Airbus Beijing Engineering Centre (ABEC), a joint venture between Airbus and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), have opened a new lab on nanocomposite materials jointly with the National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology of China. On the same day, the two parties signed a cooperation agreement on engineering polymer nanocomposites for aeronautical applications.

Both sides agree to carry out R&T activities on electrically conductive, self-healing and toughening nanocomposites. The aim is to explore the application of state-of-the-art nanocomposite technology in the aeronautic industry.

The research will be jointly conducted by ABEC engineers and a group of top Chinese academies and universities, including NCNST, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-Sen University, HK University of Science and Technology and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The cooperation is also endorsed by Du Shanyi, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Fan Shoushan, member of the Chinese Academy of Science, who will act as the project consultants.

Airbus is also committing to set up an Airbus Scholarship programme in NCNST to support the development of the future talents in the nanoscience area.

Since its creation in 2005, ABEC has been involved in designing components for all Airbus programmes, including the company’s flagship A380 as well as the A350 XWB. It performs the specific design work related to the 5% A350 XWB airframe work packages to be carried out in China.

Currently around 130 Chinese engineers are working in ABEC, applying their skills and competencies in line with Airbus standards and using state-of-art technologies. They develop engineering solutions across the full life cycle of an aircraft — from research and design to manufacturing and in-service support.