New MD for power resistor!

Cressall Resistors has appointed Simone Bruckner as managing director. Bruckner relocated from Italy earlier this year to join the company, bringing with him 15 years' experience working in the marine and oil and gas industries. The appointment follows a successful year for Cressall, having recently launched a new, on-site research and development (R&D) department.

Simone Bruckner 

After serving in the Italian Navy, Bruckner began working as a project engineer for Fincantieri, the largest Italian shipbuilding company. It was here that Bruckner developed the valuable design and production skills that would help him throughout the rest of his career.

Bruckner later landed a managerial role at Azimut-Benetti, where he used his technical and project management skills to help develop new yacht prototypes and onboard systems. For ten years, he worked in various roles at Azimut-Benetti, before being approached by heavy metal products manufacturer, Fusani for the role of general manager.

One of Bruckner's biggest achievements to date is successfully leading the merger of Fusani and SIEM, a company focused on the oil and gas market. Bruckner's role included gaining an understanding of the new products that were to be sold as a result of the merger and passing this knowledge on to other employees. Bruckner also trained Fusani employees on the structure of the merged company and how to interact with new customers. Bruckner prides himself on the fact that, six years on, SIEM Fusani is still going strong.

"Moving to Cressall is the right thing to do at this point in my career," explained Bruckner. "Over the years, I have gained valuable R&D and project management skills that I can use to help Cressall continue competing in the worldwide industrial market.

"As a former rowing coach, it's in my nature to provide as much training and encouragement as employees need, so they can be confident and flourish in their work. My experiences recruiting from different industries will help bring diverse perspectives into the company, allowing us to maintain fast product turnaround in line with the UK standard.

"I haven't had much time to row since moving to Leicester, but I'll be sure to get back on board. In fact, I've been told by my new colleagues that the River Soar is lovely in the summer!"

Testing, testing, one two...

Exciting business growth at Cressall, has allowed the firm to launch a new research and development (R&D) department. The expansion comes about after long-serving test engineer, Michal Nowotny was promoted to R&D engineer earlier this year.     

Nowotny's promotion now means that more time and manpower can be devoted to Cressall's R&D projects at the newly equipped headquarters. The company has seen the demand for bespoke products skyrocket in the last few years. To respond to this industry need, Cressall has invested in its research, design and test capabilities. 

Newly implemented data capture systems provide a more accurate level of recording test results. The facility boasts computerised 32 channel data logging equipment where test variables such as temperature, power and current can be recorded within the system. 

Cressall’s new test facility provides it with the means to carry out impulse tests of up to 400,000 Volts in order to truly prove designs and test prototypes. Testing facilities also include ingress protection proving, in which a resistor enclosure is tested to ensure that water cannot harmfully penetrate it. 

Cressall's equipment ensures that a product complies with the IEC 60529 standard prior to being submitted to a third party accredited ingress protection test facility, if this is a specific customer requirement.

"The new test facility and data logging equipment allows us to carry our more tests and to record results more accurately," explained Michal Nowotny, Cressall’s chief R&D engineer. "In turn, this enables us to make more accurate predictions when designing resistors. When carrying out impulse testing for instance, we can make performance forecasts for different specifications scaled against our previous findings and results.

"We've come a long way here at Cressall; from having no R&D department, to now looking to expand the facility further. Part of the proposed move is based on our testing facility strategy which includes testing of the EV2 water cooled resistor, in which a dedicated test cell would have to be constructed. This is something we’re very keen to get up and running." 

When test before you sell beats try before you buy!

The saying "try before you buy" must be as old as time itself. But at Cressall they pride themselves on being different, so they’ve created another saying: 100% test before you sell. In fact, they tell us that they believe all electrical manufacturers should apply this one!

Applying their 100 per cent test before you sell motto,  they have recently equipped their headquarters with an impulse test facility, which the carrying out of impulse tests of up to an impressive 400,000 

Their  impulse voltage unit is a 10kJ, four stage generator with up to 100kV per stage. In order to ensure the safety of  the testing team and other members of staff, they've created a purpose built test area. The area is fully secured, interlocked, boasts bright warning lights and an alarm sounder, all of which prevent unauthorised personnel from entering.

The equipment is used in conjunction with a four channel digital oscilloscope. Their oscilloscope has a sample rate of five Gs/s and a nine bit vertical resolution, which helps us produce and save the required wave shapes.

Much of the equipment we manufacture is for use in high voltage applications and safety critical systems. "Customers specify the fault voltage that our equipment must withstand, and - although we ensure all of the components we use meet and exceed these demands - in order to prove designs and test prototypes, we always 100% test and inspect our equipment in our fully equipped test bay. The impulse test facility helps us take that to another level in a totally separate and secure area.

"For instance, this week we are testing a standard high voltage mesh bank construction. We know it is suitable for 50kV per bank, but we've never had the opportunity to see if it could operate at higher voltages. The tests we've conducted so far indicate that the mesh would be suitable for at least 70kV per bank, so now we know without shadow of a doubt, this bank operating at 50kV is well within its limits. "

Knowing by exactly how much an application has been over-specified is very important; it enables them increase their competitiveness as a supplier of high voltage load banks or filter resistors.

"Having a high tech in-house testing facility is beneficial for the products we manufacture, but it also gives us an additional edge in our sector. We are now able to offer complete testing services to other equipment manufacturers. ‘100% test before you sell.’ "