About
Awarded the highest grade of "Outstanding" by the KTP Grading Panel for its achievement in meeting KTP's Objectives.
Phoenix Instinct designs, develops and sells innovative mobility equipment giving greater independence for wheelchair users. Phoenix Instinct wheelchair luggage is the only wheelchair compatible luggage in the World offering travel independence to thousands of wheelchair users Worldwide. Now the company is developing the first ever ultra light smart wheelchair from its HQ in Scotland.
KTP aim
To embed advanced composite structures finite element design capability within the business, underpinning the design and development of a new range of SMART Ultralight wheelchair.
“There is simply not a better way to bring and manage new skills into your business than the KTP programme. The programme avoids the potential situation of bringing a new employee into a business where the company don't have the required specialist knowledge to manage them.” - Andrew Slorance, Founder and CEO
KTP Associate
- Jakub Rycerz
- PhD Advanced Composites
- Jakub Rycerz LinkedIn
Read more on Jakub’s experience as a KTP Associate.
Outcome of the KTP
- Risk mitigation for research and development resulting in innovative new products
Growth of in house skills resulting in less use of contractors and greater control of design and development.
Substantial cost savings made over out sourcing that would previously have been the only option
Ultimately the company will deliver ground breaking mobility products that other companies would never develop
Notable achievements
- Associate retained by company as employee
- Project won the Toyota Mobility Foundation’s Mobility Unlimited Challenge $1,000,000 prize for their Ultra-lightweight Intelligent Wheelchair
- Developed highly complex composite FEA models which accurately represent the load paths and enable ply tailoring/ply drops to minimise the mass of the structure
- Develop an optimised design ensuring design specification, market demands and financial constraints are fulfilled
Develop a weight critical structure utilising advanced composite materials and advanced nano-materials which will allow the integration of an articulating mechanism to balance centre of gravity (CG) - Determined the most appropriate manufacturing solution balancing clearly defined acceptable costs, structural performance and volume