On Friday, Luxembourg's Minister for Higher Education and Research, Marc Hansen, and Secretary of State for the Economy, Francine Closener, presented details of the future "National Composite Centre - Luxembourg (NCC-L) at a press conference at the Ministry of Economy.
The actors involved in public research are pooled their skills through a technology platform established under the auspices of the Luxembourg Institute for Science and Technology (LIST) to further boost the development and processing of innovative materials in the business sector in Luxembourg, specifically automotive and aeronautics. The composite materials sector currently generates an annual turnover of almost €400 million and employs 1,600 people. The future national competence centre will be established at Bascharage.
The initiative for such a centre was born in 2013 following publication of a study. Luxinnovation, with the support of several companies, LIST and the University of Luxembourg then conducted the first concrete ideas to fully exploit the potential for collaboration between the private and public sectors in many fields of composite materials. Subsequently, a feasibility study has confirmed that Luxembourg has the critical mass necessary to create such a centre of excellence.
To be launched in 2016, the future national competence centre will employ 60 people when fully operational. The NCC-L is to be funded equally by private and public funds (FNR, the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Higher Education and Research), up to a total of €100 million over the next five years. The centre will be housed in a first phase in the infrastructure of LIST in Bascharage and will later be relocated to Esch-Belval.
Photo by MECO (L-R): Marc Hansen, Minister for Higher Education and Research; Francine Closener, Secretary of State for the Economy
