Tag: Selex Es

Selex chief becomes apprentice for a day

Selex ES Chairman Allan Cook CBE rolled up his sleeves and worked alongside a number of Selex ES apprentices including the company’s current and former apprentices of the year yesterday. 

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Allan (pictured above) started his career as an apprentice and is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. As Chairman of Semta, the UK’s Sector Skills Council for the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors, Allan is a passionate advocate of apprenticeships and believes that they add tremendous value to industry. Allan was joined by Alastair Morrison, Senior Vice President Radar and Advanced Targeting, who  also returned to the shop floor to experience life as an apprentice first hand.

“It’s always a pleasure to spend time with our apprentices, the dedication and focus they exhibit gives me great confidence in the future of the skilled trades in Scotland and the wider UK”, he said. “As a technology leader, Selex ES benefits strongly from the fresh talent brought into the company by our highly-rated apprenticeship schemes.”

The activity was the culmination of Selex ES’s participation in Scottish Apprenticeship Week, which saw current Selex ES apprentice Callum Anderson send out live tweets from internal and external events associated with the week-long celebration of apprenticeships’ contribution to industry, including a special event at Scottish Parliament.

Selex forges new link with Heriot-Watt

Finmeccanica company Selex ES (formerly Ferranti) is joining forces with Heriot Watt University to fund and create the “Selex ES Professorial Chair in Laser Devices and Engineering” at the university’s School of Engineering. Dr Daniel Esser will take up the position in May and will lead a research group to develop innovative new laser technology.

Selex ES, at its site on Crewe Toll, is at the forefront of laser design and production with customers all over the world including in the US. One of the reasons the company produces such advanced laser products is due to its world-class laser research programme and this in turn is boosted by Selex ES’s links with leading academic institutions.

“A close partnership with a first-class university such as Heriot-Watt is vital to access emerging technology for future product development and to further strengthen our position as an innovative technology supplier” said Selex ES’s Chief Technologist for Electro-Optics Professor Robert Lamb. Results from the research on future innovative emerging laser technology will support the company’s laser designation business.

The chair builds on Selex ES’s significant work with academic institutions aimed at inspiring the next generation of engineering talent. This is the second chair sponsored by Selex ES, the first being the Selex ES/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Signal Processing at Edinburgh University. The company also plays a strong role in initiatives such as the annual Edinburgh International Science Festival and Big Bang Fair and regularly hosts schools for its “Rampaging Chariots” robot building competitions. The schemes are well regarded and successful – many of the company’s laser and signal processing engineers graduated at Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh universities.

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Selex to celebrate 25 year collaboration with Edinburgh Science Festival

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Selex ES, a Finmeccanica Company, will celebrate 25 years of collaboration with the Edinburgh International Science Festival (EISF) next month – and the Crewe Toll-based company will once again provide stimulating activities to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, engineering and technology.

On April 3, John Innes, Head of Business Innovation for Selex ES, will be participating in a panel discussion at EISF which will explore potential applications of bioengineering in a range of settings from the medical to the industrial and scientific.

Selex ES will also be offering children the chance to build their own robot in a workshop, then race their creation round an obstacle course at their Rampaging Chariots Display at the City Arts Centre. This year the theme of the children’s robot design competition will chime with that of the panel discussion, as children will be asked to look at the biological sensors present in the animal kingdom and then apply these sensors to the design of their robots to improve their capability.

Alastair Morrison, SVP, Radar and Advanced Targeting said: “Selex ES is delighted to support the Science Festival and generate an interest in engineering through our Rampaging Chariots competition.”

Dr Simon Gage, Director of the Edinburgh International Science Festival, said “Selex ES have been an invaluable supporter of the Science Festival for all 25 years of our existence and their involvement this year spans both the family and the adult programme, offering intellectual stimulation and challenges for all ages.”

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