Cream of the crop: BEEAs round up

The winners of the 2011 British Engineering Excellence Awards were announced at a gala luncheon at London's Globe Theatre on 13 October. Congratulations to all the winners and to Grand Prix winner ICS Electronics. And thanks to all the companies that entered. The BEEAs will be back again in 2012, so watch out for the call for entries next year. Grand Prix 2011 Sponsor: Findlay Media Winner: ICS Electronics The winner of the British Engineering Excellence Grand Prix was selected by the Judges from the winners in the other categories; a challenging task, given the standard of entries to this year's Awards. But ICS Electronics met the Judge's criteria. The competitive marine radio market features many well known companies. Yet ICS Electronics – with only 10 full time employees – has installed Digital Selective Calling (DSC) systems – one of the most important parts of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System – in 55 countries with more than 1000 operators. Bearing in mind the nature of the company's competition, that is an impressive achievement. DSC systems became compulsory for commercial vessels in 1999 and features in most marine radios. According to ICS, early entry to this market has secured its name and reputation. In 2010, ICS developed a replacement DCS system for UK Coastguard and in 2011, launched its Audio Switch range, based on the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) standard. Describing the approach as 'Radio over IP', ICS says this system can't be created using off the shelf components. Problems included synchronising IP packets from multiple receive sources and using a voting system, with results presented to an operator in a clear and understandable format. Consultancy of the Year Sponsor: Prototype Projects Winner: Vocis Driveline Controls Five companies made this year's shortlist, each a different size and operating in a different market. But there are measures that can be applied, including speed, flexibility and productivity: a good consultancy will be able to demonstrate all of these qualities. Debate for this Award was heated, but the Judges finally selected Vocis Driveline Controls; the second year in succession that a consultancy serving the automotive market has won this category. Formed in 2006, Vocis' customers range from global manufacturers to specialist UK suppliers. These customers access Vocis' expertise in the integration, control and calibration of automotive transmission systems, as well as a comprehensive range of transmissions for electric vehicles. Innovation is central to the company's offering. Its technology enables customers to improve the competitiveness of its products by refining performance, boosting controllability and reducing fuel consumption. Working with such well known names as Aston Martin, Lamborghini and McLaren, Vocis is now working with Zytek on what is believed to be the most advanced electric vehicle yet launched. Small Company of the Year Sponsor: D Young & Co LLP Winner: ICS Electronics Most companies in the UK's manufacturing and design sector have fewer than 20 employees. While being a small company allows you to focus sharply on your chosen market, unless you are agile, there's every chance that a large competitor could stand between you and a lucrative contract. The Judges wanted to see a company with a sound business addressing a particular market need, an evolving product portfolio and a good reception for their products from customers. ICS Electronics ticked all the boxes. Established in 1982, the company is a leader in its three chosen markets: coast stations; commercial; and leisure. The coast station market provides 90% of the company's revenues and 85% of its turnover comes from exports. The company invests heavily in new product development to help it maintain its market position, while it also participates actively in promoting best practise through international committees, maritime organisations and technical forums. Competition for the 10 strong company comes from well known names and, of the many larger companies which have tried to access the market, few remain. Start Up of the Year Winner: Neul Sponsor: Cambridge Consultants Entrepreneurs are always up for a challenge; particularly when there is a brand new market to exploit. But starting a company is no guarantee of success; along with solid technology, the company needs a sound business plan and, most importantly, orders. Our winner was established in 2010 by a group of entrepreneurs with a serious track record; included are some founders of CSR. Neul believes the unregulated white space spectrum – the communications bands vacated by television's move from analogue to digital broadcasting – will be ideal for wide area communications. It envisages the creation of a national network for M2M communication and believes 99% of homes can be covered with just 4000 sites. In less than a year, the company has developed the first production ready white space radio and shipped devices to customers. It has also worked with a customer to install a full wide area coverage network across Cambridge and some rural areas. Neul says it just goes to show what a small, highly motivated team can do. Highly Commended: Congratulations to Cambridge CMOS Sensors, whose entry was highly commended. Design Team of the Year Sponsor: element 14 Winner: IHC Engineering Business Large products need teamwork. Producing a design on time and to requirements is demanding. Along the way, design decisions have to be made in order to meet a target price and there are always milestones to be met. The Saipem J-Lay Tower is said by IHC Engineering Business to be one of the most versatile pipelaying systems. It raises a pipe section from the vessel deck to near vertical, aligns it to within a millimetre, then welds it into position. The system can work with pipes of up to 36in in diameter, with pipe lengths of up to 48m. This was a 'first time build'; there was no 'prior art' to refer to and there was a fixed deadline. According to the design team, this was a complicated project, with several large engineering challenges. Overcoming them required disciplined team work of the highest order. The project was delivered on time and is ready to start work. Highly Commended: Congratulations to Pelamis Wave Power's P2 Wave Energy Converter design team, whose entry was highly commended. Green Product of the Year Sponsor: National Instruments Winner: e2v ProWave With the growing recognition that the environment needs to be protected as far as possible, green design is now right at the top of the list. If a design can save energy and reduce pollution, then it's a job well done. Running industrial processes is an increasingly expensive business, bearing in mind the rapid rise in the price of fuel. And reducing fuel cost is a central point in the winning entry in this category. In order for Vermiculite to be usable, it must be 'exfoliated' to generate desirable qualities. Until now, this has been done using oil or gas fired furnaces, requiring 1MW per tonne. While it has been known for some