Senior engineering consultant takes Grand Prix prize at 2013 BEEAs

Winner of both the Design Engineer of the Year category and the overall Grand Prix, French-born Sebastien Cuvelier Mussalian has worked in the UK since graduating in 2002. He has shown a strong track record of developing complex products and of leading multi-disciplinary teams. Latterly, he was lead engineer for the OrganOx liver perfusion system – winner of the Design Team of the Year Award at last year's BEEAs – and takes the time to work with schoolchildren to highlight engineering and in student groups in the 'Engineers Without Borders' scheme. Sebastien was selected to receive the Grand Prix unanimously by the Judges – the first time this has happened in BEEAs history. Chairman of the Judges, Eric Wilkinson, said: "The standard of entries to the BEEAs continues to improve. Through every category, the judges have been deeply impressed by the quality of engineering put forward and the talent behind it. From large companies to small, all the entries have found that the deployment of engineering excellence, backed up by hard work and imagination, has enabled them to compete on the world stage. "As we emerge from what has been a tough few years for the economy, all of our entrants have the right groundwork in place to kick on and take advantage of an ever more dynamic world market. My personal congratulations go to all those entrants that were short-listed and of course to the eventual winners." BRITISH ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2013 WINNERS CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Eureka magazine) Bytesnap ByteSnap Design took the honours in the Consultancy of the Year category thanks to the way it maintains a competitive position in its market through training, development and recruitment. The company was formed in 2008 with the ambition of being the best embedded hardware and software consultancy in the UK. From modest beginnings, the company now has around 50 active clients. Turnover has risen significantly, as has its profit. SMALL COMPANY OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by D Young & Co LLP) Oxford Digital Great technology that works well, is easy to use and meets customers' needs is the simple philosophy that led to Oxford Digital being awarded Small Company of the Year. Although the company started as a consultancy without any IP, it has reinvested revenue to develop technologies that it now licences, including TinyCore: an audio DSP core and tool chain which has unique advantages in time-to-market, reduced maintenance costs, small silicon footprint and efficiency. START UP OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Cambridge Consultants) Versarien Versarien is focused on bringing to market advanced materials that are capable of having a game changing impact on a variety of industries. Based in Cinderford, Gloucestershire, it boasts a rapidly growing workforce and has secured contracts with several blue-chip multinationals. By taking inspiration from nature, the company has been able to bring an innovative, high performance thermal interface material to market. DESIGN TEAM OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Anglia) Zytronic An ambitious project that overcame the obstacles of developing a large format, ruggedised, touchscreen interface won Zytronic the Design Team of the Year award. Through this ambitious design project, the company looked to bring a multi-touch sensor solution to market that had a true fully scalable sensor solution combined with a robust construction that could be applied to displays with much larger sizes than had previously been possible. The Judges also awarded Highly Commended in this category to Land Instruments International. GREEN PRODUCT OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by National Instruments) Nampak Plastics The environment played a significant role in a number of entries this year. Napak Plastics was awarded Green Product of the Year thanks to its work on cutting the amount of plastic needed for milk bottles and increasing their recycled content. Through a focused engineering approach, the company was able to reduce the weight of the four pint Infini bottle by 20% to 32g, cutting the amount of resin used by 10,000 tonnes. MATERIALS APPLICATION OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Engineering Materials magazine) Sensor Coating Systems Sensor Coating Systems was set up in 2012 as a spin off from research undertaken at Imperial College. Its technology, based on oxide ceramics, enables accurate temperature detection, corrosion and erosion monitoring and life time predictions on industrial components. The Judges also awarded Highly Commended in this category to Versarien. ELECTRONIC PRODUCT OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Digi-Key) FTDI Chip, FT800 An integrated solution which reduces the complexity and eases development of intelligent display systems saw FTDI Chip take the honours in the Product of the Year (Electronic) category for its FT800 device. The chip has an integral four wire touch controller and a single channel audio controller, which supports high quality sound. Applying the device enables a less complex design approach. MECHANICAL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by igus (UK)) Fugro Seacore When it came to New Product of the Year (Mechanical), the vast scale of the winning Fugro Seacore WaveWalker project was the first thing to impress the Judges. WaveWalker is a 'Walking' jackup barge (self-elevating work platform – SEWP). The target market is any marine work operation which requires deployment of an SEWP, where operation with traditional SEWPs is uneconomic due to prevailing local swell and/or weather conditions. YOUNG DESIGNER OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by RS Components) Jack Bolton The Judges faced a hard task in identifying the Young Design Engineer of the Year, where five strong entries ensured a long discussion. But Jack Bolton of Selex ES won the day. Jack's entry showed a willingness to acquire new skills – often by teaching himself. He is engaged with the engineering community and constantly pushes and promotes engineering inside and outside his job. He is a member of the Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society and is president of its younger branch, Future Engineers and Scientists. He is, as the Judges agreed, an outstanding entrant in the most fiercely competitive category. The Judges also awarded Highly Commended in this category to Rosie Linehan and Adam Malpass. DESIGN ENGINEER OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Mouser Electronics) Sebastien Cuvelier Mussalian For more than five years, Sebastien Cuvelier Mussalian has worked at Team Consulting as a senior engineering consultant. During this time, he has developed an international reputation for the design, development and industrialisation of innovative, robust and capable medical devices. A strong project and technical leader, he challenges and encourages his peers and team members to improve themselves. Sebastien has also worked on a variety of community projects with school children and young engineers; not only to inspire them to become engineers and scientists, but also to give them the skills to think through challenges.