Emma Tucker writes in deZeen that bicycle company Brompton has borrowed Formula One racing technology to create an electric version of its bestselling folding bike.

Aimed at easing city dwellers' commutes, the Brompton Electric relies on a battery that clips onto the front of the bike and stores away into a separate bag for easy carrying.

Brompton partnered with Williams Advanced Engineering – part of the Williams Group, which also owns the Williams Martini Racing Formula One team – to develop the bike's bespoke motor.

It is calling Brompton Electric the most technically advanced model it has ever produced. 

"We've spent five years taking Williams Racing technology and integrating it into the Brompton," said company CEO Will Butler-Adams.

"It has been harder than any of us imagined but we believe we have created a product that will inspire more people to get out from under the ground, out of their cars and back onto a bike to rediscover their cities."

Brompton's folding frames date back to 1975, when Andrew Ritchie built the first one in his flat in London. The brand opened its first factory in 1988, and today makes more than 45,000 folding bikes each year – making it the UK's largest cycle manufacturer.

Aimed at city dwellers, Brompton bikes fold up to a third of their size, so can be carried on trains by commuters, or packed into the boot of a car.

While a typical Brompton weighs between nine and 13 kilograms, depending on the model, the Brompton Electric has a weight of 16 kilograms. However the 2.8-kilogram battery can be removed and carried separately, to make it easier to use.

"The vision for the Brompton Electric was to make a product that was as light as possible without sacrificing durability, and was extremely compact," said chief design and engineering officer Will Carleysmith.

The Brompton Electric can run for up to 50 miles on a single charge, and there are three power assistance levels for cyclists to choose from.

Brompton has also released an accompanying smartphone app, that lets users track their mileage and customise settings for the bike.

The decision to launch the bike was fuelled by the increasing demand for e-bike ownership across mainland Europe. This trend has resulted in several new launches, from Pininfarina's sports-car-inspired design, to KiBiSi's lightweight OKO bicycle.

According to Brompton, sales in cities remain behind the trend, because customers lack safe places to keep bicycles. Because of this, it is calling the Brompton Electric a "game changer".

The Brompton Electric is now available to be reserved – as either two or six speed versions, in white or black – and the first models will be shipped in early 2018.

| A deZeen release  || August 2,  2017   |||

Meet Solar Gard's New General Manager Kendall Combs Solar Gard announced today it has appointed

The weather wasn’t friendly but the welcome at Holster Engineering certainly was when a 30 strong crowd of engineers descended on the Tokoroa’s Holster Engineering for the Maintenance Engineering Society’s Kaeser Compressors Network Evening.

Bruce, Marty and the staff, 10 of who have been with the company for more than 22 years, provided refreshments and a well appreciated BBQ for those that had made the trek to the South Waikato.

The Kaeser Compressors Network Evening series is as much about highlighting the capabilities of local companies as it is about spectacular achievements or interesting maintenance challenges and the Holster Engineering evening did not pull up short on providing reassurance to local clientele. From the heavy machine shop with a 50T capacity chuck to the 12m centre lathe, horizontal borer, the light machine shop, metal spray shop and cranes, it was obvious that this crew is experienced, ready and capable. Not only in Tokoroa though, the team maintain a prepacked box of site gear ready to do onsite metal spray repair anywhere in New Zealand. Now that’s pre-planning!

The MESNZ Kaeser Compressors Network Evenings are hosted to showcase local operations and provide networking opportunities for engineers across all regions of New Zealand. The evenings offer the opportunity to take a look at the host operation and discuss common issues and solutions in a relaxed after work environment. Open to interested members of the public, the nights are well patronised.

The Maintenance Engineering Society is active across New Zealand, providing professional development opportunities for maintenance engineers and manufacturing operations to network and share innovations and experiences; both at a national level at their annual national conference or at these regional events. The 2017 National Maintenance Engineering Conference will be held at the Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton in November.

|  A MESNZ release  ||  August 2,  2017   |||

In a recent white paper, SITAONAIR proposed what will be the second in-flight revolution: the adoption of open architecture and common service provision. This will allow airlines to make passenger connectivity part of the airline brand rather than a lock-in to a supplier’s refresh cycle.

