologies for manufacturing and we intend to continue to do that post Brexit.

“This agreement is an important milestone for the MTC as it shows that some key partners in Europe share our desire to keep collaborating.

“We very much look forward to a productive partnership with Upper Austrian Research over the next five years and driving innovation.”

Mr Stelzer said: “The research and innovation infrastructures in the UK have been internationally recognised, particularly the MTC which is known for its latest state-of-the-art equipment and its highly qualified team of engineers, which together are providing a highly-respected innovation environment.

“There have been links with the MTC before, which has included the aspect of training, but there is an ambition to intensify the information exchange and know-how transfer as well as a stronger collaboration on a European level.”