World's First Electric Digger Wins 2020 Macrobert Award
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World's first electric digger wins 2020 MacRobert Award On 9 July, JCB’s electric digger (19C-1E) was announced as the winner of the 2020 MacRobert Award, the most prestigious prize for UK engineering innovation. The winning team received a £50,000 prize and a gold medal. The 19C-1E excavator is the world’s first volume-produced fully electric digger. To date, the current fleet has saved the equivalent of 15,100 kilograms in CO2 emissions across 5,616 hours of work. If it was used across the global construction sector, which contributes 39% of all carbon emissions, these savings could reach billions of tonnes. So quiet it can work in a library: a JCB electric digger (19C-1E), the world’s first fully electric digger, operating in a reading room in London’s Caledonian Club As well as significantly reducing carbon emissions, the electric engineering and technical specifications, the I-PACE has a range digger has zero exhaust emissions and very low noise levels. of up to 292 miles. Its core innovations include novel approaches This combination means it is better suited than traditional to battery, thermal management, and e-motor technology. The construction vehicles to operating inside buildings or in areas I-PACE was granted 40 significant patents for its innovative where noise must be kept to a minimum, for example near technology overall. hospitals and schools. JCB launched the digger in 2019 and has already sold hundreds of the machines. The MacRobert Award judges lauded JCB for demonstrating the utility of electric machines in a construction setting and the The winning team from JCB is: Tim Burnhope FREng, Chief potential for future innovation to boost sustainability in the Innovation Officer; Bob Womersley, Director of Advanced sector. The hope is that this entry could do for the construction Engineering; Lee Harper, Chief Engineer – Electrified Machines; sector what the double MacRobert Award winner Johnson Lee Milward, Design Manager; and Corey Smith, Test and Matthey did for the motor industry with the catalytic converter, Development Manager. which has stopped hundreds of millions of tonnes of pollution from entering the atmosphere. JCB was chosen as the winner from a shortlist of three finalists that included Babcock LGE’s ecoSMRT® and Jaguar Land Rover Professor Sir Richard Friend FREng FRS, Chair of the Royal for the I-PACE. Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award judging panel, said: “JCB’s electric digger is a huge engineering achievement. Babcock LGE's ecoSMRT® dramatically improves the efficiency The team has developed all parts of the electric propulsion of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) around the world. system to deliver system performance that matches real Ships carrying LNG must control the pressure of their LNG cargo, customer requirements... The digger is more than a great bit of as evaporation occurs in the tanks. The ecoSMRT® system engineering, however. It has the power to be the catalyst for captures and reliquefies this ‘boil-off’ gas, with significant change in an industry that is responsible for around 10% of all reductions in emissions compared with current technology. of the UK’s carbon emissions.” The ecoSMRT® system delivers up to a 50% reduction in carbon footprint, a 50% reduction in maintenance costs, 40% The win was featured on the BBC website and in Business Live, reduction in the physical space required, and improves power the Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Evening Standard and Daily Star, efficiency by up to 20% when compared with existing systems. as well as The Engineer. Jaguar Land Rover's I-PACE is the world’s first premium battery- The Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award is electric sports utility vehicle (SUV). Revolutionary in its design, supported by The Worshipful Company of Engineers. President’s column 2 Academy roundup 10 Newsletter Research and innovation 4 Obituaries 12 Education and skills 6 Summer 2020 Thought leadership 8 Public engagement 10 1 COVID-19 Positive Response programme President's recent events across the globe that have celebrate the engineering innovators and highlighted just how far from an equal innovations that are making headway in At the start of lockdown, the Academy launched a Positive column and truly inclusive society we are. It tackling them. Our Awards Committee Response programme to support the contribution that goes without saying that with diversity recently judged applications for a new engineering and engineers can make to tackling the challenges and inclusion (D&I) embedded in our suite of awards to recognise engineers associated with COVID-19. values, and an established role leading who have helped address the challenges a D&I programme for the profession, of the pandemic, across all technical The programme covers three areas: brokerage; policy advice and the Academy stands wholeheartedly in specialities, disciplines, and career expertise; and funding and support through grant and delivery solidarity against racism and inequality. stages. The