Rise in number of professionally registered women engineers
More than 9,900 engineers and technicians were added to the Engineering Council’s national register in 2016, an increase of more than 6% compared to the 2015.
The Annual Registration Statistics Report reveals that the number of women who became professionally registered last year increased by more than 19% compared to 2015, with women representing almost 11% (1,072) of all new registrations in 2016. Overall, by the end of last year women represented 5.2% of all engineers and technicians listed on the Engineering Council Register, up from 4.8% in 2015.
GE Healthcare buys Nottingham University spin out
A Nottingham university spin-out company Monica Healthcare, which has developed a novel technology for monitoring expectant mothers, has been acquired by GE Healthcare.
Since 2015, GE Healthcare has been Monica’s exclusive North American distribution partner for the Novii Wireless Patch System – a single-patient use patch that monitors maternal heart rate, fetal heart rate, and uterine activity and communicates the information via Bluetooth.
Government unveils rail innovation competition
Rail minister Paul Maynard has launched a £9 million innovation competition to develop solutions for national and international railways.
The funding is being made available by the Department for Transport through Innovate UK.
The competition opens on 20 March 2017, and the deadline for registration is midday on 10 May 2017.
Swansea gets green light for £35m technology centre
Swansea University is to build a £35 million centre of excellence specialising in innovative materials, processing and numerical technologies at its Swansea Bay campus.
The hub includes a metals technology centre, which will undertake research into metallurgy and materials science, supporting partnerships with the metals industry in Wales, the UK and worldwide. The aim is to pioneer new alloys, materials and metal manufacturing processes which can be used in engineering.
Set to open in 2019, the hub will attract 65 new academic posts and 155 experienced researchers.
Dong decommissions world’s first wind farm
Danish energy giant Dong Energy has started decommissioning the first offshore wind farm in the world, Vindeby, built on the Kattegat Sea.
Vindeby offshore wind farm, which was connected to the grid in 1991, consisted of 11 turbines each with a power generating capacity of 0.45MW and all the turbines put together produced 5MW.
Dong, the wind farm’s owner and operator, has decided to decommission it after 25 years of operation.
Alstom trials world’s first fuel cell passenger train
Alstom has performed the first test run at 80km/h of the world’s only fuel cell passenger train Coradia iLint on its test track in Salzgitter, Germany.
The four-week test run aims to confirm the stability of the energy supply system based on coordinated interaction between the drive, the fuel cell and the battery of the vehicle. The braking power is also being tested to check the interface between the pneumatic and the electric brake.
An extensive test campaign will be conducted in Germany and Czech Republic in the coming months before the Coradia iLint performs its first passenger test runs on the Buxtehude–Bremervörde–Bremerhaven–Cuxhaven (Germany) route beginning of 2018.
Tesla raises funds for Model 3
Tesla expects to raise about $1.15 billion from a new stock and senior notes offering giving it a much-needed infusion of cash as it begins production of its much anticipated Model 3 electric car.
The company also has plans to expand its manufacturing facilities and integrate and grow its recently acquired solar business.
Cenex installs UK’s first domestic vehicle-to-grid unit
UK-based centre for low-carbon and fuel cell technologies Cenex has installed the first domestic vehicle-to-grid unit in the country.
The UK-built unit has been deployed in Loughborough to supply electricity to households and the grid through electric vehicles (EV). When parked, the EVs battery can be used to let electricity flow to the electric distribution network and back, which has potential to provide about £3,274 per car, per year.
Amec wins Centrica deal
Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract extension by Centrica for its Morecambe Bay onshore and offshore gas production assets.
The engineering, construction and project support contract includes work for operations and maintenance, minor modifications and projects.
The original contract awarded to Amec Foster Wheeler in 2011 is now extended for a further three years to the end of 2019. About 200 jobs will be secured as a result of the contract extension.
Costain secures EDF Energy
Costain has won a multi-million pound framework agreement to provide a controls managed service to portfolios and programmes at EDF Energy’s eight UK nuclear power stations.
The three-year contract will see Costain develop people capability in core project control skills and provide specialist support to EDF Energy’s Central Technical Organisation.
Eon Climate & Renewables appoints new chief executive
Eon has named Anja Dotzenrath as the new chief executive of Eon Climate & Renewables, effective from 10 April. She will replace Michael Lewis, who is to become the new chief executive of Eon UK.
Dotzenrath is chief operating officer at Eon Climate & Renewables and has been at the energy giant since 2011.