Message posted on
24 September 2026 by HIVE
Following an initial meeting between HIVE and Brainport Industries Campus (BIC) in Eindhoven in 2025, BIC visited our cluster in Woensdrecht on September 24, 2026, together with several of its partners. The purpose of the visit was to get to know the organizations and activities within both ecosystems and explore ways to bring innovation in the eastern and western parts of the province of North Brabant closer together.
During an afternoon of pitches, a tour and networking drinks, two key questions were at the heart of the discussion:
While HIVE focuses on civil and military aerospace maintenance, aircraft maintenance training and logistics, Brainport Industries Campus brings together companies and educational institutions in the high-tech manufacturing industry. The focus on innovation is therefore different, but there is considerable overlap in terms of themes. At HIVE, too, partners are experimenting with digitalization, automation, robotics, sensing and AI.
Due to the strict regulatory requirements in aviation, developments in Aerospace MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul) tend to move more slowly. Technologies that are already widely used in the Brainport region still need to find their way into day-to-day practice in our sector. That is why HIVE focuses on further developing, testing, validating and qualifying existing technologies for new MRO applications. These solutions can help address shortages of maintenance and training personnel, save time and reduce costs.
Just as BIC has a Factory of the Future, a field lab where 17 high-tech manufacturing companies work together on a range of use cases, HIVE has its Hangar of the Future. Here, a range of civil and military partners collaborate on the future of aerospace maintenance. One example is the Autonomous Robot for Blade Inspections (ARBI), developed by NLR and the Royal Netherlands Air Force as a solution for automated helicopter rotor blade inspections.
From the future of aerospace maintenance to the present: the group took a walking tour of Business Park Aviolanda, the civilian business park next to Woensdrecht Air Base, which together form HIVE.
Inside Fokker Services Group‘s wide-body hangar, it became clear how the company responds to the need for flexibility. One day, the hangar may be used for the conversion and upgrade of a large VIP aircraft; the next, several narrow-body aircraft may be undergoing maintenance side by side. Fokker also places a strong emphasis on innovation. Adopting new technology is essential, not only because of the shortage of skilled aircraft technicians, but also to remain competitive with lower-cost countries.
The development of drones has accelerated in response to the changing security situation around the world. The Dutch Drone Centre (DDC), which has specialized in testing unmanned aerial systems for the past 10 years, knows this field well. Alongside civil applications such as surveillance, inspections and drone deliveries, there is growing demand for innovative drone solutions for military use. DDC is one of the few drone test centers with a TED permit for test, experimental and demonstration flights, as well as access to airspace in a secured area.
ACRATS provides Structure Training for aircraft mechanics both in Woensdrecht and at locations around the world. In addition to aluminum, composites are now widely used in aircraft structures. These materials have very different properties, requiring different inspection and repair techniques. Together with partners in education and industry, ACRATS is therefore researching new techniques that can be applied quickly and easily by aircraft structural technicians. This makes them an innovation leader in this field.
ACRATS will soon open the HIVE Structure Center of Excellence, a facility for collaboration in training and innovation, with specialized labs, machinery and equipment available for shared use.
After the tour, the group continued the conversation over refreshing drinks, with plenty of contact details exchanged along the way. We look back on a very successful event.
Among the HIVE organizations involved were The Royal Netherlands Air Force, Fokker Services Group, NLR, ACRATS, the Dutch Drone Centre and the Development Center for Maintenance of Composites. The visiting BIC partners included BKL Engineering, Data Expert, Lamers Tooling, Mevi, KMWE, Cboost, BarionX and Sorama.
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