Stamp-sized 5kW servodrive wins innovation award

Published: 04 May, 2018

The Israeli manufacturer Elmo Motion Control has won the technical innovation of the year award in the 2018 Motion Control Industry Awards (MCIA), for its tiny Gold Twitter servodrive, which packs 5kW of “qualitative” power into a footprint the size of a stamp. Elmo, which set up a UK operation last year, was one of ten contenders for the award, which was announced at a ceremony at the National Conference Centre in the same week that the Drives & Controls Show was held at the nearby NEC. Elmo has recently announced a 10kW version of the Gold Twitter that weighs 33 grams.

The awards, now in their third year, attracted 37 finalists and an audience of around 250. They were hosted by the broadcaster and journalist, Helen Fospero.

The manufacturer of the year award went to ABB, while the distributor of the year was Thorite. Physik Instrumente (PI) won the project of the year award for a high-temperature uniaxial creep apparatus which the University of Oxford is using to investigate the mechanisms behind rock deformation.

An MCI Award for engineer of the year went to Mitch Randall of KEB UK.

Winning combination (from left): MCIA host, Helen Fospero; Elmo UK managing director, Gary Busby; Elmo application engineer, Craig Gaukroger; and Gambica chief executive, Steve Brambley, who presented the award.

An award for contribution to skills and training went to the non-profit Primary Engineer organisation which provides engineering classes for more than 2,200 primary school teachers every year.

Full details of all the winners and finalists can be found on the MCI Awards Web site. Entries for the 2019 awards will open in September.