Thought leadership article, authored by SITA.

With airlines embracing connected aircraft, the first in-flight connectivity revolution is clearly in full swing. But we’re now poised for in-flight revolution no.2: open platforms and common standards that will unlock new opportunities for digital service innovation.

By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s airline fleet will be connected – enabling passengers to transfer their entire digital lives seamlessly from ground to air.

At the same time this is bringing significant operational opportunities and benefits for everyone involved in the value chain – from airlines and airports to airframe and engine manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service suppliers.

The drivers for upgrading to a connected aircraft are fourfold, according to SITA’s 2016 Airline IT Trends Survey: improvements to the passenger experience (46%), maintenance and aircraft health monitoring (15%), benefits for pilots (12%) and improvements for cabin crew activities, such as tablet apps and credit card payments (7%).

Stage 1

This first stage revolution is accelerating in pace. By 2019, two-thirds of the world’s airlines expect to operate fully connected aircraft, up from 37% in 2016.

By the same date, 74% of airlines plan to provide in-flight internet services (33% today), 60% plan to offer mobile phone services in-flight (21% today) and 92% of airlines are focusing on smartphone applications to interact with passengers.

Alongside these changes, the habits of passengers are transforming as they are themselves increasingly connected on the ground – and prepared to use their own devices. That offers the potential not only to deliver better in-flight connectivity and a more tailored passenger experience, but also to consider removing seat-back screens altogether – saving weight and fuel cost.

A drag?

However, the path to realising these opportunities is full of potential obstacles and constraints. There are operational limitations and incompatibilities across platforms, technologies, fleets and service providers’ own proprietary systems.

In part that’s because technology cycles for aircraft, satellite hardware and infrastructure, onboard communication equipment and mobile devices all evolve at different speeds. As a result, integration, innovation and the unification of the passenger portfolio and passenger experience is complex, time consuming and expensive.

“A lack of interoperability is one of the inhibitors in the growth of in-flight connectivity services across the world’s airline fleets,” says Craig Foster, Senior Consultant at Valour Consultancy.

“Many airlines weren’t even aware this was the case when they made a connectivity investment decision and I expect this will be a topic that grows in awareness and understanding soon.”

Stage 2

In a recent white paper, SITAONAIR proposed what will be the second in-flight revolution: the adoption of open architecture and common service provision. This will allow airlines to make passenger connectivity part of the airline brand rather than a lock-in to a supplier’s refresh cycle.

Fully open-system architecture, the paper suggests, is the only way that airlines can become fully empowered to have choice and flexibility in their in-flight services and optimise the business benefits of high-speed connectivity. Not least it offers the opportunity to separate key duties, so that the same provider is not responsible for both providing the system and performance monitoring.

According to Singapore Airlines’ Vice President of Product Innovation, Yung Han Ng: “Open system developments facilitate the creation of new and innovative ideas, and enable us to develop products/solutions that are platform and device agnostic, and with a shorter time to launch. If suppliers were to adopt open platform solutions in the future, it would be ideal.”

Best interests

The speed and scale of airline ambitions suggests that an open and common approach is the way forward and in the best interests of the industry as a whole. “The development of software platforms/middleware is obviously important,” comments David Lavorel, SITAONAIR CEO.

“In the broader Internet of Things space, a number of companies have developed connected device platforms and application-enablement platforms that have spurred growth. The airline space should not be any different.”

As passenger connectivity becomes more ubiquitous, providing solutions and systems on an open basis means that consistent passenger experience can be achieved regardless of the technology choices airlines may make or have already made.

Critically, this will promote innovation for airlines and passengers, and bring simplicity at application and user level.

