A mechanical engineer from Rugby has used nearly 25 years of experience working with PTC technology to help him design and develop the world’s fastest remote-controlled car. 

Stephen Wallis, who honed his engineering skills at companies including Royal Enfield, Triumph Motorcycles and Greenjets, took just eight months to create, build, test and run ‘Mach Reaper’. 

Designed using PTC’s cloud-based Onshape solution, the car clocked 250.67 mph through the timing traps at a ROSSA (Radio Operated Scale Speed Association) speed event in North Wales. The achievement broke the previous Guinness World Record and makes Wallis the first person in history to push a remote-controlled car to those speeds. Just a few weeks later he broke his own record, reaching 256.47mph at an unofficial speed event. 

More information www.ptc.com  

Queen’s University Belfast has officially opened the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC), a circa £100m investment through the Belfast Region City Deal that supports innovation, growth and the future of manufacturing in Northern Ireland. The facility is expected to create up to 1500 jobs across Northern Ireland, contribute £1.3bn to the economy and support the training of 300 apprentices by 2050. 

Located at Global Point in Newtownabbey, AMIC is designed for industry and in response to the needs of the burgeoning advanced manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland, with businesses and industry partners helping to shape its capabilities. The 10,500 m² facility comprises a large engineering hall, labs, metrology suite, cleanroom, offices, meeting rooms, collaboration spaces, VR suite, an auditorium and cafe. 

More information www.we-are-amic.com 

Nasmyth has been awarded the first Air Inlet Manifold contract by Coolbrook for its pioneering RotoDynamic Heater (RDH) technology, marking an important new programme for Nasmyth within the industrial and energy sectors. The contract follows several months of close collaboration between the two companies and will see Nasmyth produce a key element of the RDH system. It provides Nasmyth with an opportunity to apply its established precision engineering, fabrication and extensive manufacturing expertise to this fast-growing multi-million pound market. 

More information www.nasmyth.com 

Made Smarter South East, the Government-backed technology adoption programme, has teamed up with the Toyota Lean Management Centre (TLMC) to bring manufacturing and continuous improvement expertise directly to SME factory floors. Together the organisations have developed a two-day programme tailored to SMEs, helping manufacturers improve processes, eliminate waste and boost productivity before investing in new technology. 

The programme was successfully piloted in Buckinghamshire, bringing together 14 manufacturers hosted at Ercol in Princes Risborough factory. Day one combined expert-led workshops and practical exercises with a factory tour, while day two took the learning directly into selected businesses. 

More information www.tinyurl.com/4zxthect