Construction BUSINESS

Innovative water-speed pioneers Thrust WSH will join the line-up of exhibitors at the forthcoming Scotland Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition.at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC).

Taking place on October 23rd & 24th, the conference and expo is set to be the biggest gathering of its kind in Scotland including a wide range of speakers and exhibitors from across the sector to highlight the key trends and challenges facing the Scottish industry.

Thrust WSH, a developer in high-performance marine technology, is now conducting preliminary research on one of the most challenging, and elusive performance achievements in history aiming to break the 45-year-old world water speed record (WSR).

Thrust WSH’s ambition to break the current water speed record of 317.596mph, set by Australian Ken Warby in 1978, is driven by a passion for pioneering innovation and extreme performance.

The appearance means that attendees at the manufacturing and supply chain conference will see how The Thrust team successfully set multiple land speed records—including the 633.468mph World Land Speed Record with Thrust2 and in 1997 the 763.032mph/Mach 1.02 World Supersonic record with the 110,000 THP ThrustSSC—the first and only holder of the supersonic land speed record.

The challenge of breaking the WSR presents a very different and extraordinary engineering challenge. 

Inspired by 1952 challenger John Cobb and designer Reid Railton, developing the Crusader challenger on Loch Ness in 2020 the Thrust WSH team began exploring the possibilities of setting a new water speed record in 2020. The research involved four universities and the most advanced high-performance marine laboratory in Europe.

The WSR is a notably hazardous challenge, and the Thrust plan is to mitigate risk with advanced technology, which matches the vision of the organisers of the Scotland Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference to showcase cutting-edge advanced technology available – and where there is a technology deficiency, creating and developing new applications to enable the project to advance.

At an early stage, it was realised that the development of the traditional surface skimming hydroplane was becoming excessively dangerous and there was a need for entirely new technology to control the challenger and reduce risk traditional hydrofoil technology, known since 1918 appears to have reached a limit at 60 or 70kts when the flow over the upper surface of the foil boils or cavitates and all lift is lost.  The Thrust team believes that supercavitation hydrofoils may allow very high speeds.

Richard Noble OBE, Thrust WSH

Following a successful run with the Belfast and Dublin shows earlier this year, Colin Murphy, Managing Director of Premier Publishing & Events, said: “The conference promises a dynamic program with free workshops, keynote speakers, and a diverse array of exhibitors showcasing the latest technological solutions and business services.

“The inclusion of Thrust WSR and its cutting edge programme emphasises that this a golden opportunity for anyone involved in the manufacturing industry to gain valuable insights, make meaningful connections, and discover cutting edge advancements that are shaping the future.”

The Scotland Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition is sponsored by Scottish Engineering, the industry membership and representative body for manufacturing and engineering, and will cover various themes including 3D Printing, Digital Manufacturing, Lean & Continuous Improvement, Robotics & Automation, Research & Development, Precision Engineering, Sustainability, Procurement, Exports and much more. 

A line-up of manufacturing leaders, academics and government agencies will deliver a blend of keynote addresses and debates.

The conference & exhibition will act as a national platform, bringing together key stakeholders from across the entire manufacturing landscape. 

Business owners and professionals from sectors such as food and drink, energy, renewables, electronics, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, medtech, healthcare, construction, textiles, procurement, high-tech manufacturing, and precision engineering will have the opportunity to benefit from the event’s wide-ranging networking opportunities.

Speaking on the variation that will be brought together under one roof, Colin Murphy said: “We are delighted to be in Glasgow for the 3rd Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition. The event will be held over two days for the first time due to the overwhelming support from the manufacturing community in Scotland and the north of England.  

“The speaker and exhibitor lineup is the most exciting we have created since the event launched three years ago. I would like to thank Scottish Engineering in particular for their continued support in developing this event into a world-class experience.”

ENDS

Registration for the 2024 Scotland Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition on October 23 and 24 at SEC, Glasgow is free. Tickets are available from manufacturingexposcotland.com/registers

Notes for Editors:

The Thrust WSH team has been leading two years of high-performance computing for the hydro and aero challenges suggesting that this might be possible. 

Just like the supersonic ThrustSSC programme of 1997 the way forward appears to be the coupling of high-performance computing with advanced physical modelling.

To this end, the team plans to run the latest C3.2B 225mph autonomous model on a Scottish loch in winter when it is cold, but the tourists and fishers are seldom active 

The Thrust WSH is planned primarily as a safe project and to achieve this, each stage of the project commences with a thorough risk analysis to mitigate hazards. While this might seem as excessively bureaucratic -it is already generating major benefits and is very welcome.

It is important to understand that the C3.2B  25% autonomous model represents a world-first advance -and of course, there are the traditional risks attached to such testing. A good result on the loch means that the team can progress to the structural design and build of the full-scale C6 challenger. Of course, this is never expected to be easy, but the 30-person Thrust team is cautiously positive.

In the past land or water speed records were heroic devices to benefit the driver who took the physical risks. During the team’s 2008-2018 Bloodhound project, they were invited by the MOD to establish a parallel STEM education programme to encourage schools and students’ interest in STEM subjects using all the project designs and data as a live education programme.

The success of this arrangement was outstanding for by 2017 the programme was engaging with over 120,000 students and schoolkids a year. Unfortunately, the Bloodhound SSC programme was lost when the UK government failed to pay a ministerial grant offer.

The project plans to establish a follow-up education programme which could help the manufacturing industry with current recruiting difficulties.