GLOBAL security and aerospace leader Lockheed Martin celebrated the opening of a new state-of-the-art collaboration centre in Masdar City to explore innovation, advance security and help achieve the UAE’s vision of building a strong resilient economy. The Centre for Innovation and Security Solutions (CISS) is the first of its kind outside the United States.
Located in the Incubator Building at Masdar City – Abu Dhabi’s low carbon, sustainable urban development – the centre is a reconfigurable, multi-purpose facility. It will enable cooperation between Lockheed Martin and the UAE government, industry and academia to develop solutions that address challenges facing today’s world, from climate change to resource scarcity, and advance scientific discovery.
Speaking at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the CISS, Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, highlighted the company’s commitment to enhancing the development of the UAE’s skill-base to deliver economic benefits.
“We value the entrepreneurial, innovative spirit we see in the UAE and the commitment to real-world solutions and progress that Masdar represents,” said Hewson. “We look forward to collaborating on innovations, growing technical expertise and contributing to economic development.”
The CISS is the result of a long-standing partnership between Lockheed Martin and the UAE in programmes that support government, industry and the development of skills and expertise. Ten separate projects are underway or in planning.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, chairman of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy and clean technology company, said: “By combining Lockheed Martin’s 100 years of technology expertise with Masdar’s holistic approach towards higher education, R&D and technology deployment we will be able to deliver innovations that address the UAE’s most important challenges.” The centre will facilitate capacity building and stimulate knowledge transfer by enabling access to Lockheed Martin’s extensive network of laboratories, research facilities and centres of excellence across the globe, he said.
“In line with the UAE’s National Innovation Strategy, the opening of the centre is a landmark for Masdar City that further emphasises its position within the UAE as a platform for tech-to-market solutions and UAE capacity building in strategic innovation-based sectors,” added Dr Al Jaber. Lockheed Martin and Masdar have already initiated joint collaboration into nano technologies and materials with potential applications in aircraft fuselage design, plastics and water-desalination programmes, among others.
In addition to Masdar, Lockheed Martin has partnerships in the UAE with Khalifa University, UAE University and Abu Dhabi Polytechnic.
