Sensata Technologies: 360 employees now under one roof as £16.5m R&D centre opens in Newtownabbey

That was the view of Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly as she officially opened the new state-of-the-art complex at Global Point Business Park on Wednesday (June 25).

The Northern Ireland Technology Centre (NITC) is the culmination of a five-year project to bring together Sensata’s 360 highly skilled engineering and support staff into one building and to inspire creativity, collaboration and innovation.

It represents a significant investment by the company, which also has over 250 employees at its manufacturing plant in Antrim.

The Deputy First Minister said: “The opening of this new R&D facility highlights Northern Ireland’s position as a leader on the world stage. Sensata is a global company but this investment show what can be achieved when multinational ambition meets local talent.

“This multi-million-pound facility will provide high-value jobs and drive economic growth, all of which is vital in ensuring a positive future for everyone.”

Sensata Technologies is a $4 billion global operation with annual revenue of £236m generated from its business in Northern Ireland. Locally it specializes in sensor technology for the vehicle industry, in particular tyre pressure monitoring and electric charging devices.

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The NITC is made up of two sustainability accredited buildings, totalling 67,000 sq. ft, which house testing and research labs for engineering teams, a garage which accommodates both heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and automotive vehicles, a customer demonstration room and flex desks, bookable offices and meeting spaces.

At the event also attended by the firm’s senior leaders from the US and Europe, guests were given demonstrations of how cars and trucks use the technology.

Stephan von Schuckmann, CEO of Sensata Technologies, said: “The opening of the Northern Ireland Technology Centre marks a major milestone for Sensata Technologies—both locally and globally.

"Designed by our teams, for our teams, this facility brings together colleagues who were previously spread across five separate sites, creating a single hub to foster creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

“Our Northern Ireland teams play a vital role in shaping global product innovation—transforming ideas into prototypes, prototypes into samples, and samples into scalable production. This new R&D centre will be instrumental in accelerating our innovation pipeline and strengthening our global capabilities.”

Northern Ireland is Sensata Technologies’ Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) Centre of Excellence and supports global production expansion into Mexico and China, and diversification from being solely focused on cars into adjacent areas including HGVs. Today, the team is also working on products for electric vehicles to improve charging safety.

The new facility was built by JH Turkington & Sons Ltd over a two-year construction phase that supported 150 jobs for suppliers and subcontractors.