GKN Engage Teams with Airbus UK on A380 Wing

GKN Engage, a division of GKN Aerospace Services, and Airbus UK have formed a strategic partnership to support the development and design of the wing for the Airbus A380 super jumbo transport.

The companies have made a three-year commitment to the project, which should bring GKN Engage some £10 million over the life of the deal.

GKN Engage engineers will join the existing wing design integrated project team, working alongside Airbus UK engineers at a newly created center at GKN Aerospace's Avonmouth, England, site. Airbus UK will handle management of the project initially, but GKN Engage engineers will take on more areas of responsibility as time goes on. GKN Engage will draw on its pool of some 1,700 engineers to supply their skills to the wing project.

Also new for the company, GKN Engage has opened a design and analysis facility in Melbourne, Australia, that will employ as many as 250 engineers, helping the company to offer 24-hour engineering services across the globe. The company's strategy is to make its engineers available to meet demand created by the launching of such revolutionary new aircraft designs as the A380, the Boeing Sonic Cruiser, the Airbus A400 military transport and the Joint Strike Fighter.

GKN Engage will tie its engineers together through its Virtual Design Team concept, which uses information technology to allow engineers at its stations around the world to work together.