News 08 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April/May 2023 Our country is at a crossroads. We have a proud legacy of being an industrial nation, the first country to industrialise, the country who invented many of the technologies we use every day to live in an advanced 21st century economy. We are now in grave danger of being left behind in the global race to decarbonise and transform to a more sustainable future. It is clear that there is now a global race to transform. Huge new industries are emerging in the race to net zero from electric transportation to a green hydrogen-based economy and the UK is being left behind. The government has shown courage and foresight in the past. We have created one of the largest wind generation programmes in the world through this foresight however this momentum is stalling, and we need to reset our vision for the future. The core problem in the UK is the lack of an industrial strategy. The current government has relied heavily on the free market creating supply chains and that is exactly what is happening. Passing legislation to create a massive market for electric vehicles is one thing but without a comprehensive industrial strategy progress on battery production which represents 50% of the cost of these vehicles or the UK automotive supply chain moving from making internal combustion engines to parts for electric vehicles has been painfully slow. The result is that many manufacturers are now sourcing batteries from European gigafactories. The free market does work. As the US and EU governments race to create massive financial programmes to attract investment in these new sustainable industries these markets will attract the investment, skills and technology required and the UK will lose out. The UK cannot compete with such huge financial packages however we do have a key advantage, our innovation in technology is world leading. What we need to do is to recognise that the world is not a free market it is skewed by initiatives such as the inflation reduction act but we can and must compete with this by setting out a comprehensive industrial strategy which clearly lays out our priorities and supports these with policy, regulation, education and incentives for investors to be confident in the long term, converting our key advantage in innovation to products services and jobs. Of course, the problem here is that it must be longer term than our political system currently accepts. The government needs to act now to ensure we are not left making the horse drawn carriages of the 21st century. By MAKE UK chief executive, Stephen Phipson MAKE uk - the manufacturers’ organisation monthly news comment Leading engineering and apprentice training centre Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS) has hosted double Paralympic Champion Emma Wiggs, to launch the new Emma Wiggs Challenge aimed at using design engineering to improve life for people with disabilities. Emma Wiggs MBE is a 10-time world champion para-canoeist and double Paralympic champion, having won gold medals at the Rio and Tokyo Paralympics. Since a mystery virus impaired mobility in her legs at age 18, Emma has dedicated herself to sport, inspiring people as she shows what is possible with determination and a positive mindset. Having previously tasked OAS’s training provider, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, to design a bespoke canoe paddle which helped her achieve gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Emma Wiggs has presented a fresh challenge to OAS apprentices. The Emma Wiggs Challenge is an exclusive competition, designed by OAS in partnership with Emma, and tasks first year engineering apprentices at OAS to find solutions through design and manufacture for challenges that people with disabilities might face in everyday life. It could be something wheelchair-based or relate to an everyday task which someone with a disability might find more challenging. Apprentices are forming small teams to work on their design concepts, with Emma hosting virtual workshops over the course of the challenge, enabling each team to ask questions and refine their design concepts. Teams will present their concepts and ideas to Emma and a panel of judges in June, as they near the end of the first year of their apprenticeship with OAS. The winners will spend a day with Emma Wiggs at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham where they will get a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility and try some water-based activities as part of their prize. Emma Wiggs said: “I’m so proud to be supporting apprentices at this crucial early stage of their career. I’ve always thrived on inspiring people to be the best version of themselves that they can be, and through this challenge I hope to help inspire the apprentices at OAS to create new design concepts to help people with disabilities in their everyday lives.” After the launch event, Emma Johnstone, operations manager at OAS, commented: “It was great to have Emma Wiggs here to meet the apprentices, share her experiences and help inspire them to achieve their maximum potential as well as look at how their new engineering skills could support others, in this case, putting a focus on the real challenges people with disabilities face in their daily lives. We want OAS to be as inclusive and accessible as possible for all our future apprentices. “I can’t wait to see the ideas and designs that the apprentices come up with and look forward to welcoming Emma back in the summer to help us pick a winning team.” OAS apprentices take on the Emma Wiggs challenge
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