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Aerospace

17 Aug 2018

Much has been said about the promising future of UK manufacturing and engineering but what does the future hold? Everyone knows that Britain is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and remains a global leader in manufacturing. This applies especially to the aerospace sector as it’s the largest in Europe and only second to the US. In 2016, there were more than 2.6 million people directly employed in manufacturing in the UK alone.

The south-west of England is the largest aerospace region in Europe and home to 15 large aerospace companies. In addition, the cluster also consists of a large network of world-class supply chain companies.

Manufacturers have started to make the transition to new processes striving for greater productivity and functionality. Technological advancements in the last few years mean

10 Aug 2018

Plating services are important in any industry but particularly for the application in military vehicles.  The brave men and women in our armed forces are often required to place themselves in dangerous situations. For that reason, the quality of equipment and machinery they use could literally mean the difference between life and death. To protect our military personnel, the defence industry always ensures that they have the best products at their disposal.

3 Aug 2018

We see the benefits of 3D printing all the time from manufacturing, medical, the fashion industry to prototyping and production. With construction in mind and large-scale 3d printers, it is now possible to think about bigger projects. There’s no doubt that that additive manufacturing is an ideal building solution for creating models in architecture.

With that in mind, 3D printing has made headlines once again. This time though, it’s not a 3D printed house in your neighbourhood unless you live on Mars. We take a closer look at how the 3D printed habitat challenge from NASA and their partners have developed. If you are remotely interested in aerospace design, engineering and space exploration, you should really watch these videos.

20 Jul 2018

UK spaceflight is about to take the next step in aerospace dominance. The UK Space Agency, with support from Lockheed Martin, will develop Europe’s first spaceport on A’Mhoine Peninsula in Sutherland, Scotland. Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) will develop the launch site in Sutherland with initial funding of £2.5 million. The plan is to use proven and new innovative rocket technologies to lay the foundation for UK spaceflight to become world-leaders.

In addition, a further £2.5 million will go to the development of horizontal launch sites in Cornwall, Argyll and Wales. These sites could boost UK spaceflight and the economy even further presenting significant opportunities for companies all over the globe to invest in Britain.

6 Jul 2018

While Industry 4.0 is all about automation and digitisation, the future of manufacturing is in personalisation. Manufacturing 5-0, or the Fifth Industrial Revolution, will focus on the co-operation between humans and robots. Although the focus remains on automation and advanced manufacturing, the human element is more important than ever. We’ll take a closer look at what this means for manufacturing but first, let’s recap our journey up to now.

15 Jun 2018

A new research study by A.T. Kearney and HP Inc has revealed some interesting data. The UK is placed fifth overall in adopting 3D printing and additive manufacturing behind the US, Germany, Korea and Japan. Within Europe, Britain came in second only behind Germany (placed second globally), and ahead of Sweden (eighth), France (ninth), and Italy at twelve.

According to HP Inc, Germany is the only European country with a more positive environment for the technology to transform manufacturing. Although we’ll see some positive data on 3D printing and additive manufacturing, it’s not all sunshine and roses.

1 Jun 2018

The electric vehicle industry is forever growing and now reaching the aviation world with start-up, Zunum Aero. The Boeing and JetBlue-backed company plans to launch their hybrid electric plane by 2022 flying 12 passengers 500 miles.  Ambitious maybe but according to reports, Zunum Aero is well on the way to achieving their goal.

Earlier this month JetSuite signed up as the launch customer for Zunum’s first hybrid electric plane. The Southern California charter air service announced a deal to

11 May 2018
27 Apr 2018

It’s always only a matter of time before  countries explore each other’s successes (or failures) and this is no different. Combat drones, powered by advanced technology like artificial intelligence, are the new ‘wingmen’ to Chinese carrier-based fighter jets. Essentially, it appears to be an attempt to compete with the prowess of the United States’ unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs. Some believe that it’s China’s version of the US Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS).

According to Shi Wen, chief engineer and designer of China’s Caihong (CH), or Rainbow UAV series, “The joint operations of manned military aircraft, like fighter jets, and UAVs is the drone’s future. We are making efforts to promote artificial intelligence (AI) for UAVs to allow manned aircraft to co-pilot UAVs.”

6 Apr 2018

Aviation and aerospace technology has been at the forefront since the Concorde but now, there’s this. A supersonic jet that could travel at 1513 km/h (940 mph) considerably shortening commercial flight times. NASA has signed a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic “X-plane” that could break the sound barrier but with one major difference – no sonic boom.

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