A new £7 million hi-tech centre dedicated to pioneering engineering firsts is to be established in Belfast.

The advanced engineering competence centre will be located at an existing technology hub in the city which is a focal point for engineering research and development.

The new centre will complement the innovative Northern Ireland advanced composites and engineering centre, which opened two years ago at a cost of £6 million.

Minister for Enterprise Arlene Foster, who is attending the Farnborough International Airshow in England this week, said the North's new competence centres, which were being funded by Invest NI, were designed to rapidly transform research into commercial success.

She believed that global industries from aerospace to automotive and renewable energy would be able to use the new advanced engineering centre to facilitate collaboration with researchers from the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast.

The centre will be financed from £5 million of research and development assistance from Invest NI and a £1.8million investment from industry.