Transforming Manufacturing, Transforming Lives

For the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, harnessing the latest technologies and making best use of new materials isn’t just good news for companies with major production lines. It can also transform lives. That was certainly the case for aspiring Paralympic alpine ski racer Scott Hiller who worked alongside HVM Catapult technologists to develop his new sit ski.

The project was completed as a collaboratively delivered technology demonstrator of low cost sensors and analytics, advanced composites, additive manufacturing and advanced design tools, showing that the HVM Catapult’s collective capability can improve performance in a niche area, which is new to the organisation.

Earlier this year, Scott’s new sit ski zoomed past a major milestone to complete its first alpine testing in one of the world’s most demanding ski resorts, Chamonix in France.

How HVM Catapult helped Sit Ski

The ultimate goal of the project is to encourage innovators in manufacturing to embrace the possibilities of our technology capabilities and realise that we can make the unthinkable happen.

The successful testing of the sit ski shows the power of these high value manufacturing technologies to companies who adopt them. As Gary Capewell, Supply Chain Designer, Rolls-Royce commented:

“The digital measurement technology used in Sit Ski proved vital to help validate an improved supply chain. This mitigated a large equipment spend for us, with the ability to go five per cent higher on customer delivery, creating supply chain duality”

The success of this project has also been recognised by the Engineer magazine, with the Sit Ski team winning the Manufacturing Technology category in the Collaborate to Innovate Awards. Up against the likes of Gordon Murray Design, Bentley Motors, Rolls-Royce and Laing O’Rourke, this major achievement demonstrates that the HVM Catapult is at the cutting-edge of driving improvements through the deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies.

The five centres involved in this HVM Catapult cross-centre project were the National Composites Centre, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, WMG and the Centre for Process Innovation.

Watch the making of the Sit Ski