Archive: Collaborate to Innovate 2019 winners announced

UK-led Projects ranging from the development of a ground-breaking electric motor for commercial vehicles; to a new method of propulsion for space craft; and a molecular probe for improving the outcome of cancer surgery were amongst the winners at The Engineer magazine’s 2019 Collaborate To Innovate (C2I) Awards.

C2I2019

The winners of this year’s competition, which is now in its fourth year, were announced at a special awards event held in London last night (6th November).

Judged by a panel of leading UK engineers, winning entries had to demonstrate that they were innovative, collaborative and likely to have an impact in their field of application.

Commenting on this year’s competition – which was sponsored by Frazer-Nash Consultancy - editor of The Engineer Jon Excell said: “With perhaps the strongest shortlist yet, this year’s C2I awards provided a fascinating snapshot of some of the trends and technologies that are defining modern engineering, and also highlighted the degree to which industry and academia are collaborating to solve fundamental problems across a variety of sectors.”

READ AND DOWNLOAD OUR SPECIAL WINNERS BROCHURE

As well as celebrating innovations across sectors including medical; automotive; aerospace and manufacturing, this year’s event – which was timed to coincide with the Royal Academy of Engineering’s This is Engineering Day (an initiative aimed at raising awareness of how engineers shaped our world) C2I 2019 also showcased the achievements of some of tomorrow’s engineers through its Young Innovator award.

This year’s Young Innovator award went to 14 year old school pupil Freddie Howells, who used a Raspberry Pi microcomputer to develop a facial recognition door entry system and a host of assistive technologies for his great Aunt Pat, who suffers with dementia.

C2I2019 — Young Innovator winner Freddie Howells with Pete Lomas (L) and Jon Excell (R)

Alongside a coveted C2I trophy, which was presented by Raspberry Pi co-founder Pete Lomas, Freddie also received offers of exciting work experience packages from three of the organisations involved in judging this year’s awards: Frazer-Nash Consultancy, Rolls-Royce Plc and BAE Systems.

Commenting on Freddie’s entry, Frazer-Nash Consultancy MD Neil McDougall said: "Freddie's project was not only brilliant, it was inspirational. He drew upon his own experiences, and the result was an idea that could help address one of the big challenges facing our ageing society: keeping vulnerable older people safe. It's great seeing the kind of projects that young innovators like Freddie are coming up with - it fills me with confidence that the future of engineering innovation will be a bright one. We'd love Freddie to come and visit one of our Frazer-Nash offices, to see the range of projects that engineers work on, and how that work helps to make a difference in the world."

Meanwhile, the coveted Grand Prix trophy, for the winning entry which in the view of The Engineer's editorial team best exemplifies the power of innovation and collaboration, went to the winner of this year's automotive category: a project that has developed a magnet-free truly sustainable electric motor for the commercial vehicle sector.

The winners are listed in full below. In depth reports on each of this year’s winning entries can be found here