Red Bull & Hexagon crown future skills champion

Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division has named the winner and two runners-up of
the inaugural ‘Telemetry Tested: Future Skills Challenge’, a global competition co-developed
with Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing and MENSA. From a pool of over 1100 completed entries,
three finalists emerged victorious, having completed an interactive quiz of rapid-fire, data-
driven scenarios that tested both esports’ instincts and real-world engineering problem-
solving. Spanish software engineer Antonio Masuda, a master’s graduate in data science and
a Formula 1 fan, claimed first prize by answering all questions correctly in the fastest time.
More information www.hexagon.com

CVE Scoops Accolade for Second Year Running

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) has been recognised as one of the UK’s Best
Workplaces in Manufacturing, Production & Transportation 2025, as announced by Great
Place To Work UK last month. At the heart of this recognition is the Trust Index employee
survey, which gathers anonymous insights from employees, focusing on key areas such as
work-life balance, job satisfaction, psychological safety and professional development.
The survey also evaluates how consistently organisations deliver a positive experience
across all departments and levels of seniority. Bob Nicolson, managing director at CVE, says:
“We’re proud to be recognised as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing,
Production & Transportation for the second year running. At CVE, we believe that investing
in our people – their growth, wellbeing, and success – is the foundation of our progress.”
More information https://camvaceng.com/

Operator For MICM

The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed a specialist operating company to run a new multi-million-pound innovation centre to support manufacturing in Moray.

The Manufacturing Innovation Centre Moray (MICM) has been developed by HIE at Enterprise Park Forres to stimulate innovation and growth in manufacturing companies across Moray and create hundreds of jobs over the next decade. Business support organisation Elevator UK – which supports entrepreneurship, innovation and growth impact across Scotland – will develop and manage the services offered by MICM.

More information www.hie.co.uk

FlexxCORE up for award

Flexxbotics’ FlexxCORE has been nominated as a finalist at the 2025 Humanoid Robotics Industry Awards. FlexxCORE enables robots to communicate with machines, empowering robots in production scenarios to interpret each machine’s job, processing routines and operational status. It securely connects and co-ordinates humanoid robots with factory equipment, IT systems and people to deliver robot-driven manufacturing. By enabling humanoid robots to take on increasingly complex workflows, Flexxbotics is accelerating the industry’s shift toward fully digitalised, human-robot collaborative factories.

Voting is open at http://bit.ly/3J5RvD8

RARUK enters new partnership with GRIP

RARUK Automation, a UK-based automation distributor, has entered into an exclusive partnership with GRIP. Headquartered in Germany, GRIP is a specialist in intelligent tool-changing systems for collaborative robots. This agreement will bring GRIP’s innovative solutions to the UK market, enabling manufacturers to enhance the flexibility, safety and efficiency of their collaborative robot (cobot) cells. RARUK Automation is a long-standing distributor of the Universal Robots range. GRIP’s tool changers are designed to integrate seamlessly with Universal Robots, with a URCap for easy set-up and programming.

More information www.rarukautomation.com