Engineering news
The finalists for the MacRobert innovation prize this year include an intelligent prosthetic, Jaguar Land Rover’s latest engines and new magnet technology for MRI scanners.
The winner of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s innovation award will receive £50,000 and a gold medal. The winner is due to be announced on 23 June.
Prosthetics company Blatchford’s latest intelligent prosthetic limb, the Linx, features integrated robotic control of the knee and foot. The parts ‘talk’ to each other so that the limb can adapt automatically to different conditions. This prosthetic constantly monitors and adapts to the wearer's movements and the environment, giving users much greater confidence and freedom.
Jaguar Land Rover has been nominated for its latest range of engines, which are being developed and manufactured entirely in-house for the first time. The Ingenium engines are said to provide lower fuel consumption, lower emissions and are lower weight while still providing the desired levels of performance.
Meanwhile Siemens Magnet Technology (SMT) has been selected for its development of a 7 Tesla magnet, the Magnetom Terra, which enables higher resolution MRI scanning. High quality scanning has the potential to provide earlier diagnoses for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis.
Dame Sue Ion, Chair of the MacRobert Award judging panel, said: “Each of this year’s finalists has taken a different approach to innovation – from sustained incremental improvements to starting from scratch – each resulting in technologies that will have a positive impact on millions of people and bolster the UK economy.
“There is currently a big demand for all aspects of engineering talent, but the pipeline of young people pursuing engineering careers continues to fall short. To meet demand it is vital that we encourage more young people to pursue engineering as a career. Role models and high-profile prizes such as the MacRobert Award are hugely important in showing the opportunities the sector offers.”
Last year’s MacRobert winner, Edinburgh-based Artemis Intelligent Power, has so far successfully installed its “Digital Displacement” power system on two 7MW offshore turbines, including the world’s largest floating offshore turbine, in the UK and Japan.
Judges on the MacRobert Award judges also included John Baxter, Nick Cooper and Keith Davis.