PRODUCTS & PRACTICES
Electric mini excavator wins
the 2020 MacRobert Award
The UK’s Royal Academy of
Engineering has announced
that JCB’s ‘ultra-quiet’ and
zero emissions 19C-1E electric
digger has won the 2020
MacRobert Award from the
Royal Academy of Engineering.
The award is a prize for
innovation that has been
presented since 1969 to
honour a wide variety of
engineering feats, including the
CT scanner and Rolls-Royce’s
Pegasus engine used in the
Harrier jump jet.
The company faced
strong competition for this
year’s award from two other
shortlisted nalists: the allelectric
I-PACE sports utility
vehicle from Jaguar Land Rover
and ecoSMRT liquid natural gas
reliquefaction technology from
Babcock’s LGE business.
The JCB19C-1E mini excavator pictured in
the reading room of London’s Caledonian Club
Prof Sir Richard Friend,
chair of the MacRobert Award
judging panel, added: “JCB’s
electric digger is a huge
engineering achievement. The
team has developed all parts of
the electric propulsion system
to deliver system performance
that matches real customer
requirements. This is a huge
achievement in itself, but the
additional bene ts of zero
exhaust emissions and much
lower noise has lifted the 19C-
1E excavator to a new level.”
JCB chairman Lord Bamford
called winning the award a
‘huge honour’.
Heavy-duty o -road bus
manufacturer Torsus
announces a 4x4 conversion
of a Volkswagen Crafter
4Motion chassis that is said to
feature uprated heavy-duty
o -road suspension along with
power from a EURO VI engine,
enabling it to reach places that
other vehicles cannot.
O ered in a variety of
con gurations, the vehicle is
intended for applications such
as mining and emergency aid.
Vakhtang Dzhukashvili,
founder and CEO of Torsus,
said: “We are breaking
new ground by designing,
developing and manufacturing
the world’s toughest o -
road buses. In the all-new
Terrastorm, we signal our
ambition to set new standards
in the heavy-duty 4x4 minibus
market across some of the
toughest industries known to
man. We built Torsus to be a
trailblazer and rede ne the way
people think about
commercial vehicles, and the
Torsus Terrastorm is the next
step on our journey to make
this reality.”
Terrastorm sales were
expected to begin from
October 2020.
The company also produces
a minibus conversion from a
larger truck chassis.
Torsus Terrastorm minibus
engineered for tough rides
Mechanical integrity course
The Engineering Equipment
and Materials Users Association
(EEMUA) has announced that the
content of its mechanical integrity
(MI) course has been approved
for continuing professional
development by the UK Society of
Operations Engineers.
The MI course is aimed at those
responsible on a day-to-day basis
for ensuring mechanical integrity of
plant and equipment, particularly
where there are hazardous
substances present.
Proud2bSafe’s virtual pivot
A UK motivational speaking
company has invested more than
£50,000 into launching a new
virtual offer for manufacturers keen
to improve their safety, health and
wellbeing culture.
Lincoln-based Proud2bSafe
(P2BS), which is run by father and
daughter team Jason Anker MBE
and Abbi Taylor (pictured), has
reacted to the impact of Covid-19 by
taking its presentations online.
It has already secured its fi rst
contract with ASCO, a global
specialist in materials and
equipment management.
The move to online delivery will
look to help fi rms maximise their
training budget and address social
distancing restrictions by delivering
expertise to more people than was
previously possible. It also promises
to have a positive impact on the
environment, as physical journeys
will be replaced by virtual learning.
The company is offering three
different tiers of subscription. These
include a minimum of 52 live
presentations over the course of
the year.
P2BS MD Taylor adds: “We had a
full pipeline of talks booked before
Covid-19 struck and then, pretty
much overnight, all were cancelled
or postponed until further notice.”
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