Sixth annual C2I awards: meet the finalists

Now in its sixth year, C2I was established to uncover and celebrate great examples of technology-led engineering collaboration across a range of different disciplines and sectors. It’s fair to say that it’s more than delivered on this vision, and has regularly uncovered a fresh pipeline of innovations, showcasing the UK’s strength and breadth in cross-disciplinary collaboration, and providing plenty of reasons to optimistic about the future of UK engineering.

A MESSAGE FROM C2I JUDGE , BABCOCK TECHNOLOGY CHIEF JON HALL

And, in a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many sectors of the economy grinding to halt, this year’s shortlist provides gratifying evidence that the UK’s culture of innovation and appetite for collaboration is alive and well.

The shortlisted projects are listed below. In partnership with our headline sponsor Babcock International we'll be telling all of their stories and announcing the overall winners during a special week of online festivities running on The Engineer's website from 7th to 11th of February.

Category: aerospace & defence

DISCOVERER: The University of Manchester with University College London (Mullard Space Science Laboratory), University of Stuttgart (IRS), University Politecnica Catalunya, GOMSpace, Deimos Space, Euroconsult, and concentric

Adaptive Learning: Babcock International with Area 9 Lyceum

MASTRO: University of Sheffield AMRC with Acciona, ALKE, Applynano, ARKEMA, AXIA, BSRIA, CETMA. CENTI, CITEVE, DIAGROUP, Embraer, Universidad De Alicante, Superior Graphite and PINOUT

SkyBus: GKN Aerospace with Swanson Aviation Consultancy, Pascall+Watson and Connected Places Catapult

Category: Automotive

Application of Games Technology in Automotive Digital Tools: Epic Games with BMW Group

CAVForth: Fusion Processing with Stagecoach Group Plc, Alexander Dennis, Transport Scotland, Naipier University and Bristol Robotics Lab

Vehicle Security Operations Centres for Type Approval Compliance:

HORIBA MIRA with BT

White Motorcycle Concepts - WMC250EV: White Motorcycle Concepts with ACE Composites, EY3, John Keogh Design, RML and Total Sim

Warwick Moto: WMG, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Catapult & Norton Motorcycles with MIVOLT, Michelin, PWR, Dymag, Laserlines, Wraptastic, Rock West Composites, Xometry, Renthal, Pro-Bolt, embed, R&G, HEL, RS Components and BLK

Category: Energy & Environment - sponsored by BAE Systems

Biohydrogen from waste: University College London with Advanced Biofuel Solutions and Progressive Energy

Aerofoil: Aerofoil Energy with Williams Advanced Engineering

Working smarter to get to net zero: National Grid Electricity Transmission with Smart Wires and Omexom

Coventry Very Light Rail: The University of Warwick with Coventry City Council and Ingerop-Rendel

Category: Healthcare & Medical

Paediatric Central Venous Catheter Training Simulator: Brunel University London with Guys' and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

A sensorimotor PROsthesis for the upper LIMB (PROLIMB): Dr Helge Wurdemann, UCL with The University of Warwick, Global Disability Innovation hub, Otto Bock HealthCare, Re-NABLE and Steeper Group

INSIGHT System: Adapttech with Vangest and Citeve

iTraXS - Intra-tracheal multiplexed sensing: University of Nottingham with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, P3 Medical, CHEATA, Bluefrog Design, Derby Clinical Trials Support Unit (all UK) and King Faisal Hospital (Saudi Arabia)

Terabotics: Warwick University with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Leeds University, Exeter University, TeraView Ltd, QinetiQ, NPL, Intuitive Surgical, Kuka, and Lubrizol

Category: Data & Connectivity - Sponsored by PTC

Next-Gen Rice Milling: Koolmill, Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) - The National Centre for Excellence in Food Engineering (NCEFE) with Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Aston Business School, Siemens, JJA Pack and New Food Innovation

5G Factory of the Future; University of Sheffield AMRC with BAE Systems, IBM, aql, MTT, Miralis, Digital Catapult

Harnessing Industry 4.0 to Optimise Performance in the Aluminium Industry: Air Products with Tandom Metallurgical Group

CICADAS: Contactless Interaction with CAD and Systems

CAE Tech with Babcock International

Rapid Evaluation and Planning Analysis Infrastructure for Railways (REPAIR); Frazer-Nash Consultancy with University of Hull Logistics Institute

Category: Manufacturing Technology - Sponsored by HVM Catapult

Automated Welding Equipment System Inspection Monitoring (AWESIM):

Cavendish Nuclear with Doosan Babcock, Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, Advanced Nuclear Research Centre, Frazer Nash Consultancy, Peak NDT and Aquila.

Next-Gen Rice Milling: Koolmill, Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) - The National Centre for Excellence in Food Engineering (NCEFE) with Aston Business School, Siemens, JJA Pack, New Food Innovation and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU)

Mass-Customisation in Robotic Assembly: CAE Tech with The Manufacturing Technology Centre

PACE (Just in Time Clinical Pharmacy): CPI, with Applied Materials, AstraZeneca, CME, GSK, National Physical Laboratory, Siemens.

SonicSMR: Laser Additive Solutions with IVY-Tech, Brunel Innovation Centre, TARAZ Metrology, NAMRC

Category: Wild card

Patricia Camila Air Lubrication: Silverstream Technologies with Sembcorp Marine

A2I2: Forth with Rovco, D-RisQ, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Thales UK and The University of Manchester

Adaptive Learning

Babcock International with Area 9 Lyceum

UCL-Nikon Collaboration on Next-Generation X-Ray Imaging

Nikon X-Tek Systems with UCL’s Advanced X-ray Imaging (AXIm) group

Category: Young Innovator - Sponsored by STFC

Fall Alert: Freddie Howells

Accessible storage for mobility impaired

City of London School for Girls

Aman Surana - Warwick Moto

WMG, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Catapult & Norton Motorcycles

In Veeta

Amir Hessari with Omar Al Maaytah and Riccardo Barbieri

Prasinos

TeenTech with Polysolor

Search & Rescue Robot for LICs

Reading School

Visit www.theengineer.co.uk during the week of 7th - 11th February to learn more about this year's finalists and the identity of our category winners