“As OEMs open up their technology platforms,” concludes David Lavorel, “we are ready to work with airlines to maximise the resulting opportunities. We believe this is what airlines want.”

|  An FTE release  ||  August 1,  2017   ||| 

Pam Tipa writes in Rural News that almost $600 million flowed into the meat industry from outside New Zealand in the last 18 months.

Overseas firms looked to secure NZ beef and lamb and strengthen their global agrifood positions, says a new report.

Investors chiefly from China and Japan bought in, says the report ‘Investors Guide to the NZ Meat industry 2017’, released in June. It was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and prepared by Coriolis.

| A RuralNews releas  || August 1,  2017   |||

Specialist global steel manufacturer, SSAB, is well known for its Hardox wear plate and Strenx performance steel products, each offering their own certification program that adds value and quality to the end products in the market. Its longstanding Hardox In My Body program has become a simple way to recognise when the exceptional Hardox steel is used in truck and trailer bodies while My Inner Strenx is all about enhancing structural performance for industrial applications with the Strenx range.

SSAB claims that it has over 400 certified members worldwide for its Hardox In My Body program. Members of the program use the Hardox range of steel products – such as its wear plates – in their builds, resulting in equipment with exceptional wear resistance, unsurpassed impact strength and the assurance that end-users will save money and time down the road by using the superior steel-manufactured product.

Once a member of the program, each trailer builder’s product must be approved by the SSAB board before it can earn the certification, a group that consists of wear and structural technology experts that analyse welding quality, manufacturing process and design. The program sticker sign has a unique ID system that provides full traceability for the origins of the materials used, so customers can be assured that they are getting a superior steel product manufactured by a qualified program member.

SSAB recently appointed New Zealand-based Giltrap Engineering as a Hardox In My Body members, which has been using Hardox in its vehicles since 2013. An innovator in agricultural equipment, Giltrap has over 50 years of industry experience and operates a fully equipped processing and fabrication workshop as well as a painting facility.

Giltrap has developed a custom tipper design unique to New Zealand, boasting a 6mm Hardox 450 grade body in a two-plate U-shape design with integrated top rails.

Another newly appointed member of Hardox In My Body, Mid West Engineering needed a distinct point of difference to outlast its waste management competitors, so it retrofitted its waste trucks with Hardox. Mid West has been using Hardox for about a decade and has said that its vehicles look new after years of operation due to the superior surface protection that the Hardox range offers.

In addition to providing enhanced surface protection products, SSAB has also appointed a new member for My Inner Strenx to demonstrate the advantages of using high-strength steel with road trains and similar transport vehicles in the mining industry.

Alongside its Hardox In My Body program, SSAB’s My Inner Strenx program offers superior structural steel for heavy-duty equipment manufacturers. Strenx is made via quality-controlled production techniques and is optimised for a range of demanding applications including truck chassis and body reinforcement. The Strenx certification also comes with a unique identifier, which determines product authenticity and where the materials were sourced.

Joining the My Inner Strenx program, Bruce Rock Engineering (BRE) has serviced the agricultural region around Bruce Rock in Western Australia since 1980 and offers road transport equipment, design, manufacture and maintenance. In 2006, BRE expanded its range to produce side-tipping trucks for the mining industry and has since engaged in lightweight body design using Hardox 450 material grade – making them the lightest steel tippers in the market.

By adding value to its industrial and commercial equipment, BRE uses SSAB’s high strength steel in everything from end tippers and road trains to dollies, drawbars and skel trailers. BRE is capable of producing around two to four trailers a week and takes advantage of the Strenx and Hardox certifications to emphasise its high-quality builds from high-performance steel and exceptional structural reinforcement.

With its Hardox in My Body and My Inner Strenx programs, SSAB does more than just providing the high quality Hardox wear plate and Strenx performance steel to its trailer building membership group – the certification also serves as a badge of honour that reinforces the structural integrity of truck and trailer bodies.

| A  Trailer release  ||  August 1,  2017   |||

The new Kahukura building at Ara Institute of Canterbury, conceived as a teaching tool for engineering students, is ready just in time to host the Week of Engineering Expo in Christchurch on Saturday 5 August from 10am-4pm.

