RYSE 3D beat off competition from some of the region’s best businesses to win the ‘Engineering Innovator of the Year’ title at the Technology Supply Chain Awards in Birmingham, with its founder also taking the ‘Young Innovator’ Award.
28-year-old Mitchell Barnes has taken the Shipston-on-Stour firm from a start-up in his mum’s garage to a near £5m manufacturer, supplying components destined for 23 Hypercar projects and providing components destined for HVAC units, brake ducts and wing mirror vision systems.
Judges praised him for the way it has created 24 jobs and built extremely strong export revenues in a short space of time, with customers in the US and the Middle East.
RYSE 3D’s introduction of its own large format 3D printer was also highlighted, especially the way it has been designed, built and assembled in the UK.
“We are all about innovation…innovation in our products, innovation in our processes and innovation in how we tackle the 3D additive manufacturing world,” commented Mitchell Barnes, who shared the award with his mother Corina, who has recently beaten cancer and was there on the evening to celebrate.
“That is why this Technology Supply Chain Awards mean so much. It’s all about the way we are changing the engineering world for the better – whether that is providing hypercar projects with lighter parts, the aviation sector with more flexible security options or through the introduction of LANDR.”
He continued: “These high-powered 3D printers are now being used in our own production facility, as well as giving SMEs, tech disruptors and entrepreneurs access to this cutting technology at a price point that makes it affordable.
“Nearly £200,000 of orders are already in the pipeline and there’s no doubt this latest title will help generate further interest in what we are trying to do.”
Mitchell, which is joined in the business by his brother Cameron, tasked engineers at RYSE 3D with the task of creating a large format FDM printer as current models on the market were outside the company’s financial reach.
Twelve months later and LANDR was born. It is ten times less to buy than its nearest competitor, three times lighter and easier to fit into shop floor operations.
The printer offers an expansive 500x500x500mm build volume that gives users the scope to build larger and more complex parts and can be applied to rapid prototyping and volume production for end-use in automotive, aerospace, healthcare and consumer sectors.
Mitchell concluded: “2024 has been some year, with the King’s Award for Innovation, the Rising Star accolade and now the ‘Engineering Innovator’ and ‘Young Innovator’ titles to add to the collection.
“It proves we’re doing something right and we’re going to continue to be bold and brave in the way we support our growing client base and how we are looking to develop a real technology hub in the UK.”
