Manus award
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The concept behind the Manus Awardis to promote new and original ways of using plastic bearings and to promote awareness of the benefits to a wider audience of potential users. Manus aims to reward the most challenging and innovative applications. The contest was launched in 2003 as part of a joint German initiative between the Institute for Composite Materials GmbH (IVW), the University of Kaiserslautern, the magazine "Industrial Indicator" and the company igus GmbH. At the end of 2004, the USA followed suit, launching a full-scale Manus competition in 2003 and then a smaller version, dubbed “Mini Manus” in 2006. The UK and Republic of Ireland held the competition for the first time in 2004 and then again in 2006, seeing entries increase by 50 percent. The contest has also run in Austria, Switzerland, China, Brazil and Italy.
[edit] The Rules:
To enter, participants must submit:
- a short description of how they are using plastic bearings;
- what type of bearing they are using;
- pictures or a technical drawing of the application; and
- what benefits, such as technical advancements, cost savings, or increased life span, resulted from using plastic bearings.
Any organization optimizing any brand of plastic bearing in new or existing applications is eligible to enter. Bearings must be all plastic or plastic compound and plastic-coated bearings are not considered.
[edit] The Winners:
Manus recognizes the most outstanding entries with either a bronze, silver or gold trophy and cash prizes up to $5,000 (£2,500).
Forty-five entries were submitted into the full-scale Manus contest in the U.S.A. Some of the applications included a wheelchair ramp, a water-park attraction and a ski apparatus for paraplegic cross-country skiers. The winners were recognized for the following applications:
Bronze: Nova Biomedicalfor using plastic bearings on its cutting-edge immuno-assay biotechnical instrument.
Silver: Harriston Industriesfor using plastic bearings on the pick-arm of an automatic potato planter.
Gold: Six Flags Theme Parkfor its use of plastic bearings on the “X” rollercoaster: the world’s first four-dimensional rollercoaster.
The 2006 UK and Republic of Ireland contest also saw winning applications from a wide range of industries. The prize winners comprised:
Bronze: Renold Chainfor its use of a polymer plain bearing sleeve in its range of transmission chains.
Silver: Blatchford Productsfor its energy and torque managing device for lower limb prosthesis.
Gold: Karbon Kineticsfor the company's bicycle shock absorber design, which combined low-friction bearings, end bearings and a sliding shaft into one part using a plastic bearing sleeve.
