HRH
The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, presented the UK’s longest running
and most prestigious prize for engineering innovation to a team from Artemis
Intelligent Power.
Managing Director Dr Niall Caldwell, Operations Director
Pierre Joly, Chairman Dr Win Rampen FREng, Non-Executive Director Professor
Stephen Salter FRSE and Chief Engineer Dr Uwe Stein were announced as the
winners of the 2015 Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award at the
Academy’s annual Awards Dinner at the Landmark Hotel in London. HRH The
Duke of Edinburgh is the Academy’s Senior Fellow.
Known
for spotting the ‘next big thing’ in the technology sector, the MacRobert
Award identifies outstanding innovation with proven commercial success
and tangible social benefit. As well as gaining from the prestige of the
award, the winners receive a gold medal and a £50,000 prize.
Edinburgh-based Artemis has pioneered a new Digital Displacement® power
system, with digitally controlled hydraulics, that that has the potential
to transform the viability of offshore wind power and low carbon transportation.
As well as dramatically improving power capacity, the smart, modular system
has been designed to overcome the significant reliability issues associated
with existing turbines. Artemis is already delivering world-leading systems,
significantly improving turbine efficiency and, with it, the prospects
for future exploitation of wind power.
Artemis is also applying the same technology to reduce the fuel consumption
of commuter trains and buses. A regenerative braking energy storage system
based on Digital Displacement® can be retrofitted to existing diesel commuter
trains, and recent trials with Ricardo and Bombardier have shown that it
can reduce fuel consumption by some 10%. The system also generates less
noise and cuts exhaust emissions within stations.
Hybrid buses are also becoming more viable thanks to Digital Displacement®.
Together with Lothian Buses and Alexander Dennis, Artemis has successfully
demonstrated fuel savings of up to 27% on urban buses. Crucially, the new
system provides bus operators with a 2-3 year payback without subsidies,
making it globally affordable.
Mainstream electric hybrid technology requires many expensive
materials and processes, which can add 50% to the initial cost and means
higher maintenance costs. This means that, despite saving fuel, hybrid
buses have previously not made business sense without government subsidies.
The Artemis system is made of common materials using regular processes,
which significantly reduces the cost and means the systems can be maintained
by existing staff.
Artemis was up against MacRobert Award finalists Cambridge-based Endomag,
which was selected as a finalist for its breast cancer diagnostic tool
that avoids the use of radioactive tracers in determining the spread of
cancer through the lymphatic system; and Blackpool-based Victrex, for the
development of advanced polymers in ultra-thin sheets for use in smartphone
and tablet speakers.
"The company has achieved a technical advance of global importance,
making significant power delivery from offshore wind considerably more
credible and realisable, and facilitating the global goal of reducing CO2
emissions."
The judging panel, representing the cream of modern British engineers and
entrepreneurs from a range of disciplines, selected Artemis for its potential
to help solve one of the most significant global challenges while demonstrating
technical engineering excellence; its success is a story of both talent
and determination, with unrelenting commitment to achieve the goal of making
power systems significantly better.
Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng, Chair of the MacRobert Award judging panel, said
“The Artemis story is truly compelling. The company has achieved a technical
advance of global importance, making significant power delivery from offshore
wind considerably more credible and realisable, and facilitating the global
goal of reducing CO2 emissions. This is not simply evolutionary improvement
but a complete step change, and one that took years of commitment to achieve.
“The Artemis Digital Displacement system is both an incredible
piece of invention, and a brilliant example of detailed engineering design.
It represents excellence in multiple facets of engineering, from control
system technology to software and elegant mechanical design.
“The multidisciplinary engineering team within Artemis has produced a
unique, world-beating product and is realising significant commercial success
as a result. As a UK SME, Artemis represents the very best of modern UK
engineering with global significance, which the Academy continues to champion
through its Engineering for Growth campaign.”
Dr Gordon Masterton OBE FREng FRSE, a judging panel member and former Vice
President of Jacobs Engineering, said "The Artemis system is a massive
leap forward for hydraulically powered systems. The team has done for hydraulic
engines what James Watt did for steam engines; they have totally transformed
the efficiency and range of potential applications. "The largest floating
wind turbine in the world is to be powered with a Digital Displacement
transmission, and I strongly believe there are many other exciting applications
for this stunning engineering breakthrough."
This technology was developed jointly by MHI and Artemis Intelligent Power,
Ltd., a venture firm acquired by MHI in 2010, this acquisition brought
in the Artemis's hydraulic Digital Displacement2
technology. Equipped with this system, the wind turbine converts wind energy
by a combination of pumps and motors to produce a constant speed irrespective
of the blade rotation speed, eliminating the need for a step-up gearbox,
complex generator technology and power inverter.
Last year’s MacRobert Award winner, SME Cobalt Light Systems, won for
the innovation behind an airport security liquid scanner that can now be
found in over 65 airports throughout Europe. The same technology is also
being used to detect counterfeit goods, and Cobalt is developing medical-grade
systems that provide on-the-spot diagnosis of breast cancer and bone diseases
such as osteoporosis.
Previous winners include EMI Ltd, who in 1972 developed the CT Scanner,
a vital medical device that can now be found in almost every hospital in
the developed world.
In 2002 Cambridge Display Technologies won the MacRobert Award for its
light emitting polymer displays, which are now used extensively in televisions
and smart phones.
The 2013 winner was software company RealVNC, which judges predicted could
be a billion dollar company within five years.