First Minister launches high-flying venture to train aerospace engineers
3 Sep 2013 03:36 PM
First Minister, Carwyn Jones, has today launched a £1.4million venture by EADS to produce the next generation of aerospace engineers at a new training and research facility based at the EADS Newport campus. Testia Ltd, a new EADS company, will create 60 jobs over the next five years.
Testia LTD aims to meet the future needs of the global aerospace industry by training a new generation of young, highly-skilled engineers.
The 60 new jobs created by EADS’ investment, with support from the Welsh Government, will include trainers, inspectors and high-level engineers.
Speaking at the launch of Testia, the First Minister said:
"I’m very pleased that with the support of the Welsh Government, EADS has been able to further enhance its economic footprint in Wales. Testia’s state of the art facility will service all EADS companies worldwide, including Cassidian, one of our key anchor companies.
"Testia is another example of both our and EADS’ commitment to strengthening the Welsh Economy. Not only will the company create around 60 jobs over five years and train hundreds of people a year in specialist skills, it will also promote Wales as a great place for innovative, high-tech businesses to thrive."
Testia expects to be training up to 1,400 students a year within six years. The company will also work in partnership with Caparo, a worldwide leader in the supply of NDT services and materials testing, to offer UK NDT Board approved apprenticeships for school leavers.
Testia is the first UK facility to combine bespoke NDT training, research testing of new aerostructure composites, and expert aerospace NDT consultancy services for engineering and manufacturing companies, and one of only three in Europe.
Brian Hall, CEO of Testia Ltd, said: "We are addressing a potentially serious problem in the global aerospace industry by replacing an ageing population of engineers with young, highly-skilled persons who will progress to fill those expert roles in the future. Aerospace NDT is the area with the most significant growth rate in the last 10 years and clearly defined future growth."