The Royal Academy of Engineering in the United Kingdom has announced its shortlist for an award they have been awarding to engineering firms annually since 1969. The MacRobert Award gives £50,000 to an engineering firm to celebrate the products the firms are producing in the United Kingdom. The award highlights the cutting edge technology that is currently the most notable in the engineering world in the UK specifically. The three finalists for 2016 have been released. The shortlisted finalists are:
Jaguar Land Rover:
- In 2011, they pledged to invest £1.5 billion into product development for a five year period
- They have designed the new 'Ingenium' engine that promises less fuel consumption and emission reduction that are found in their new cars
Siemens Magnet Technology:
- Developed 7 Tesla (7T) magnet for research and clinical (medical) applications. The magnet will join their preexisting range and will be called the MAGNETOM Terra
- Their product would double the strength of MRI scanners, ensuring much higher quality scans
- They are expecting FDA approval. The machine could lead to earlier diagnoses for conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's et al.
To see how a 7T MRI works and why it is a good addition to the medical research field, look at the video below:
The last finalist is a company called 'Blatchford' that has produced a prosthetic limb with robotic control that simulates the movements of a normal leg.
They have created the 'Linx' prosthetic limb that is used with the software the company has developed which generates data based on how a patient walks on it and can export that data via Bluetooth.
A judge for the MacRobert Award competition, Dr. Frances Saunders, said: "Blatchford has achieved a huge leap forward in making the knee and ankle joints work together as an integrated system, enabling it to adapt immediately to both the actions of the wearer and changes in the environment."
