Archive : 1 April 2015 год

Dr Matthew Murray from the University of Leeds has won the RAEng ERA Foundation Entrepreneurs' Award, which looks to identify, encourage and reward engineers working with electrotechnology in UK universities. Through the RAEng's Enterprise Hub, Dr Murray will receive training to help him develop the skills needed to run a successful business and a mentor from the Academy's Fellowship to provide additional support and advice. He will receive a £10,000 prize and £30,000 to invest in the continued development of his innovation. 

Dr Murray, pictured, has developed a patented technology that allows anti-counterfeit plasmas to be implanted into glass. The approach, called Ultrafast Laser Plasma Implantation (ULPI) and incorporated into a product called Alpin, allows any glass surface to be implanted with a plasma generated by a femtosecond laser. This introduces visible or light activated colouring. ULPI can also create a pattern, such as a barcode or branding, on a surface.

Arnoud Jullens, head of Enterprise at the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: "Dr Murray's plasma technology will help to add another layer of protection against counterfeit products worldwide; an issue of growing importance, particularly in developing countries. The support offered by the Enterprise Hub's network of business leaders will help him to find the right partners and customers to take his product to the global market."

Runners up for the Award include George Frodsham, whose blood filtration system can 'sieve' the blood of malaria sufferers and reduce a patient's parasite burden; Dr Peiman Hosseini, who has developed nanodisplay technology for use in wearables; and Bethan Wolfenden and Phillip Boeing, who have developed a personal molecular biology laboratory system. Each will be awarded £2000 cash prizes and become Enterprise Hub members.

Dr Hosseini has created the first reported nanodisplay that uses optical and electronic property modulation in phase change materials. This new class of ultra thin, ultra high resolution displays, said to have nanosecond access speeds and no power consumption in static mode, will be targeted at emerging near eye applications such as Google Glass. Prototypes are under development, with a working device expected within the next 12 months.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Innovate UK and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) are looking to invest up to £10million in a consortium to develop a pilot line that will help to understand the issues involved in the manufacture of high voltage electric vehicle batteries.

The consortium must include, or develop as part of the project, all the skills and capabilities required to consider how to produce whole battery packs for a variety of on road and, optionally, non road vehicles. These capabilities should include, as a minimum:

• cell handling
• design, development, assembly, testing and validation of complete traction batteries to production level quality, safety and robustness
• electronic control hardware and software
• charge flow and thermal controls, mechanical and environmental modelling, simulation and testing
• physical and electrical integration.
• The successful consortium should include a research organisation, at least two vehicle manufacturers, at least one industrial supply chain partner and at least one SME.

The partners will be required to develop a pilot production line that will be used for developing the processes necessary for complete battery production. The pilot line should be capable of producing a variety of traction battery types and the consortium should understand how it could be scaled up for high volume production.

According to Innovate UK, the project is likely to have total costs of £15m to £20m.

The two stage competition opens on 20 April 2015 via a written application, which should be submitted no later than 1200 on 3 June 2015. Selected applicants will then be invited for interview.

There will be a competition briefing and consortium-building event for potential applicants at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull on 15 April 2015 and the winning consortium is set to be announced in August 2015.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk

Following its appointment as an authorised distributor for Keysight Technologies in the UK, Microlease is investing more than £1million in staff, premises, stock and e-commerce capabilities. The appointment will allow Microlease to support and sell Keysight's complete product range, including thermal imaging instruments for the first time.

Microlease says three application engineers have been added, specifically to work with Keysight customers, while it has extended its warehouse to store and manage the new stock.

Nigel Brown, Microlease's CEO, said: "Microlease's commitment to a consultative approach was central to Keysight's decision to expand its relationship with us. We believe passionately that our role is to guide each customer to the right instrument for them and to make that instrument available to them based on the commercial model that best suits their needs. We have invested in the team to make that happen and are supporting them with a stock profile and an e-commerce capability to make dealing with Microlease quick, simple and convenient."

Keysight's 'Basic Instruments' range will be available for purchase directly from the Microlease website, whilst higher value equipment will have four options alongside purchase: rent; rent to buy; divide by 12; and lease.

In addition, Microlease offers an asset management service for test equipment, which includes compiling an inventory, taking responsibility for scheduled maintenance and calibration and disposing of surplus equipment.

Brown, left, is pictured with Alessandro Pino, Keysight's regional indirect channel manager for EMEA.

Author
Graham Pitcher

Source:  www.newelectronics.co.uk