November/December 2020

27 www.drivesncontrols.com November/December 2020 TALKING INDUSTRY n Vaibhav (Volley) Boricha Director Vikaso Volley spent five years working on the Mini at BMW. He specialised in automation process optimisation and business case evaluation, with an emphasis on cobots and Industry 4.0 coordination. He then set up Vikaso, which specialises in cobot integration and aims to accelerate the adoption of robotics in the UK. Brendan O’Dowd General Manager, Industrial Automation Analog Devices Brendan joined Analog Devices in 1999 and has held various development, engineering, and business leadership positions in the company. Before his current role, he was the product line director for interface and isolation products. He previously worked for Tellabs, Apple, and Cabletron. Susan Scurlock MBE Founder Primary Engineer After training as a graphic designer and teacher, Susan founded Primary Engineer in 2005. She has developed a programme of award-winning teacher training courses, ranging from one-day courses to master’s level postgraduate certificates. In 2019, she launched the Institution of Primary Engineers and the Institution of Secondary Engineers. Susan has three honorary doctorates and an MBE recognising her work in engineering education. Mike Wilson Chief Automation Officer (Technology Strategy) Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) Mike has more than 35 years’ experience of applying automation to manufacturing in many sectors and is one of the UK’s leading authorities on industrial robots. He is chief automation officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, leading the drive to boost the take-up of automation in the UK. He is also Chairman of the British Automation and Robot Association. Andy Pye Webinar Chair and Consulting Editor DFA Media Andy has edited many leading UK design and manufacturing titles over the past four decades. He is a graduate material engineer and spent five years in engineering consultancy before entering technical publishing in 1980. “The very first cobots in the UK were deployed at BMW and I was fortunate enough to be a part of the teamwhich implemented them,” Boricha told theWebinar audience.“And it was very challenging, certainly to me. In addition to the cultural barrier, a second barrier is a technological step-change: the programming methods, the way you do risk assessments, the way you plan and design the concept of new-age automation. Boricha believes that big opportunities lies ahead for the UK because manufacturers across the world are in difficulty.“If the UK can grasp the opportunity and do something about this, at the end of the day, we’ll put UK manufacturers on the front foot.” The generation game Wilson believes that the younger generation of engineers wants to invest in new equipment.“Perhaps the older generations are proud that we can keep the old machinery running?,”he reflected.“Or is it those who control expenditure who are the barrier?” Loss of employment is often a negative that is thrown at robotics. A counter-argument is that automation can help to remove unsafe jobs from production lines. Susan Scurlock, the founder of Primary Engineer, addressed this issue and how it might affect the prospects of young people interested in pursuing careers in engineering and manufacturing.“The most important thing is that children have the opportunity to understand what jobs are available,”she said.“I have listened to three extraordinary explanations of what three businesses [MTC, Vikaso and Analog Devices] and their employees do. But I wouldn’t have known they existed, other than having this conversation and planting the seeds that these career paths are available to them. “The jobs that are available. How you get to them, whether it's an apprenticeship, or whether it’s a degree route – all that information is shifting,”she added.“At the moment, we’re in a position where kids are more vulnerable than they’ve ever been, because they’re are unsure whether they’re going sit examinations, or whether they’re going to be teacher-assessed. “We have a competition where we ask kids: ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’,”Scurlock continued.“Last year, we had 49,000 entries; this year, we've had 30,000 entries. You would be amazed at the percentage of those that have robots in the solution. Kids aren’t frightened of robotics – they’re very excited by robot technology, and see it as the answer to the world’s ills. We need to generate a lot more engineers coming out of our education system.” “If you look at the developed countries and the need for automation, there's a huge skill shortage,”O’Dowd commented.“And engineering is certainly at the top level of that, and even below that, in terms of features and skilled technicians, and people who can install and maintain and drive these things. “I was talking to the president of our local university the other day, and we agreed that there are almost too many people going into degrees where they’ll have trouble getting jobs afterwards,”he added.“The work that Susan is doing to show people what’s possible is really important.” One topic raised during the discussion was whether we are doing enough to make engineering seem exciting.“I'm not wholly sure that is as true as it once was,”said Scurlock.“I think children are seeing technology around them every day – smartphones, etc. They are more clued up than we give them credit for. And I don't think that they see it as a dirty job, although I have worked with kids who say that is something that would appeal to them – as opposed to it being a very clean environment where they’ve got to wear a tie all the time!” n Talking Industry The Panel You can viewa video of the complete Talking Industry discussion via this link: https://qrgo.page.link/bfzoL