Coordinated by IPENZ as part of the national Week of Engineering, the Expo will bring in engineering professionals who can enjoy the innovative new engineering and architectural studies facility ahead of an official opening in August.

There is plenty to interest engineers, students and the public at the Expo. Kahukura is among a handful of buildings in Christchurch to utilise local, sustainable timber technology with Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) as the structural frame and Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) as the structure of the facade. Timber dominates throughout the building, with concrete and steel playing secondary roles. The building is seismically strong and actually stores carbon through the use of wood.

The Expo will be a chance for the public to check out Kahukura. During the day there will be free screenings of the film Dream Big - Engineering Our World, narrated by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges. The film spans the range of engineering from the Great Wall of China and the world’s tallest buildings, to underwater robots, solar cars and smart, sustainable cities.The day is all about inspiring the next generation of engineers. Exhibiting organisations from around Christchurch will bring their best technology to the expo to engage secondary school students in the wide world of engineering.

Exhibitors include Beca, Structex, Stantec, BVT Consulting, Fonterra, BVT Consulting, Fonterra, University of Canterbury - College of Engineering, TDG, Harrison Grierson, Opus, Engineers without Borders, Caterpillar Trimble Control Technologies and Orion.

During the preceding Week of Engineering, a programme of events at partner organisations will further inspire and educate students. New Zealand needs more engineers, and in response the Government has set a goal of increasing engineering graduates by 500 per year. In particular the country needs to almost double the number of graduates with a New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Level 6) or a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Level 7) - both of which are offered at Ara.

Ara will run the Quake Craft challenge in the Vodafone Building on 1 and 2 August. Based on the institute’s excellent school holiday STEM workshops, the Quakecraft challenge is to design and prototype a sustainable tiny house for extreme conditions and natural disasters using maths, physics and engineering. Using 3D printing and computer aided design students work in teams to design a model house and test its structural integrity on a shake table.

For students, the $34m, 6500m2 Kahukura offers a blend of purpose designed and flexible learning areas - and even a cafe. The exhibition space on the ground floor was envisaged for hosting events such as the Engineering Expo.

• Read more about the Kahukura’s carbon storing potential and timber technology.
• Read all about the Week of Engineering

|  A n Ara Institute of Canterbury release  ||  August 1,  2017   |||

Apple growers have good reason to be optimistic, with New Zealand named the world’s most competitive apple performer in the World Apple Report for the third consecutive year.

The good news comes as hundreds of apple growers and industry players descend on Napier for Pipfruit New Zealand’s annual two-day conference. (August 2nd)

Pipfruit New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard says the apple industry continues to grow and is a significant contributor to the Hawkes Bay and New Zealand economies with a goal to achieve $1bn in export returns by 2022.

“Although the outlook is bright we are focusing our conference this year on challenging and disrupting industry thinking about what the future may hold,” said Mr. Pollard.

“We must not get complacent. We need to continually keep improving and stay ahead of our competitors as the NZ apple industry is transforming into a billion-dollar export business.”

The World Apple Report, recently released, ranks New Zealand first over 33 major apple producing countries ahead of Chile and the US.

Mr Pollard said it is a great achievement to have a competitive edge over the rest of the world and to keep holding that position.

“The apple industry has doubled exports in the last four years so our provinces are prospering from this success. We are growing hundreds of full time jobs across the sector in all areas including production, post-harvest, logistics, marketing and exports.

“We expect to see over one million apple trees planted in New Zealand this year and nurseries have three-year back orders as growers work to meet a growing international demand for New Zealand apples.”

The Pipfruit New Zealand Conference starts on Wednesday 2nd August and will run for two days with some well-known names taking centre stage.

Sir Ray Avery will speak about disruptive thinking, Dr Andre de Barros Teixeira will discuss innovation, technology, R&D and marketing and Dame Diane Robertson will address the impact of big data on consumers and markets.

| A PipfruitNZ release  ||  August 1,  2017   |||