The Make it in Great Britain Challenge is open to inventors, manufacturers, engineers, designers, businesses of all sizes, young people and the general public. It forms part of the Make it in Great Britain campaign, which aims to change the image of modern manufacturing.

Judges are seeking entries across five categories that represent the breadth and depth of the manufacturing industry, and highlight the innovation and talent in Britain today.

The winning entries from each category will showcase their creations on a weekly basis at the Make it in Great Britain exhibition at the Science Museum in London, which will coincide with the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. Visitors to the six-week exhibition will be invited to vote on their favourite entry. The winners from each weekly vote will feature together in the final week of the exhibit.

Categories include:

•        Make it…Stronger

•        Make it…Smarter;

•        Make it…Sustainable;

•        Make it…Life changing; and

•        Make it…Breakthrough (for 16-21 year old entrants only)

Make it… Breakthrough has been specifically designed for young people and entries can conform to any of the other four categories. Ahead of the exhibition opening in July, members of the public will have a chance to vote on which of the finalists in this category they believe is the most significant innovation, with the winner securing a place in the Science Museum for the entire duration of the exhibit.

Mark Prisk said: “The Make it in Great Britain campaign is all about transforming the image of modern UK manufacturing, and raising awareness of its importance to our nation’s economy.

“This Challenge creates the perfect platform to celebrate the most innovative and creative manufacturing minds out there today, while showcasing their skills to potential investors, employers and peers who could help kick-start their ideas into real commercial ventures.”

To find out more about the Make it in Great Britain Challenge, please visit http://bis.gov.uk/makeitingreatbritain. The deadline for entries is Thursday 5 April.

http://bis.gov.uk/makeitingreatbritain

The hoses are produced in the UK using Icon Polymer’s proprietary Icon Process Control (i-PC) system which allows the precision control of manufacturing, testing and verification processes that is necessary to deliver high-performance, safety-critical components.

One of the first applications for the new Icon hoses is on five new Airbus Military KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft purchased by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Among the roles of these versatile aircraft is the refuelling of other aircraft in flight to increase their range when involved in exercises and operations worldwide.

Cobham’s refuelling system, which includes the Icon Polymer hose consists of wing mounted hose and drogue refuelling pods fitted to the underside of the MRTT’s wings, allows both the RAAF’s own F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft and other allied aircraft to onload 3,175kg of fuel in just six minutes.

Damon Simpson of Icon Polymer explained: “Icon has over the past 30 to 40 years remained at the forefront of developments in in-flight refuelling hose technology in terms of both design and materials development, manufacturing process control and continues to work with many of the leading players in aerospace.

“The demands on in-flight refuelling hoses are very specific due to the highly demanding conditions in which the hoses operate and their safety critical nature. All materials are highly engineered and controlled so that the specialised aviation fuel can be delivered in optimal condition, without affecting the performance of the delivery system.” 

www.iconpolymer.com

Together, Frazer-Nash and Safran Engineering Services have delivered a range of specialist engineering services to aerospace customers to date, and in particular to Airbus in its development of the new A350 series aircraft.

The award of approved supplier status to Frazer-Nash means that the company will be in a strong position to bid for future Safran Engineering Services work, which might cover areas including examining vulnerability, damage tolerance, crashworthiness and fatigue testing for new aircraft.

Glyn Norris, aerospace business manager at Frazer-Nash, commented: “Frazer-Nash and Safran have worked closely together for a number of years, chiefly in delivering critical structural analyses, based on non-linear Finite Element Analysis, to the aerospace market. As a result of this supplier approval, we look forward to collaborating even more closely to ensure that our clients including Airbus get the best value and highest quality service possible.”

www.fnc.co.uk

The event marked the culmination of the most recent phase of TRaC’s plans to consolidate and expand its EMC and Environmental test services for the region, at a single location. The company has a long-established presence in the Dorset area, with existing Test Sites at nearby Ringwood and Wimborne. The new site is said to be the most modern test facility in the UK, offering a comprehensive range of EMC and Environmental test services.

The new laboratories bring together all aspects of EMC testing for the aerospace and defence industries, and at the same time expand and improve commercial EMC and Safety testing facilities in the region. TRaC has installed three Chambers (screened rooms) dedicated to EMC testing to a wide range of military and aerospace standards. A further two chambers will carry out mainly commercial testing, whilst a sixth chamber is specially equipped to carry out transient testing.

Other test capabilities on the site include lighting, high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF) up to 5000V/m; and environmental stress testing including shock and vibration; temperature, humidity and salt-spray; acoustic noise; and hydraulic fatigue testing. An electromagnetic ‘shaker’ table can apply stresses to loads of up to 2 tonnes. This broad range of capabilities means TRaC Southern Labs offers a range of test capabilities that are not available on any other UK site.

www.tracglobal.com

It combines robotic positioning of parts to be inspected, with an imaging chain which can be customised to meet specific applications and a DICONDE-compliant image review, sharing and archiving system to offer fast, flexible inspection and fast review.

It is specifically targeted at the aerospace sector, where it can be used in the inspection of cast turbine blades, up to 400mm in length and 8kg in weight, in line with the guidelines of the Metals Affordability Initiative (MAI) and ASTM standards.

As Shana Telesz, radiography manager, for the Inspection Technologies business, explained: “The barriers to the implementation of digital radiography are now being lifted. ASTM digital reference radiographs exist for aluminium, steel and titanium, approvals and standards are in place, the personnel are trained and the improved detectability has been demonstrated. We see the introduction of x|blade as an important step in confirming digital radiography in the inspection portfolio.”

www.ge-mcs.com