April 2020

THE UK BUSINESS secretary Alok Sharma has announced a £36.7m investment programme to design, test and manufacture electric machines for future low-carbon transport applications, aimed at helping the UK to achieve its net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050. The bulk of the funding (£30m) will be used to create four new centres of excellence – in Newport, Nottingham, Strathclyde and Sunderland – that will research and develop green electric machines, for applications including planes, ships and cars. A further £6.7m will be awarded to 14 projects that will help to ensure that final buyers in supply chains – such as large automotive manufacturers – can access the components they need to develop electric machines with ease. The new centres and the winning projects are part of the government’s Driving the Electric Revolution challenge, which aims to help UK manufacturers to seize the opportunities arising from the global transition to clean technologies and electrification. Announcing the investment programme, Sharma said: “The electric revolution is an opportunity for our transport sectors to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The UK is leading the way in developing cleaner technologies to help us reach our target of zero emissions by 2050 and these new centres will play an important part in that.” The four centres of excellence will develop virtual product, digital manufacturing and advanced assembly techniques that could drive world-leading improvements in the testing and manufacturing of electrical machines. They will operate in areas including power electronics and drives. More than 30 partner research and technology organisations will work with the centres. The network will be led by Newcastle University. Other participants will includes 21 UK universities as well as 13 research and technology organisations. The network will research and developi the technologies needed to electrify road transport as well as other industries such as rail, marine, aerospace and energy. The 14 winning projects for the Driving the Electric Revolution challenge will help to boost supply chain efficiencies in industries affected by electrification – from aerospace to automotive, to energy and rail. The projects will share total funding of £6.7m, and will involve 38 UK businesses including GKN, Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls-Royce. The winning projects include: n one, led by Belcan Engineering Services, to develop UK manufacturing capabilities for electric machines for use in planes and cars; n a second, run by the Compound Semiconductor Centre in Cardiff, that aims to ensure that power semiconductor materials reach the final buyers in supply chains more quickly and efficiently; and n a third, led by Magtec of Sheffield, that aims to improve productivity in manufacturing electric drivelines for large electric vehicles, such as rubbish trucks. A list of other successful applicants can be found on our Web site at www.drivesncontrols.com April 2020 www.drivesncontrols.com 10 n NEWS Government gives low-carbon electrical machines a £37m boost Business secretary Alok Sharma:“The electric revolution is an opportunity for our transport sectors to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels.” We are pleased to announce that Andy Pye has joined Drives & Controls in the role of consultant editor. He will also be working on two other magazines published by DFA Media: Smart Machines & Factories and Plant & Works Engineering . Andy will be known to many in the engineering and automation industry, and has edited many leading design and manufacturing titles over the past four decades. His most recent assignment was the launch of Controls, Drives and Automation , where he worked for the past eight years. Prior to that, Andy was a founder and shareholder in the start- up e-publishing business Pro-Talk, which launched in 1999 and was bought by Centaur Publishing in 2006. Andy is a graduate material engineer and spent five years in engineering consultancy prior to joining the technical publishing industry in 1980 as deputy editor of Design Engineering . “It is a pleasure to be joining DFA Media at a challenging time for us all,” says Andy. “I am really looking forward to working with Drives & Controls ’ editor Tony Sacks and all of his colleagues. We are discussing some exciting projects for the future to take the business forward, in preparation for a post-pandemic future. I wish the families of all of my friends and colleagues in publishing and in the wider manufacturing community safe passage at this difficult time.” Andy Pye joins Drives & Controls Andy Pye: preparing for a post-pandemic future