Queen's University Belfast has opened the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) at Global Point in Newtownabbey. The near-£100 million Belfast Region City Deal investment is designed to accelerate innovation, skills development and growth in Northern Ireland's manufacturing sector.

The centre, known as the Factory of the Future, has been operational since April 2026 and was formally opened on 6 October by Minister for Northern Ireland Sarah Owen MP, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald, Finance Minister John O'Dowd, South Antrim MP Robin Swann and the Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Henry Cushinan.

AMIC is expected to support up to 1,500 new jobs, add £1.3 billion to the economy and train 300 apprentices by 2050. The centre provides access to state-of-the-art facilities, specialist engineering expertise and collaborative opportunities for firms.

Funding partners include Queen's University, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Ulster University. The centre forms part of a wider £230 million programme of innovation led by Queen's and supported by the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive through the Belfast Region City Deal. The UK Government's investment in the centre is almost £80 million.

AMIC's engineers help businesses explore and adopt technologies such as robotics and automation, advanced materials, digital twins, artificial intelligence and advanced metrology. A flagship project is the £9.5 million Project 4WARD, which advances welding automation in partnership with Hyster-Yale, Terex, 4DNI, Nugent Trailers and Datum Tool Design, with support from Invest NI.

The centre builds on more than 55 years of industry-focused innovation at Queen's through the Northern Ireland Technology Centre, the Polymers Processing Research Centre and the Northern Ireland Advanced Composites and Engineering Centre.