Development Center for Maintenance of Composites

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DCMC receives additional subsidy for realizing field lab at Business Park Aviolanda

The Development Center for Maintenance of Composites (DCMC) has been granted an additional subsidy as part of the Regio Deal Midden West Brabant Makes & Moves. In total, DCMC’s subsidies now amount to € 900,000 for projects including the setting up of a public smart industry field lab at the Business Park Aviolanda location in Woensdrecht. The grant allows DCMC to make concrete plans for the realization and operation of the field lab, where companies and knowledge institutions can develop, test, target and implement smart industry solutions for sectors such as aerospace, marine, automotive and wind energy.

Martin Knegt, Managing Director of DCMC, is thankful for the trust and belief in DCMC’s mission to become a well-established center of expertise with a dedicated field lab to which companies with specific issues can turn. Knegt: “With this grant we will be able to start our research center dedicated to innovations on maintenance on composites, a type of structural material that is increasingly being used in various industrial sectors and applications”. 

Great location

Business Park Aviolanda is the aerospace innovation hub for community building and market development in Europe. It is the Dutch one-stop shop for maintenance and knowledge exchange, located next to Woensdrecht Air Base. Aviolanda is actively developing clusters, such as those for composite maintenance and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The DCMC field lab will be a great addition to the maintenance, innovation and research cluster. DCMC’s presence will stimulate partnerships and attract new businesses in the field of maintenance. With a background in aviation, DCMC will be open to other industry sectors in order to share knowledge and expertise across the borders. Moreover, DCMC will be available to regional training and education institutes as a center for practical training and learning on composites. This will attract students to become specialists in the maintenance of this innovative material and increase employment opportunities.

Knegt: “With the additional subsidy we can now join forces in one physical location to gain further practical experience and test new ideas. The field lab at Aviolanda will help to facilitate research and create a collective knowledge database for all participants, while also reducing individual research costs. We aim to attract more partners and collaborate with other companies located on the business park, as well as other aerospace, automotive, marine, energy and infrastructure companies.”

Regio Deal Midden- en West-Brabant
The subsidy granted falls under the broader subsidy scheme ‘Subsidieregeling Regiodeal Midden West Brabant Makes & Moves’. Through this Regio Deal, a partnership between the central government and the region to tackle regional challenges, Central and West Brabant have the ambition to become an important player in responsible production and distribution, supported by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). So far, investments have been made in 17 innovative projects, including the DCMC field lab. DCMC aims to significantly increase the lifespan of capital goods in order to fund the transition to responsible production and distribution.

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