Web Page sponsor Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
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31 Dec 13. Oxley Developments is making its biggest investment in apprentices for 15 years, and has plans for a further intake in 2014.
The company is recruiting new apprentices as part of strategic plans to avoid the loss of specialist skills as some of its longest serving employees approach retirement, and to enable expansion as they continue to service global customers in the aerospace and defence sectors.
Oxley currently has 6 apprentices in their first year of development and a further 3 in the second year of their apprenticeship, with plans to recruit more during 2014. The areas in which they are working include engineering, process control, project management and business administration, and they range in age from school leavers to more mature entrants.
Joanna Harvey, aged 23, is currently a business administration apprentice working in the Components team at Barrow and undertaking training on a day release basis. Joanna had studied hairdressing at college but was keen to get more transferrable qualifications, and that led her to apply for the role at Oxley.
Jeff Hayward is 22 and was already employed at Oxley when he applied for an apprenticeship to obtain more formal qualifications and advance his career in electronics with the company. He is doing a 2 year course in Electrical Engineering, spending four days a week in the business and one day in college with Gen 2 training.
Jeff said, “The combination of college work and on-the-job experience is working really well for me because the college work gives me an insight into the theory and that helps with the practical work I’m doing in my role as a Technician.”
In contrast Will Mallinson was just 18 when he joined the company and is now in the second year of his apprenticeship specialising in prototyping at the Oxley facility in Ulverston.
Oxley Group CEO Martin Blakstad said the investment in apprentices demonstrated the company’s commitment to a strong future in key global markets.
He explained: “We have an extraordinary range of skills within the company which, combined with a huge wealth of experience, enables Oxley to offer concept, design, manufacturing and testing to the very highest levels required to develop and supply products to demanding aerospace and military markets.
“Apprenticeships, along with on-going training and development of existing staff are vital for enhancing our capabilities. This investment, alongside the significant spend we have made in a new state of the art production facility this year will mean Oxley is well placed to move forward in delivering world class products to our customer base.”
05 Dec 13. Raytheon UK pursues GroundEye tactical C-IED capability
. Raytheon’s GroundEye tactical display processor, shown on the iPhone at the bottom left of this image of the Soteria mine clearance tools. Source: Raytheon UK Raytheon UK is preparing to unveil what it believes to be the “world’s first” handheld tactical improvised explosive device (IED) confirm/diagnose system for dismounted soldiers and small- to medium-sized unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The system, known as GroundEye, spins off existing image processing technologies used in the company’s recently de-classified Soteria vehicle-mounted Stand-Off IED detection system. Andy Mitchell, Raytheon UK’s lead systems engineer for counter-IED (C-IED) systems, told IHS Jane’s “subsequent to the detection of an IED – or false alarm – using current conventional detection methods, no technology exists that allows the dismounted EOD [explosive ordnance disposal] engineer or remote C-IED robot operator to ‘see’ under the surface and determine the positions, orientation, size, and shape of all emplaced IEDs and IED components.” Citing commercial sensitivity, Raytheon UK is reluctant at this stage to disclose the exact specifications, but the system