Plessey Semiconductors have grabbed the Grand Prix prize at the 2017 British Engineering Excellence Awards in London.
Plessey develops high power ‘GaN-on-Si’ LEDs. By using gallium nitride with silicon instead of sapphire the company claims their lights can provide 30% more light, have better thermal performance and cost half of rival devices.
Choosing the Grand Prix winner is always tough and sometimes creates heated debate amongst the Judges.
This year the Judges felt that designing a better LED is the latter-day equivalent of designing the better mouse trap. While LEDs can save energy, they bring design challenges. By developing a Gallium Nitride-on-silicon process, Plessey is now showing the way forward and deserves special recognition as a shining example of British Engineering Excellence.Eric Wilkinson, chairman of the judges and CEO of Cambridge Consultants
Other winners included Diamond Hard Surfaces who nabbed small company of the year and Open Bionics, a robotic prosthetics firm, which claimed start-up of the year. Aeristech’s sCharger (an electrically driven supercharger) grabbed The New Product of the Year.
The full list of winners can be seen via www.beeas.co.uk
