Solvay-NIAR Manufacturing Innovation Center opens

Advanced materials for aerospace company Solvay and Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) celebrated the official opening of their joint Manufacturing Innovation Center dedicated to enabling the future of flight through advances in composite technologies. The center is located within NIAR’s Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems (ATLAS).

At the Manufacturing Innovation Center, the country’s leading aviation companies will have access to 150,000f^t2 of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) compliant development, testing, and prototyping facilities as well as the latest in advanced aviation material research.

Companies will be able to fabricate entire aircraft structures such as wings and fuselages at a fraction of the cost of making it themselves. Using automated and high-rate processing with smart and agile manufacturing technologies, Solvay and NIAR engineers will work together with customers to test ideas and innovative structures in real time. These capabilities help to increase the adoption of composites and allow aviation companies to meet increased performance and efficiency targets.

“Our partnership with NIAR through this joint Manufacturing Innovation Center is an important milestone in Solvay’s ambition to help key customers across the United States advance the future of aerospace and defense,” said Carmelo Lo Faro, president of Solvay’s Materials Segment. “Here, we can explore the advantages of new composite material forms with the latest manufacturing technologies to create a lighter, safer and more sustainable aircraft of the future.”

“ATLAS is the future of aviation manufacturing, and we’re proud to provide a proving ground for some of the world’s most advanced aviation technologies and companies,” said John Tomblin, WSU senior vice president for Industry & Defense Programs and NIAR executive director. “Having Solvay’s material expertise on-site at this one-of-a-kind facility is a major asset for companies looking to explore what’s possible for future aircraft.”

Solvay’s strategic involvement with NIAR demonstrates how its advanced material innovation can help customers in the United States reduce time and excess costs to test new applications. Solvay engineers will work with customers across the aerospace, defense, space and advanced air mobility markets.

The grand opening events included opening remarks and presentations from U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran; Linden Blue, vice chairman of General Atomics; Carmelo Lo Faro, president of Solvay Materials; Paul Hughes, Kansas deputy secretary of Business Development; WSU President Rick Muma; and John Tomblin, WSU senior vice president for Industry and Defense Program and NIAR executive director.

Solvay’s Manufacturing Innovation Center is within the facility at NIAR’s south campus at Air Capital Flight Line.

ATLAS is a makerspace for industry-scale automated manufacturing research including automated fiber placement (AFP), fiber patch placement for complex geometries, thermoplastic welding, and thermoplastic over-molding for multi-functional integrated structures. This manufacturing innovation center is an extension of the research and development capabilities of the global aerospace industry.

ATLAS was established in 2019 within a small lab space at NIAR’s headquarters on the main Wichita State campus. Since then, it has grown to employ more than 100 research engineers and student technicians in multiple laboratory and office spaces at the headquarters and new south Wichita facility.