April 2020

News 0 8 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April 2020 The Royal Academy of Engineering has commented that it recognises the critical role that engineers can play in managing the impact of the pandemic, and is asking its Fellows, awardees and partners to use their combined engineering expertise and UK and global networks to help identify solutions, organisations and contacts that could help governments address challenges and assist the public health response. The Academy is supporting the following calls for assistance: The UK government’s urgent call for assistance from engineering and manufacturing organisations around the UK to help boost the supply of ventilators and ventilator components across the UK to support the National Health Service in its response to COVID-19 The Frontier Tech Hub’s urgent call to emerging markets for Rapidly Manufactured Ventilation Systems, inviting applications for an existing, proven technology that can be rapidly adapted to be built in the UK. The winning technology will be adapted for manufacture and use in the UK by a team at UCL’s Institute for Healthcare Engineering with GDI Hub, and will receive a licensing fee In addition, there are other key areas where the engineering community may be able to provide new approaches to specific challenges through technological developments. The Academy is calling on its Fellows, awardees and partners to help accelerate innovations, provide relevant policy advice and establish communications and engagement channels for people to share experiences and knowledge with governments and other organisations. Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, commented: “The Academy is committed to supporting both the near-term and longer-term response to COVID- 19 and to help build resilience against future waves of this or other pandemics. While there is an immediate need to support ventilator manufacture, we also want to encourage innovation and collaboration across all relevant areas of engineering, including healthcare systems, critical infrastructure, business management and the supply chain.” Anyone who wishes to share information or ideas can do so at: https://www.raeng.org.uk/policy/engineering- response-to-covid-19 Call for ideas and expertise to help tackle novel coronavirus Hannover Messe 2020 has been officially cancelled this year due to the increasingly critical situation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. The Hannover region has issued a decree that prohibits the staging of the world's leading tradeshow for industrial technology. It is the first time in the event’s 73-year history that the show will not take place. Thilo Brodtmann, executive director of Germany's Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA), said: "The cancellation of Hannover Messe 2020 is an unfortunate decision, but it is the only correct one. The mechanical engineering industry must now concentrate on minimising the consequences of the pandemic in its own operations so that it can start up again. In April 2021, the engineers will be back in Hannover in full force." Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the ZVEI Management Board added: "The fact that Hannover Messe 2020 cannot be hosted is a bitter loss, but it is the right decision. For the electrical industry, the fair is the showcase to the world, which unfortunately remains closed this year. So our companies will use the time until 2021 to manage the considerable consequences of Corona. Next year, they will then present themselves with the latest products and solutions for Industry 4.0 and the energy system of the future." Hannover Messe 2021 will be held from 12th to 16th April 2021. Hannover Messe 2020 cancelled