Poon's Nottingham based company was also named as Consultancy of the Year in 2014. And Poon's words sum up the spirit of the British Engineering Excellence Awards. So, as entries open for the 2015 British Engineering Excellence Awards – ask yourself: 'have you found a way to do it better?' and 'do you have what it takes to win?'.
The company came, said Poon, 'from a humble beginning, with an engineer who has a desire to improve things'. "With everything around you, you can ask 'can you do it better?'. You will always find a way to do it better. I think that is deep in my psyche and in my blood, and I subscribe to it any success I have had."
Romax' success at the 2014 BEEAs was a recognition of the leading position which it has established for itself in the design of bearings and gearboxes, mainly for automotive applications. It now has more than 100 customers in the automotive industry and is involved with 14 of the top 15 manufacturers.
In the opinion of the judges for the 2014 competition, Romax' approach is something all companies should embrace. It looks to engineer a better world for its clients and customers; it puts innovation at the heart of everything it does; it looks for continuous improvement; and believes it can deliver value and build loyalty through long term partnerships.
Now in their seventh year, the Awards are designed to celebrate those UK companies and individuals that have demonstrated the skills, invention and dedication to succeed and compete on an international stage.
Categories for the Awards run the gamut of engineering design and include:
• Consultancy of the Year
• Design Engineer of the Year
• Design Team of the Year
• Green Product of the Year
• Materials Application of the Year
• New Product of the Year (Electronic)
• New Product of the Year (Mechanical)
• Small Company of the Year
• Start Up of the Year
• Young Design Engineer of the Year
The judges will then select the winner of the British Engineering Excellence Grand Prix from the winners of each category. They also have the opportunity to select a winner of the Judges' Special Award.
The Awards are not a rubber stamping exercise; entries are scrutinised by a high quality panel of independent judges (see box) and the companies that make it to the shortlist will have to impress them.
In order to ensure that companies of all sizes can compete fairly, the Judges will take into consideration such factors as team size, project budget, project design cycle time, the regulatory environment, the competitive nature of the target market, the materials and technology selected by the design team and the attention to environmental issues.
Entries for the British Engineering Excellence Awards close on 31 July 2015.
The Awards will be presented at a lunch event, being held at London's Hurlingham Club on 29 October.
If you believe you have what it takes to win in any of these categories – or know of a product, company or individual that does – entry forms, detailed entry criteria and additional information on the Awards categories can be found at www.beeas.co.uk.
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This year's judges
Chair: Phil Mayo, Managing Director, Premier EDA Solutions
Andy Sellars, Lead Technologist, High Value Manufacturing, Innovate UK
Eric Wilkinson, Chief Operations Officer, Cambridge Consultants
Mike Franklin, Chief Design Engineer, Crawley Creatures
Pete Lomas, Trustee, Raspberry Pi Foundation
Dr Peter Poon MBE, Founder and President, Romax Technology
Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport and Manufacturing, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Graham Pitcher, Group Editor, Findlay Media
Tim Fryer, Editor, Eureka
Justin Cunningham, Editor, Engineering Materials
