Mission Resources has announced the appointment of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) to support the market-readiness of the HERU.
Hailed by the BBC as potentially ‘The Next Dyson’, the HERU takes everyday items, which would have been destined for disposal, such as coffee cups, plastics and nappies, and converts them into energy to heat water for the occupants of the home or commercial building.
The MTC was established in 2010 as an independent Research & Technology Organisation with the objective of bridging the gap between academia and industry. It is said to represent one of the largest public sector investments in UK manufacturing, and now has over 500 employees working with the organisation.
The decision to bring on board these partners, comes at a time when the HERU is about to launch three machines for technical evaluation in real-world settings. During this evaluation period, the MTC will be working with the HERU engineering team to prepare it for the mass-market.
The MTC will be analysing and working on solutions to ensure the design and build of the HERU remains a viable investment for any business or homeowner. They will be key in the lifetime modelling analysis and related bill of materials required to produce the first 100 HERUs, ensuring the machines are cost-effective.
Commenting on the partnership, Nik Spencer, Creator of the HERU, said: “The MTC bring with them a broad depth of engineering skills from across multiple engineering disciplines and market sectors. This experience and credibility will be invaluable as we scale up, ultimately bringing the HERU to a mass market.”
Dean Baker, Director of the MTC Business Launch Centre, added: “We are thrilled to be supporting Mission Resources to develop and build the next generation HERU machines. Utilising our recently opened Product Incubation Centre, we can create a collaborative environment to bring together product designers, engineers, digital modelling and prototyping facilities to make the next market seeding HERU units for evaluation. Nik and his team have developed a revolutionary machine which will have a tremendous impact on our environment and with the support of MTC together we can succeed in bringing it to full market readiness.”
