At its Industry Awards Dinner last night (2nd November), Composites UK, the Trade Association for the UK composites industry announced the winners of its 2022 awards.
The event again took place at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, coinciding with the Advanced Engineering Show.
The attendees witnessed the following companies take home an award:
- Apprentice of the Year – Britoni Farrer-Williams, McLaren F1 (runner up: Jasmine Moore, Fluency)
- Employer of the Year – Cristex Composite Materials (runner up: Prodrive)
- Social Impact Award – Leybold UK Ltd (runner up: Fluency)
- Sustainability Award | Circularity – Lineat Composites (runner up: Prodrive Composites)
- Sustainability Award | Net-Zero – Composite Braiding (runner up: Jo Bird and Co)
- Innovation in Composite Design – Ford Motor Company (runner up: iCOMAT)
- Innovation in Composite Materials – Cygnet Texkimp/B&M Longworth/NCC (runner up: Lineat Composites)
- Innovation in Composite Manufacture – Composite Integration (runners up: Taziker and Zund UK)
The 2022 Outstanding Contribution to the Composites Industry Award was awarded to Prof. Michael Wisnom. Prof. Wisnom has made a massive impact in the international composites arena across his career. In the education sector, not only has he taught cohort after cohort of the next generation of composites engineers but with his work at the University of Bristol where he set up the Bristol Composites Institute (formerly known as ACCIS) he took it to world ranking. Michael has also been a strong voice in the UK’s composites research groups, bringing together academics from all of the UK and further afield to drive forward research that has unlocked some of the potential of composites that we see today.
Jools Granville, Director of Marketing and Communications at the National Composites Centre said: “In a stellar career Prof. Michael Wisnom has been an instrumental part of the UK’s and the international composites eco system. In the year that he steps down as Director of the Bristol Composites Institute we wanted to nominate him for Outstanding Contribution to Composites based on his career that spans decades. We are over the moon that he has been announced as the winner.”
Special recognition within this category has been awarded to PRF Composite Material’s Robert Burnell.
All of the companies shortlisted receive a commemorative plaque, international press coverage, a case study published on the Composites UK website and social media, details about their company/entry sent out to the Composites UK database and the opportunity to produce a video for the Association’s YouTube.
In addition, the winners receive a physical award and the option to host one of the Association’s online member meets where they will get to talk about their business in front of other Composites UK members.
Claire Whysall, Marketing and Communications Manager at Composites UK said: “I would like to thank everyone involved in making this event a success but in particular our Master of Ceremonies and Chairman, Alan Banks of Ford Motor Company and our sponsors – Zund UK, Pegbox Technical Recruitment, Minden Dust Extraction Systems, Briar, Far-UK and Rockwood Composites for supporting this event. We couldn’t do it without them.
“We were honoured to have had Lorna Carter from The Bristol Gulls with us as our after-dinner speaker. Lorna is an ocean rower and composite manufacturing engineer who, in January 2021, completed an unsupported 3000-mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean after 46 days, 7 hours and 50 minutes at sea with three other women. The all-female team’s crossing was part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. It was great to hear more about their inspiring success story.”
For more details about the award winners and shortlisted entries click here.