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Tata Motors creates face visors for schools
A COVENTRY-BASED
AUTOMOTIVE centre of
excellence has started producing
face shields for local schools as
children begin to return to the
classroom.
The Design Modelling
Operations team at Tata Motors
European Technical Centre
(TMETC) have been using their
skills during lockdown to produce
hundreds of coronavirus face
shields for local hospitals, including
Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Now the team has received
orders from Midlands schools as
they gradually welcome more pupils
through their doors, including Lapal
Primary School in Halesowen and
Woodthorpe Junior and Infant
School in Birmingham.
Lapal Primary School is using the
face shields for sta when they are
administering rst aid to pupils and
when interacting with pupils who
su er from asthma.
Laura Atkinson, Assistant
Head at the school, said: “We are
extremely grateful for these visors,
which are helping to ease anxiety
and concern for all involved during
the transitional period of welcoming
larger numbers of sta and children
back into school.
“Sta have commented on the
exceptional quality of the visors and
how safe they feel when using them.
We cannot thank TMETC enough.”
Linda McGrath, Head Teacher
at Woodthorpe Junior and Infant
School, said: “We are very thankful
to TMETC for providing our school
with 20 face shields.
“It has enabled us to better equip
sta with the protective equipment
required in order to open more
widely to more pupils.”
The other schools to receive
support are Lutley Primary School
(Halesowen), Loughton School
(Milton Keynes), Long Itchington
CofE Academy (Southam) and
Coundon Primary School (Coventry).
Russell Beecroft, General
Manager of Design Modelling
Operations at TMETC, said:
“We have been proud to use the
resources at our disposal to make
face shields for NHS sta in our area,
but now the need appears to have
switched to other areas.
“We’ve supplied several schools
with our visors and we’ve had some
tremendous feedback. It’s a great
feeling to know we are helping to
keep keyworkers and schoolchildren
safe.”
Three 3D printers are being used
to create the main frame and then
the ve-strong TMETC team are
assembling the masks at their homes
using the additional materials.
More than 250 face shields have
been delivered to nurses and doctors
at Birmingham Children’s Hospital,
a GP surgery in Oldbury and George
Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton.
CAD specialists at TMETC took
a pre-existing visor design le and
tweaked it to optimise printing time.
Additional materials were added to
make it more comfortable to wear.
Russell added: “We have tried to
make these visors as comfortable
as possible so that the wearer can
concentrate on the job at hand.”
TMETC was launched in 2005 as
a UK-based centre of excellence for
automotive design and engineering
for Tata Motors. Its team of
engineering experts develop vehicle
technologies to meet the needs of
future generations in the world of
autonomous, connected, electric
and shared mobility.
The company’s National
Automotive Innovation Centre home
was o cially opened by HRH The
Prince of Wales in February.
PTREERSRIYD SEPNATL OL AF PIMPOECINHTEED
TERRY SPALL CENG FIMechE
has assumed o ce as the 135th
President of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers.
Spall, who has been a member
of the Institution since 1984, is a
long-standing volunteer, serving as
a Trustee and most recently as Chief
Judge at the Formula Student racing
car competition for 5 years.
With a background in the
car industry in the UK and
internationally, he brings a wealth of
engineering and business experience
to the role.
Commenting on his appointment,
Spall said: “It’s an exciting and
challenging moment to take over the
Presidency. This last year we have
been working on the governance and
nance reviews and how they will
be implemented, which has been a
massive task.
The results of these reviews will
be rolled out over the next year and
we will be consulting members on
how they would like the Institution
to evolve. It is time for change and
I’m looking forward to playing a very
active role to make that happen.”
Encouraging more member
involvement in the Institution’s
activities and raising the pro le of
engineering to encourage more
young people from a diverse
background to consider it as a career
are also priorities for this year.
Not surprisingly considering
his career, Terry has chosen the
future of mobility as the theme of
his presidency and in his presidential
address in the autumn he will look
ahead to see what the transport
industry may look like.
“The automotive industry is
going through greatest change it
has ever faced, with the challenges
and opportunities electri cation
and automated driving bring. A truly
exciting time – but how will all this
play out over the next decade?”
Spall received his rst degree
in mechanical engineering in 1985
followed by a MSc in Engineering
Programme Management from
Lancaster University in 1990.
His career has included working
at Leyland Trucks, Nissan and most
recently at HORIBA MIRA which
carries out engineering, research and
testing for the automotive sector.
Terry led the establishment of
MIRA’s overseas operations in seven
countries including China and India.
Terry was appointed Commercial
Director for MIRA Technology Park
Ltd in October 2010. He left the
company in January 2020 to become
a consultant.
Terry is a keen mountaineer
and fell walker. He also enjoys
restoring classic cars, with two
projects currently underway – a 1989
TVR3000S and a 1968 Morris Minor.
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