A team at Greenwich University has won a SPARK award, organised by an arm of the Technology Strategy Board, for designing engine parts which can work at over 1000 degrees centigrade.
The university partnered with a firm called Oxensis to make sensors which measure things like pressure and temperature and can themselves work while ‘glowing yellow-hot’.
Researchers at Greenwich are using computer modelling to help to design and test the appliance which has been touted for its ability to increase efficiency, save fuel and reduce carbon emissions. They are measuring its reliance under variables like fluid flow, temperature and vibration.
The device can be used for plane, cars and power stations.
Professor Chris Bailey from the team at Greenwich said: “I am delighted that our work with Oxsensis has won this recognition. The aerospace and car manufacturing industries are demanding improved sensors because next generation engines are getting much hotter. At the moment no sensor can work reliably above 800 degrees.
“The university can offer the facilities, experience and knowledge base Oxsensis needs to ensure the highest level of reliability in its processes and products.”
The SPARK Awards are organised by the Integrated Products Manufacturing Transfer Network, one of the Knowledge Transfer Networks of the Technology Strategy Board, jointly with the Innovative Electronics Manufacturing Research Centre (leMRC) of the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council. The award includes a cash bonus of £5,000 to help SMEs with design issues.
