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Industry News
QCDA: Honda, Toyota and BMW have come together with the Institute of Motor Industry’s (IMI) awarding body, IMI Awards, to develop the definitive qualification in maintaining hybrid technology cars under the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
In collaboration they have developed both skills- & knowledge-based qualifications:
* The skills-based qualification, a Level 3 Award in Automotive Internal Combustion and Electric Hybrid System Repair & Replacement, will be offered to mechanics across the car manufacturing industry, at the Honda Institute
* The knowledge-based qualification, a Level 2 Award in Automotive Internal Combustion and Electric Hybrid Technology Components & Operation, will be offered across the country by colleges & other learning providers
WAG: Rob, an engineer by profession, invented a marine rescue aid prompted by the concerns of his petite wife Carole that she would be physically unable to help him back into the boat should he fall overboard. So with a little help from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Welsh Innovators Network (WIN), Rob developed the Cadarn Talon, a robust rescue & mooring device that can be used in hand or in conjunction with a boat hook for greater reach.
Cadarn Talon ( 'cadarn' is Welsh for 'strong') is essentially a mechanically closing snap hook which can be used in an emergency to attach a rope or line to a person in the sea by clipping onto a strap, harness, ring or belt. On a regular basis it can be used to assist in mooring a boat or recovering objects from the sea.
Cadarn Talon was one of 50 inventions exhibited on WAG’s stand at the recent British Invention Show where judges awarded it a Double Gold for Innovation and the Platinum Award for Invention in the leisure category.
Press release ~ Leading Wales out of recession ~ WAG Business Innovation programme ~ Welsh Innovators Network (WIN) ~ Technium ~ British Invention Show ~ WAG - Innovation ~ Enterprise Europe Network Wales ~ British Design Innovation Wales
STFC: A contemporary anthology of short stories which uses the research of real scientists to put facts back before fantasy in popular science fiction has been published. ‘When it all Changed’ (edited by novelist Geoff Ryman) brings together scientists from institutions across the UK - including STFC Daresbury Laboratory and The University of Manchester - and science fiction writers.
Ryman, a senior creative writing lecturer at The UoM, paired off literary colleagues with scientists to produce the book of short stories published by Comma Press. 3 scientists working at STFC Daresbury Laboratory, and one from the neighbouring Cockcroft Institute for Accelerator Science and Technology, were among 14 who helped the authors to write the stories and add a fascinating insight into the science.
OS: Finding a good firework display to celebrate Bonfire Night, complete with toffee apples & Catherine wheels, isn’t always the easiest exercise, let alone one that doesn’t cost the earth. But thanks to a website from mapping agency Ordnance Survey, details of displays across the country can now be found & shared.
Fireworksfinder.net has a map interface that allows firework display organisers to plot the location and details of their event, while the public can find their nearest displays via a postcode search. Users can also link to other sites and upload photos & videos.
The site has been developed as part of GeoVation - an OS supported initiative seeking to promote the wider use of geography. The GeoVation Awards programme (closes 4 January 2010) is currently offering a prize fund of £21,000 for the development of new geography-based ventures. Anyone can submit an entry on the GeoVation website for a chance to win.
MoD: RAF Tornado aircrew from II (AC) Squadron based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, Army Air Corps personnel from Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk and soldiers from 97 Battery, 4 th Regiment based at Topcliffe in Yorkshire (who are due to deploy to Afghanistan next year) are using a Distributed Synthetic Air Land Training (DSALT) system to get the best possible preparation they can.
The DSALT facility enables pilots to fly simulated missions in support of soldiers, in contact with computer generated enemy forces on the ground on exercises supported by a technical & operational team of military, ex-military and civilian backgrounds from Inzpire, QinetiQ, Boeing and Meggit.
The Air Battlespace Training Centre (ABTC) recently re-opened following a major refurbishment & software upgrade and now the scenarios are more realistic than ever before thanks to the introduction of a new Afghanistan database.
Among the first military personnel to try out the system, as part of Exercise Mountain Dragon, are troops who act as Fire Support Teams (FSTs) including Forward Air Controllers (FACs) on the front line. The job of the FST is to co-ordinate modern weapons; from the Army’s artillery, mortars & Apache helicopters to the bombs & missiles used by the RAF’s fast jets, to engage the enemy without endangering their own comrades, allied forces or civilians.
Press release ~ Air Battlespace Training Centre (ABTC) ~ The Future of Collective Training: Mission Training through Distributed Simulation
CO: Bebo’s Big Think - Take Your Ideas to the Top is looking for young people to put forward innovative & practical suggestions (by 15 November 2009) on how to make a positive difference on crime, careers & climate change. The nationwide online competition is being hosted on social-networking website Bebo.
The people behind the top 6 ideas will be invited to London to pitch their ideas to a celebrity panel, including record-breaking mountaineer Jake Meyer and Minister for the Cabinet Office & the Olympics, Tessa Jowell. The panel will then pick 3 winners who will be invited to present their suggestions to Cabinet Members the next day.
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