Ian Sheppard has acted as Editor International Show Editions for AIN since June 2013. Based in the Redhill, England, Ian reports for the various AIN publications as well as providing support to International Editor Charles Alcock in covering international air shows (such as Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai), and the EBACE and MEBA business aviation events. His central role is to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Prior to becoming more involved with AIN in mid-2011 (initially as deputy international editor), Ian worked for various aviation publications through his company, First Aerospace Media. This included being part of the AIN team covering daily news at international air shows.
Ian has worked for publications such as Flight International (technical reporter, 1997-8) and Aerospace International (editor, 1999-2000). He was publications manager at Airclaims (Ascend) between 2000 and 2004 before forming First Aerospace Media. Since mid-2009 Ian has also been managing editor of Regional International, the journal of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
Ian hasis working towards a European commercial pilot licence, having held an FAA private pilot license in 1991, and instructor rating. He also has a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a graduate diploma in law from Kingston University, and is a graduate of the legal practice course (College of Law, Guildford).

Editor

Ian Sheppard

Last month a new high-tech manufacturing research and development facility was opened in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The £7.5 million (US$9.9 million) Low Cost Automation Centre (completely revamping the original center established 30 years ago, and based at the Northern Ireland Technology Centre at Queen's University Belfast) is designed to help industry become more competitive and increase productivity. It has been supported by the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy; Innovate UK; and ATI.

 


“The new facility will have an open door to industry partners, currently including RLC Global Point, Moyola Precision Engineering, J W Kane Precision Engineering, Travan Precision Engineering, and Retec Engineering Solutions,” said an NITC statement.

 


The facility, which AIN toured just before the official opening, is part of Centre for Intelligent Autonomous Manufacturing Systems (i-AMS) at Queen's and aimed at “making Industry 4.0, the new industrial revolution, a reality."

 


Two years ago, NITC applied for funding by way of a £5 million (US$6.6 million) capital investment from the UK’s Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), itself part of £1.8 billion (US$2.4 billion) earmarked for aerospace (based on 50:50 industry-government participation. The total that was later doubled to £3.6 billion (US$4.8 billion).

 


In October this year, NITC will celebrate its 50th anniversary, at a point when the focus is switching to the “fourth industrial revolution” (aka Aerospace 4.0). “The third industrial revolution was in the 1960s with automation,” said NITC head Colm Higgins.

 


Higgins said the facility also provides Northern Ireland with “an important regional link to the well established UK High Value Manufacturing Catapult and research technology organizations, as well as the emerging Irish Manufacturing Research Centre.”

 


Higgins said aerospace would account for approximately 50 percent of the center’s work and 70 percent of the manufacturing research and development. “We aim to be complementary to the capability that exists in the UK,” he added.

 


He showed AIN a 3-D factory simulation (using Dassault Systemes’ “Quest” software package) of the C Series wing plant (created before it was built), which NITC was instrumental in helping to conceptualize for the Canadian OEM. The center has also been helping Airbus in its bid to simulate A320-family production as it has brought in rate increases in Hamburg and Toulouse.

High Tech Manufacturing Centre Opens in Northern Ireland

The focus of the new £7.5 million facility is the “fourth industrial revolution,” or “Aerospace 4.0” as it is known in the industry.

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