Dassault Systèmes and the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) have collaborated on a new Manufacturing Innovation Center at the Wichita State University Innovation Campus. The facility, which held an opening event May 21, offers companies in the aviation sector expanded access to virtual prototyping, advanced automation, and reverse engineering tools.
NIAR's mission is to support the aircraft industry with design, certification, and sustainment, and it partnered with Dassault Systèmes to create a hands-on research and development space where firms can evaluate new manufacturing methods and equipment before making capital investments. The new lab complements NIAR’s Advanced Technologies Lab for Aerospace Systems, a makerspace where engineers troubleshoot manufacturing and tooling issues.
The center includes a full-scale extended reality (XR) cave, a robotics and intelligent automation lab, an additive manufacturing suite, and a reverse engineering lab. These facilities allow project teams to simulate factory layouts, experiment with 3D printing, and test re-creation workflows using Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform.
The opening builds on NIAR and Dassault Systèmes’ longstanding collaboration, including virtual twin programs such as the U.S. Air Force’s B-1 Lancer sustainment effort. In that program, more than 250 NIAR engineers and students are disassembling and scanning a retired B-1 airframe to create a full 3D digital model to support maintenance, upgrades, and supply chain resilience.