Strathclyde student first winner of international student award

A PhD student at the University of Strathclyde is the inaugural winner of an international student award in industrial heating.

Lewis Print has been named as the recipient of the new Kanthal® Student Award, presented by industrial heating technology company Kanthal. The award has been made for his work on the development of new technology for the production of silicon carbide (SiC) heating elements used in high temperature industrial processes operating in the range 1100 oC-1600oC, such as heat treatment and melting of metals, float and display glass production and manufacture of electronics components.

The global centre of excellence for development and production of Kanthal® Globar SiC heating elements is located in Perth, Scotland, and employs over 100 people from a wide range of disciplines including chemical, mechanical and electrical engineering, chemistry, and physics.

The process he devised was found to be more sustainable, more efficient and easier to use than existing technology.

Lewis was commended by the award jury for producing “an innovative solution, combining new insights with a change in the existing bonding process and thereby improving safety and efficiency to an industrial problem in the field of electric heating.” He received his award at a ceremony in Stockholm.

Lewis said: “I spent a lot of time researching a new production system for silicon carbide heating elements. I was very fortunate that I found material which helped me to develop this technology”.

“The award judges found that it had the potential to optimise current technology in every criterion in the way it ‘glued’ the hot and cold zones of an element together.”

The award jury stated: “One of the challenges when producing silicon carbide heating elements is the bonding of the cold and hot zones. By introducing an alternative resin system and modifying the bonding process, Lewis has developed a new technology that provides higher strength of the bonds and replaces the existing chemicals with a safe, reliable and repeatable bonding process.

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The Kanthal® Award is a competition that celebrates innovations related to new solutions in sustainability, quality of Life and the field of Energy Efficiency. The new Kanthal® Student Award, won by Lewis, is open to postgraduate students globally.