NEWS | EUREKA!
Xtrac wins Queen’s Award
VEHICLE TRANSMISSION
SPECIALIST Xtrac, whose energye
cient gearbox designs are helping
to in uence radically di erent
technology for future road cars,
has received the Queen’s Award for
Enterprise. The company has won the
award in the category for Innovation
for its development of an Integrated
Lightweight Electric Vehicle (ILEV)
gearbox range spearheaded by Xtrac
CEO Adrian Moore.
Xtrac previously received a
Queen’s Award for Export and
Excellence in 1992, less than a decade
after it was founded to serve the
motorsport industry. Nowadays,
as well as continuing to serve the
industry globally, it has successfully
reached out to the automotive
mainstream.
“Unfortunately, the Covid-19
pandemic has a ected us like all
other businesses in our industry, in
the UK and around the world,” says
Moore. “With international motor
racing now at a standstill, it has been
necessary to furlough some of our
employees, and every single one of
us has volunteered to take a pay cut
to get us through these uncertain
times.”
“So, to receive such prestigious
recognition for the highly skilled
accomplishments of our people is a
very welcome boost to morale for all
of us. And, it’s particularly good news,
of course, for our fast-growing High-
Performance Automotive business
unit, headed by James Setter, which
led the implementation of the winning
Integrated Lightweight Electric
Vehicle transmission project.”
Part of the UK’s renowned
high-performance engineering
sector, Xtrac will attend a Royal
reception later in the year. Her
Majesty, The Queen, personally
approves the winners announced
by the Department for Business,
Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
James Puxley, the Lord-Lieutenant
of the Royal County of Berkshire,
will present the award, which will
also be later in the year, at the
company’s newly expanded design
and manufacturing headquarters at
Thatcham in West Berkshire.
Xtrac has put intense research
and development e ort into its
energy-e cient hybrid & electric
vehicle transmission systems and
more recently has further ramped
up these e orts. Innovative electric
motors developed by Protean
Electric for next-generation
electric cars have been adopted in
a newly deployed technology that
revolutionises the safety of lifting
loads by crane (see page 7).
SOLUTION COFFEE TIME TO LAST CHALLENGE
MONTH’S Our solution to April’s Co ee Time
Challenge, where we asked you to
come up with a solution that allows
cyclists to communicate clearly
and safely with other road users
comes, somewhat surprisingly,
from automotive giant, Ford.
Ford’s answer is the ‘Emoji
Jacket’, a prototype created in
partnership with industrial design
specialists Designworks as part of
Ford’s ‘Share the Road’ campaign.
The jacket allows the wearer to
e ectively communicate their
emotions to other road users
around them by using emoji icons.
The back of the jacket features
a large LED panel that allows
other road users aware of the
to a wireless remote, featuring
the user to display their mood –
cyclist’s movements and possible
independent buttons that is easily
whether they’re happy, neutral,
dangers ahead. These functions
mounted and removed from the
or worried while travelling.
can all be controlled without the
bike.
Indicators, and a hazard symbol
cyclist removing their hands
Quote from Emoji expert
can also be displayed to make
from the handlebars, thanks
Dr Neil Cohn PhD on speed of
communication of emojis: “Emojis
have become a fundamental part
of how we use language. Whether
used to convey facial expressions,
humour, or sarcasm, they have
become integral to our ability to
express ourselves and quickly.
This jacket created in partnership
with Ford Share the Road allows
riders to express their feelings and
creates an important emotional
link between them and other road
users”
The Share the Road campaign
underlines Ford’s belief that
enabling more people to cycle
safely, especially for short
journeys, bene ts everyone.
Believing that by fostering
harmony between road users,
raising awareness, and increasing
conversations between them, our
roads can become a better place.
8 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | MAY 2020
/WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK