Electronic Specifier

This year saw WES (The Women’s Engineering Society) celebrate its 100 year anniversary. A lot has changed for women over the last century, as Electronic Specifier’s Anna Flockett found out at the organisation’s centennial conference. WES’s centennial conference which was held last month, titled: ‘Celebrating the Past, Transforming the Future’, set out to discuss the past, how far women have come, some of our amazing achievements, and crucially what still needs to be done in the future. 

Due to rapid industrialisation, there has been significant growth in manufacturing industries all around the world. As a result, the demand for industrial motors has witnessed a significant increase over the years. As per industrial motors market analysis, it is expected that the global industrial motors market will reach the total value of $58.9bn by the end of 2019 with an average growth rate of seven percent. In the emerging economies, the increasing demand for motors by downstream industries is going to be a major driver of the industrial motor market.

As the future remains unclear for the manufacturing and engineering industry in the UK, we try to keep positive and think about the future generation and what they have in store for engineering, so Engineering Specifier caught up with Jon Excell, editor, The Engineer and engineering Launchpad chair to see where he stands on engineering startups, and what is yet to come for the industry.

Detlef Spang, CEO, Colt Data Centre Services talks us through her thoughts on International Women's Day, in terms of how far we have come and what still needs to be done. 

A 16 year-old student from Southampton has beaten off ‘hundreds’ of others and bagged a prestigious six-year engineering apprenticeship. Katie Hopper, who attends Salisbury’s University Technical College (UTC), was the only female who applied to Associated British Ports (ABP) for the higher level degree apprenticeship.

For at least the past five years there has been a huge buzz around the fact that there is a massive difference in the number of men working in STEM and technology compared to the number of women. We have seen talks, conference initiatives, but my question is with all this discussion what action is actually being taken?   

Cheshire Seals and Components Limited (Cheshire Seals), based in Warrington have recently extended their workshop capacity with a new Harrison Alpha 1550XS manual/CNC lathe from Colchester Machine Tool Solutions, allowing them to offer customers larger machining capability.

Research conducted by one of the UK’s largest accountants has revealed that men in engineering earn up to 30% more than women in the same roles. Hemel Hempstead-based SJD accountants has analysed salaries of both male and females in the sector revealing some astonishing figures. According to the analysis females with job titles such as mechanical engineer or maintenance engineer earn almost a third less than males with the same occupation.

The National Grid and its contractors Murphy Eltel Joint Venture have finished building the new 20km high voltage electricity line between Richborough and Canterbury to connect the Nemo Link, into the UK’s electricity transmission system. The new line, consisting of 60 new pylons is the first to be built in Kent for 25 years.

Highly-skilled young Scottish engineer Sean McKenzie has many accomplishments, but perhaps his most important contribution to the sector could be a simple lesson: that skills shortages can be overcome. His 11-year career at Blantyre-based, globally-operating semiconductor specialist Ichor Systems has been an object lesson in how focused nurturing of talent can create a new generation of professionals who excel in skills which were in danger of being lost.

A Yorkshire-based engineering firm, operating in the print industry, has invested £110,000 in its digital marketing strategy. Absolute, based in Huddersfield, has appointed Leeds-based creative agency, Tall to strengthen its online presence. The two businesses first worked together on the development of Absolute’s ‘Sono’, the world’s first and only ultrasonic on-press cleaner.  

  The structure of the Great Pyramid of Giza is truly a marvellous feat of human engineering, and in fact of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the last one left standing, despite being the oldest.

Over the past few decades, there has been a massive rise in the female workforce, with the employment rate of women aged 25 to 54 up from 57% in 1975 to a record high of 78% in 2017. In fact, recent reports collected by Fresh Student Living found women in the UK are 35% more likely to go to university than men.

Over the last few years we have used up a lot of column inches in order to highlight the burgeoning skills gap within engineering and STEM-based careers, and in particular the discrepancy in the gender balance of individuals choosing that particular pathway.

News of Japan’s plans to increase the age of retirement to 70 years old will have the British public anxious about our own plans. The Asian country’s government are hoping to pave the way for workers to stay in their role longer following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s desire to encourage companies to increase their self-imposed retirement age.

Many tech and industry experts claim that optimising the manufacturing process to create an integrated and collaborative process will bring about the world’s next industrial revolution. As technology continues to develop around the world, producers and manufacturers are beginning to implement the smart factory concept. But what are smart factories and how do they affect how we work? Let's look at which technologies are within Smart Factories and what to look out for that will push the barriers of smart manufacturing even further.

Group Rhodes will be showcasing its new technologies at the Advanced Engineering Show (NEC, Birmingham 31st Oct–1st Nov, Stand M101). The company works in the field of superplastic forming (SPF) and diffusion bonding (DB), having designed, manufactured and installed titanium and aluminium forming cells for leading aerospace and automotive manufacturers worldwide.

Following its successful debut in July 2017, the NEA International Mentoring Workshop in Science and Engineering returned to Japan for the second year. Joshikai II for Future Scientists was held on 8‑9 August 2018 in Tokyo, in co‑operation with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), in order to motivate young female students to explore science and engineering careers, and to suggest ways to overcome any barriers they may face along the way.

According to new figures, concerns over Brexit is stifling UK SME manufacturers' export growth as the sector focuses on stabilising its current position. The latest national Manufacturing Barometer reveals manufacturers' fears over ongoing Brexit uncertainty, highlighting that their attention must be on consolidation, especially as they also anticipate an overall slowdown in increased sales coupled with a struggle to recruit more staff in the short term.

Silverstone Park developer MEPC has appointed Gaia Innovation to launch a pilot project working with schools – Inspiration for Innovation – with the aim of helping young people in the area achieve higher level skills and better career opportunities due to greater engagement with local employers. More than 20 businesses associated with Silverstone Park have already volunteered to take part in Inspiration for Innovation which will benefit extensively from Gaia’s expertise in inspiring secondary school students.