time that microwaves could do the job, no commercial process existed until e2v developed the ProWave system. A first of its kind, ProWave has been purpose built for the application: from magnetic separation at the front end to a microwave transparent folding belt and the end. Using e2v's microwave technology, the energy requirement is reduced by up to 90%, yield is increased by at least 5% and there are no CO2 emissions. e2v claims ProWave is a 'truly green product'. Highly Commended: Congratulations to Ashwoods Automotive, whose entry was highly commended. Mechatronic Product of the Year Sponsor: Eureka and New Electronics Winner: RF Golf Entries for this category had to describe the innovative application of electronic and mechanical technologies in order to solve a given problem. The entry which caught the Judges' eyes was the golf ball location system from RF Golf. This three person company had taken on a large task; creating a golf ball with integral electronics which met the rigorous requirements of the US Golf Association regarding the size, weight and performance of golf balls. The electronics inside the ball are activated upon contact with the club, emitting a signal that allows it to be located to within 50cm from a distance of 50m using a hand held locator unit. Instead of spending time looking for a lost ball, RF Golf says golfers can spend more time enjoying the game. The company has received patents on its design in the UK, Europe and the US and is planning a product launch later in 2011. New Electronic Product of the Year Sponsor: Digi-Key Winner: Oxford Digital The Judges experienced their usual difficulty in selecting the winner; no surprise when the entries were so varied. This year's winning entry – Simulink-2-Tiny from Oxford Digital – produces fully optimised code directly from Simulink in seconds. According to the company, this surpasses by around 10% in program size and execution speed what an expert programmer can achieve in months. Oxford Digital has developed from scratch TinyCore, a low power, low gate count dsp core suitable for use in audio, closed loop control systems and in sensor applications. Clients include Sony, Wolfson Microelectronics and D&M Holdings, developer of Denon and Marantz products. Simulink-2-Tiny allows engineers who design algorithms using Simulink to eliminate the coding stage for TinyCore; the work is done automatically and the results can be used in real time within a few seconds. The innovative part of the design is the way in which software and hardware work together as an integrated package. And code can be produced in a matter of seconds; far more quickly than the months it can take an experienced programmer. New Mechanical Product of the Year Sponsor: igus (UK) Winner: Fireco Our shortlist this year featured products ranging from a folding bicycle to a hybrid powertrain with a new rotary engine. In between these extremes lay this year's winner – Freedor, a wireless electrically powered device designed to close a fire door within 15s of an alarm sounding. Freedor was seen to be a creative solution which has already demonstrated sales success since its launch. Fireco spotted a gap in the market for a wireless door closer. While similar devices are available, all require hard wiring into a fire alarm panel, as well as a constant power supply. Many buildings have fire doors held open illegally; Freedor allows these doors to be held open legally. Fireco's solution is a battery powered, self contained device featuring electro-permanent magnets. Power is saved because it is only required when releasing the door. Freedor works by listening for a fire alarm that exceeds 65dBa and which sounds for more than 14s. When it does, the magnets are released and the door closes. It can be used in all types of building, is particularly suited to retrofits and requires only one person to install it. Young Design Engineer of the Year Sponsor: RS Components Winner: Darren Jones To a large extent, employers want their new recruits to contribute as quickly as possible to their business, but the transition from university to the 'real world' isn't always an easy one to make. Some, however, make that jump a lot more easily than others. Darren Jones, known to his fellow workers as 'Dazbo', was project manager for Freedor – the 2011 New Mechanical Product of the Year. He is also recognised as the sole inventor of the patented rocker assembly that allows the product to operate as a door closer. Darren started with Fireco in August 2009, joining straight from university, having spent a placement year with the company. Freedor was Darren's first project. Alongside managing the project, Darren organised focus groups, research into competitive products, virtual prototyping, finite element analysis testing, field tests, sourcing suppliers and developing the documentation. He is now responsible for mentoring placement students employed at Fireco and, according to his employer: "His professionalism and enthusiasm have been invaluable." Highly Commended: Congratulations to Adam James, who was highly commended by the Judges. Design Engineer of the Year Sponsor: Mouser Electronics Winner: Shaun Addy Engineering is about commitment. While it can be a nine to five occupation for some, those who create the best designs don't recognise the constraints of the clock. Good engineers also produce innovative designs within strict commercial limits and develop transferable technology. Shaun Addy met many of the criteria; according to his managing director, Shaun thinks nothing of 5am starts, six days a week, to solve an engineering challenge. His experience comes from more than 26 years of building, testing and designing high performance internal combustion engines at companies such as Lotus and BMW. His latest design, the Cubewano rotary engine, can run on kerosene – something previously believed to be impossible – providing a high power to weight ratio. In the last year, he has refined the design of the engine's fuel injection system, reducing fuel consumption by 50% and this is likely to earn him another patent. Shaun also heads the development department, mentoring and managing all development staff, ensuring they work to his methodology and design ethics. Judges' Special Award Sponsor: Totally Engineering Winner: Peratech The Judges were keen to recognise a company that epitomised the British Engineering Excellence Awards by combining ingenious design and solid business principles to achieve success. Peratech's latest innovation, QTC Clear, can be used to create pressure sensitive touchscreens, which it believes will be 'superior' to today's resistive and capacitive devices. Peratech entered the BEEAs in 2010 and the Judges were impressed by the Quantum Tunnelling Composite technology. But questions were raised about its commercial viability. Those queries were answered by this year's entry, which demonstrated impressive commercial success and promises great things. Peratech has already licensed QTC Clear to a leading touchscreen manufacturer, one of seven 'significant' agreements. And there are two more in the pipeline.