A project is currently underway to map the possibilities of creating a mechanical engineering cluster. The organisational and administrative part of the project is carried out by the Technological Innovation Centre. The partner of the project will be Tomas Bata University in Zlín - relevant to the cooperation is the Faculty of Technology and the Faculty of Management and Economics - or possibly the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Faculty of Metallurgy at the VŠB-TU (Technical University) Ostrava. A purely mechanical engineering specialisation is present only to a limited extent at the UTB.

The entire process of mapping the possibilities for the creation of a mechanical engineering cluster, which will take about 8 months to a year, is financed by the Zlín Regional Government. After the cluster is established it will be possible to apply for a grant from the structural funds of the EU, from the Operational Programme Business and Innovation.

Main objective of the project:

To determine whether the field of mechanical engineering in the Zlín Region has the characteristics of a cluster and whether this field would be potentially more competitive after the establishment of the cluster.

Concrete objectives of the cluster's activities:

• Improve the level of cooperation between the organisations in the cluster.
• Promote the strong points of the cluster through the implementation of a marketing plan.
• Cooperation of the cluster with the science-research base.
• Increase the performance, abilities and competitiveness of engineering companies.