winners will be announced programmes. later this summer, and given the ongoing But these words, and maintaining our challenges of the pandemic, we expect to The Academy’s first profession-wide brokerage initiative D&I programme at the same scale, are make a further round of awards in 2021. asked Fellows, awardees and partners to help identify ideas, not enough. Our post-pandemic society In the meantime, we have announced the innovations, facilities and skills that could help the pandemic must be more inclusive, and so we must winner of our most prestigious award for response. The programme received almost 600 submissions seize the opportunity to build back better engineering innovation: the MacRobert that were triaged by experts and the ideas with the greatest Engineers at the Nightingale Hospital by redoubling our efforts to understand Award. As you will already have read in potential were supported through Academy networks in the experience of ethnic minorities in our this newsletter, winner JCB and finalists industry, academia and government. This included recruiting more widely through an Innovation in a crisis event series profession and what needs to be done to Jaguar Land Rover and Babcock's Liquid over 1,000 volunteers willing to be deployed as auxiliary chaired by Professor Mark Miodownik MBE FREng and Elspeth ensure that it is equal to the experience Gas Equipment have pioneered products engineers for field hospitals if required. The exercise highlighted Finch MBE. Online Q&As have covered the coordination efforts As the UK slowly emerges from lockdown of their majority colleagues. We have that will reduce the environmental impact the engineering dimensions of the crisis, enabling the Academy of the VentilatorChallengeUK, the teamwork between UCL and businesses begin reopening their an important role to play in this and my of their industries and transform the to pivot to focus on the problems faced by frontline medics and and Mercedes AMG, and the facility delivery and skills and doors, there has been much commentary thanks go to our D&I Committee, which sustainability of their sectors. government stakeholders to mobilise those skills and expertise technology deployment in the Nightingale hospitals. on what our ‘new normal’ will be and how oversees our programmes in this area. where they are needed most. the UK, and indeed the world, can ‘build As difficult as the last few months have The Academy has also been leveraging its international back better’ following this crisis. Another opportunity we have to build been, we must remain optimistic, and as In policy, the Academy has been supporting government with networks to share knowledge and foster collaboration between back better is to apply what we have engineers use our expertise in systems engineering advice. Drawing on the expertise across the NEPC, national experts across the world. The different engineering In the near term, reopening offices and learned from our response to the thinking, problem solving and innovating it has provided inputs to the Scientific Advisory Group for dimensions to the common challenges of PPE provision, testing venues, allowing people to meet others pandemic to an equally significant to shape a new, and better, normal. Emergencies on ventilation and hospital-acquired infection. The and digital contact tracing were openly explored through a and the resumption of travel pose many challenge: achieving net zero and programme has rapidly collated engineering evidence on PPE series of online meetings. questions that engineers can help mitigating the effects of climate Best wishes, manufacturing and reuse, restarting public transport, supply answer about how to do so in a way that change. Carbon emissions have dropped Professor Sir Jim McDonald FREng FRSE chain challenges, and research and development investment for To share knowledge further, the Engineering X programme minimises the risk of further transmission significantly during lockdown, but the high-tech startups for a faster and better recovery. has launched a new Pandemic Preparedness programme. This of the virus, or the development of a benefit of that change in emissions focuses on understanding the role of engineers in response to second wave of infections. Many of our may yet be lost. We have the technical Alongside the reactive work, the Academy has been highlighting the global crisis and funding highly innovative, engineering- Academy Fellows and awardees are capability to address the global climate the medium-term engineering dimensions of the pandemic centred research and/or innovation proposals that aim to helping to shape the response, whether challenge, so as we restart our economy, to government through Engineering a resilient future. This tackle the most pressing challenges created by the COVID-19 through advising on how buildings and we can and should intensify our efforts in-depth paper investigates infrastructure interdependencies, pandemic. transport can be managed and adapted to to drive low-carbon innovation and create Meetings and visitors the role of research and development investment to ensure reduce virus transmission, or developing sustainable businesses.