Welcome to the Friday Brief for 2 May 2014.
This week’s Friday Brief leads with a call to all members to make sure that their contacts in schools and colleges are aware of the MTA’s 2014 Technology Design & Innovation (TDI) Challenge. The closing date for submitting entries, Friday 23 May, is fast approaching and teachers and lecturers need to assemble submissions now. Students are not required to do any additional work. The genius of the Challenge is that they submit the project work that they will already have worked on over the past year for their public examinations. Shortlisted students will be invited along with their teachers and parents to an assessment at Yamazaki Mazak’s European Manufacturing Headquarters in Worcester later in the summer. As part of the day the students will have a tour of the state of the art facility and be given lunch. This really is a superb opportunity for the engineers and designers of the future to showcase their talents. Links to enter are in the Friday Brief story so please make your contacts in education aware of this unique Challenge.
Economic news this week shows that the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the UK increased to 57.3 in April from 55.8 in March. The increase in manufacturing orders was from both domestic and overseas markets. The growth in exports was led by orders from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle-East. There is also a reminder this week to submit entries for the latest MTA Business Survey.
We have news of a headline conference in June looking at how new technologies can improve the performance and competitiveness of UK manufacturing. Organised by the IMechE the conference will explore a number of themes including the use of new materials like Graphene, subtractive and additive manufacturing and ideas from the UK’s leading universities.
Also in this week’s Brief is a reminder of a webinar in May on how to go about competing for UK Government procurement opportunities. Member companies might also be interested in exhibiting at the inaugural joint exhibition EMTE-EASTPO, which will be held at the new International Expo Centre Shanghai from 14 – 17 July 2014. The MTA will have a stand at the show and can be contacted for further details. Finally, we have received news that Fronius UK’s Welding Division will be hosting an Open House at its new East Kilbride Facility in Scotland on the 28th and 29th May.
Have a good weekend.