60 years of engineering and design

Rockets, artificial hearts, a Mars rover and vehicles including boats, jet-powered aircraft, cars and motorcycles were among the creations on display at the University of Bath’s recent 60th Engineering Design and Project Exhibition. Showcasing final year, individual and group design projects of students, the event highlighted the range of challenges Bath student projects seek to solve, from declining numbers of pollinators to drug delivery and sustainable urban mobility. Taking place for the 60th time in 2025, the exhibition pre-dates the University of Bath itself.

More information www.bath.ac.uk

£1bn for Sunderland gigafactory

The Government says working people will benefit from 1000 jobs at a new state-of-the-art gigafactory in Sunderland in a £1bn auto deal that will accelerate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and boost growth. The new AESC gigafactory will manufacture batteries to power up to 100,000 EVs each year – a six-fold increase on the country’s current capacity.

In the landmark transaction, the National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance will provide financial guarantees which unlock £680m in financing from banks including Standard Chartered, HSBC, SMBC Group, Societe Generale and BBVA. This will cover construction and operation of the new plant. The remaining £320m has been secured through private financing in addition to new equity provided by AESC.

More information www.gov.uk

Vision Launches Halo 4K Digital Inspection Microscope

Vision Engineering has unveiled its EVO Cam Halo, a 4K digital microscope that the company says redefines the standard for precision and clarity in inspection and measurement tasks.

Suitable for a wide range of inspection applications, EVO Cam Halo combines 4K image quality with adaptive illumination and new intelligent software.

Halo’s key features include 4K resolution, which reveals previously obscured details with clarity. A super-wide dynamic range ensures the user captures images with brightness and contrast, even in challenging lighting conditions. Additionally available with Halo is an enhanced Illumination package, including a quadrant light, panel light and white/UV light, to optimise illumination for a variety of inspection needs.

New intelligent hardware and software automatically detects lenses and adjusts magnification settings, ensuring seamless workflow and accurate results. Real-time insights are available that provide intuitive image capture, measurement and analysis tools, enabling faster and more informed decision-making. Vision Engineering’s established 360 Direct/Oblique Viewer also works with Halo, enabling users to inspect details from different angles, revealing hidden features that would otherwise be inaccessible.

Halo is suitable for a wide range of applications, including medical device manufacturing and testing, especially when inspecting translucent tubes, electro-polished devices or other medical components with enhanced clarity and accuracy. It is also effective at capturing fine details on small, reflective metal parts for precise inspection and quality control.

Commenting on the launch, Paul Newbatt, group sales and marketing director, says: “We’re delighted to bring EVO Cam Halo to market, improving the inspection performance available within digital microscopy. 4K image quality plus fully controllable lighting and flexible software available in multiple configurations means that our customers in a wide range of sectors can easily choose the most accurate and consistent digital system for their inspection requirements.”

More information www.bit.ly/457RoQ2

PTC Reveals Strategic AWS Collaboration

PTC has entered a strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to
accelerate the growth of its Onshape cloud-native CAD software and product data
management (PDM) solution. The partnership will focus on product enhancements,
customer adoption programmes and AI initiatives, all of which are aimed at helping
designers and engineers create new, high-quality products faster and more efficiently.
The Onshape team and AWS will collaborate on several product and go-to-market priorities,
including the Onshape Discovery Programme, which allows qualified users to try Onshape
Professional at no cost for up to six months. This offer means engineering teams get to
experience the speed and collaboration benefits of the cloud-native CAD and PDM solution
for an extended period before making the decision of whether to adopt or not.

Another focus area is Onshape AI Advisor, which will allow users to design products faster
by cataloguing the vast resource library of text-based documentation and videos, and
answering questions or making recommendations during the design process. While
designing, users will be able to type a question in simple, conversational language and the
Onshape AI Advisor will respond with an answer or recommendation based on the resource
library. It will run on Amazon Bedrock.
Also, CAD and PDM conversion tools will expand intelligent data migration tool sets to
reduce the complexity of switching systems by preserving the parametric features and
sketch information of CAD models during translation.
“Onshape continues to disrupt the CAD and PDM market, with product companies of all
sizes choosing to switch and experience the speed, collaboration and productivity benefits
of the cloud-native approach,” says David Katzman, general manager of Onshape and Arena
at PTC.
More information www.onshape.com

Hypertherm and BLM become partners  

Hypertherm Associates and BLM Group are commencing a partnership agreement aimed at expanding the market reach of their respective solutions. The two companies will join forces to offer solutions to customers through BLM’s laser cutting and tube bending systems, and Hypertherm’s plasma and waterjet cutting products. The partnership includes a minority stake investment in BLM Group by Hypertherm Associates and a commercial agreement to expand demand generation for BLM Group’s tube bending and pipe and plate cutting systems – as well as 3D robotics systems – in North America and Europe.

More information www.blmgroup.com