Engineers make ingenuity count on a national scale

Last updated 11:22, Tuesday, 25 March 2008

Big result for the little guys: React Engineer Matt Mellor and director Trevor Craig

THE international profile and fortunes of REACT Engineering could be boosted thanks to a new innovative technique. REACT Engineering was recently honoured at the Institution of Engineering and Technology Awards for their work developing a radiation measurement tool.

The new system, designed by 29-year-old REACT engineer Matt Mellor, employs the same 3D techniques used by medical imaging scanners to not only indicate the amount of radiation in the air but also pinpoint its source on decommissioning projects.

The Whitehaven engineering firm were runner-ups at the prestigious national awards, held in London, which saw them competing with companies such as BT for the Control, Instrumentation and Robotics Award.

Trevor Craig, REACT Director, said: “Being short-listed for one of the highly prestigious IET Innovation Awards has been a major landmark for REACT. More widely, this demonstrates that small West Cumbrian companies can innovate and compete on a national scale.”

The uniqueness of the system means REACT Engineering has filed an international patent for its new technology. It is currently being used on the Sellafield site and REACT is aiming to train more engineers to meet potential demand and expand the service to other sites in the UK.

Matt explained: “This is a big achievement for a small company like REACT and we are very proud of the work we do here. It was very rewarding to be honoured at the awards alongside huge companies like BT at the awards. It has huge potential for the nuclear industry. We are providing companies with an excellent service which improves safety for those working on decommissioning projects and reduces costs.’’

Matt, who has previously worked with medical imaging scanners, said the idea for the model “just popped into his head.’’ In the future, Matt will be working with Lancaster University on refining the model to increase its efficiency and to develop it to work on contaminated land.