Sensoroid and smart chair enables health to be visualised 20th April 2018

Officially opening today, (19th April) is the University of Brighton’s new £14m Advanced Engineering building, at an event which celebrates the role of women in engineering. The Advanced Engineering Building is a facility which supports both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research and which houses the Advanced Engineering Centre which has an international reputation for producing innovative, future-facing research into complex engine combustion processes and laser-based measurement techniques, fundamental modelling and computational simulation.

We can all agree that yes, a sheet of A4 is convenient, but your data won't be exact or real time. Well, more than a decade after we started talking about the paperless factory, it has yet to arrive. While the internet has revolutionised how we operate, with connectivity transforming how information moves around the enterprise, it is common to see a lot of paper moving around too – and this is especially true on the shop floor.  

Engineering-grade additive manufacturing solutions were on show from 3D systems, with a range available for all budgets and production requirements at MACH 2018. The company covered a full range of prototyping and manufacturing applications, and the 3D Systems stand featured end-to-end solutions for plastics and metal fabrication. 

  Since January 2018, a pioneering government campaign called the 'Year of Engineering' has been running. It is aimed at attracting the next generation of innovators to the industry and boosting the overall numbers of those interested in a career in the sector.

Playing a major part in the ‘future of nuclear’, Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are an intriguing development for the UK’s decarbonised future. Creating £60 per megawatt hour once mature SMR technology will play a key role in reinvigorating the UK energy industry. That being said, although there are strong targets and interest in the recent Government investment placed in new nuclear technologies, in order to drive this nuclear evolution forward, much more than just financial investment is required.

Creating new communication requirements between machines (machine to x) and IT infrastructure is the continuous innovation and data-driven business models in Industry 4.0. To ensure interoperability and communication, Assystem Technologies has initiated a one-of-a-kind standardisation project, providing a ‘Reference Model for Industrial Cloud Federation’.

The drive for increased efficiency is essential in every area of the water industry, completely integrated solutions that offer improvements to operational insight, energy usage, physical supply networks and process installations of especially high importance. At the IFAT 2018 exhibition, Mitsubishi Electric will be presenting its approach to meeting these needs, which has been developed based on an understanding of industry requirements from water automation projects from around the world.

It has officially been a year since Article 50 has been triggered, and to fit in EEF, The Manufacturers’ Organisation hosted the Making Brexit Work – Preparing Manufacturers for Brexit conference in Newcastle on 28th March. The event brought together around 60 North East business and manufacturing leaders to identify key concerns and opportunities presented by Brexit.