QinetiQ gives MPs tour of Farnborough HQ
Above: QinetiQ welcomes MPs Caroline Dineage and Simon Hart to its Farnborough Headquarters.
Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport in Hampshire, and Simon Hart, MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire which includes Pendine, were shown how a high-tech, service based successful British company is investing in key areas of future potential in technology markets and how QinetiQ is seeking to position itself as a company built around the intellectual capital of its people.
QinetiQ maintains crucial facilities within each constituency. Haslar Marine Technology Park with test and evaluation facilities in Gosport and the Ministry of Defence range in Pendine which provides test and evaluation services throughout the life of systems, from concept to disposal respectively.
The two MPs looked at how QinetiQ uses commercial off the shelf applications to develop future technologies and skills.
During their visit they were shown how world leading British technology is being used to support relevant European Space Agency programmes in order to move to commercial exploitation, which can sustain UK expertise. They were invited to see a new technology being rolled out by QinetiQ which has significant export potential. Optasense are world leaders in distributed acoustic sensing and providing vital cost-saving information to help protect and secure the world's critical assets.
Drawing on decades of experience in the signal processing world, OptaSense is able to turn standard single mode telecoms fibre into a listening device up to 50km in length. The OptaSense system has now been deployed successfully worldwide, and QinetiQ are maintaining operations of this technology in over 35 countries.
The MPs were given an overview of QinetiQ’s Training and Simulation Services and the value of science and technology investment to defence markets. The Training and Simulation Services team focuses on helping achieve significant savings and increased performance through the enhanced use of military simulation training technologies.
Simon Hart MP said: “I was fascinated to get a glimpse at how QinetiQ is harnessing the technical expertise of its staff in Farnborough and how this complements its work on the test range at Pendine in my constituency.”
Caroline Dineage MP said: “I was delighted to be able to visit QinetiQ and see much of the inspiring, ground-breaking work taking place on the site. This company has immense potential, not just to promote the development of high-end British jobs, but to keep the UK at the forefront of international innovation.”
Miles Adcock, Managing Director of QinetiQ’s Training and Simulation Services, who hosted the visit said: “We were very pleased to be able to have the opportunity of explaining to the MPs QinetiQs new business offering and investment in a newly emerging market by using virtual space for training and simulation, and that a low cost, flexible solution can be achieved by using commercially available technology. This is producing tangible, measurable results for our military services.”
