Gigafactories, mystery materials and the F1 halo: 5 most-read manufacturing stories 2022

Manufacturing underpins so many engineering sectors, and so much of what we do in life – which is why it must be done with great care and focus on efficiency, to ensure the highest possible sustainability. New materials can also provide opportunities to streamline and improve many common products, as this year’s top stories show.

Here are the five most-read Professional Engineering manufacturing stories of 2022. Click on the links throughout to read the full stories. 

MIT’s ‘very unusual’ 2D polymer

A new material that is stronger than steel and light as plastic – it sounds too good to be true, which might explain why it is the focus of this year’s most-read manufacturing-related article. The two-dimensional polymer was in fact developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), offering unique properties that could make it suitable for a wide variety of applications – from lightweight, durable coatings for car parts or mobile phones, to building materials for bridges or other structures.

Britishvolt secures support for UK battery ‘gigafactory’

A British ‘gigafactory’ that could produce batteries for 300,000 electric vehicles each year received government backing in January. Britishvolt said its new factory in Blyth, Northumberland, could create 3,000 direct high-skilled jobs and another 5,000 indirect roles in the wider UK supply chain.

Less than a year later, however, the project looks less certain. Britishvolt narrowly avoided going into administration in November amid funding issues, and is still several years away from achieving its goals.  

Formula One's lifesaving halo presents unique manufacturing challenges

High-profile incidents in Formula 1 have reminded fans and drivers that motorsport is still dangerous, despite increasing safety measures. In November 2020, French driver Romain Grosjean had a fiery crash that he was lucky to escape. In September 2021, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collided, and the Dutch driver’s rear wheel skidded across the Briton’s helmet. 

If it hadn’t been for the precision engineering, manufacturing and testing of the halo safety device, a wishbone-shaped structure that is fitted to the chassis of open-wheel racing cars, these incidents could have been life-changing – if not fatal.

Why recycling isn’t top of the list when designing for sustainability

As the UK races to achieve ambitious net zero goals, there has never been more pressure on businesses to take action to limit their impact on the planet. Thankfully, there are numerous opportunities to make new product designs more sustainable – from integrating greener materials to exploring efficient manufacturing methods to cut emissions. Recycling should not be the top priority, wrote Rory Ingram, design engineering lead at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. 

Mystery material made like plastic but behaves like metal

Scientists at the University of Chicago discovered a way to create a new type of material that can be made like a plastic, but has the electrical conductivity of metal. The research describes how to make a material with ‘jumbled’ molecular fragments, without harming its conductivity. It's a discovery that seems to break the rules of conductivity, but one that could be extremely useful.

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