bigHead Bonding Fasteners Ltd provides sponsorship and supplier partnerships for several college and university level competitions and projects for engineering design. The design and manufacture of the composite components and provision for their efficient assembly are often closely comparable to those real world applications that bigHead encounter on a daily basis.
bigHead says it’s prominent role for discreet fastening in automotive manufacturing and other industries, and its shared work with research programmes such as the KTP funded project with Cranfield University’s Composites Centre makes it an ideal partner to help students; not just with products but with full technical support. According to bigHead this support is very much in line with its philosophy to work closely with designers from their first ideas and concepts in shared engineer-to-engineer processes.
Projects include the Formula Student and Formula SAE competitions where teams are challenged to build and race a single-seat formula car. Another interesting area is solar powered vehicles - The Punch Powertrain Solar Team from Belgium and the KJ Somaiya College of Engineering in Mumbai are both working towards innovative weight saving strategies. A challenge to build and race a one-man human powered submarine at the 2016 European International Submarine Race competition in England involved a high degree of composite materials construction which bigHead says was helped with its bonding fasteners.
bigHead works closely with composite components manufacturers in automotive, construction, marine, rail and many other industries where carbon fibre, plastics and other formed or moulded structures and components require invisible fixing and where secondary operations such as drilling are to be avoided. bigHeads are available for small to large scale production as male studs, female collars and nuts, or pins and other fixings in a choice of BZP mild steel or 316 stainless steel.
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
