9:45am Wednesday 28th November 2007
By Leigh Robinson
Halcrow of Swindon has won an award for innovation at the The Institution of Engineering and Technology annual Innovation in Engineering Awards.
The company scooped the sustainability award for Wave Hub innovation which is is an offshore electrical grid connection point into which wave energy converter devices can be connected.
These devices are electric power generators, similar to wind turbines except that they use wave motion, to generate electricity from wave or tidal motion.
Though in their infancy, the future contribution of these generators to the UK's power needs is expected to be considerable, even surpassing that of wind power.
The Wave Hub allows a number of different designs to be developed, tested and connected to the onshore grid via a sub-marine cable and the technology will allow developers and regulators to understand the key issues affecting the future development of wave power. A total of 15 awards, each sponsored by a major company, were presented and at a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London hosted by TV personality and science enthusiast Johnny Ball. Robin McGill, CEO of the IET said: "These awards recognise the vital role that innovation in engineering plays in the global economy. On behalf of the IET I would like to congratulate all the winners who have displayed outstanding innovation in their respective categories."
A second award went to another Swindon company for technology that strengthens the signal of your mobile phone in the home.
Swindon based company, Ubiquisys, won the telecom award for developing femtocell technology to improve the signal strength of a mobile phone in the home.
Boss Will Franks began development of the femtocell after only being able to pick up a mobile phone signal in his kitchen.
Ubiquisys has developed a domestic cellular base station using home broadband connection to pass both signalling and call traffic between a locally connected standard mobile phone and the operator's network. This results in a user being about to pick up mobile phone coverage anywhere around the house and receive cheap calls, data and mobile broadband.
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