A COLWALL man is one of ten new inventors across the country who have been shortlisted for a prestigious accolade and the chance to win £50,000.
Mark Singleton was nominated for The Inventor Prize following a nationwide search to find inventors whose ideas could transform the lives of people.
The Inventor Prize was launched in August last year to harness Britain’s inventive spirit and all shortlisted entries have received £5,000 to develop their idea from Nesta, the innovation foundation.
The overall winner, who will be announced in September, will receive £50,000 to help get their product to the market.
Mr Singleton (pictured) has been put up for the award for inventing Spacelink, a green building material which can be mass-produced and is a new way of joining fibreglass with tubes without the need for metal or adhesives.
It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 80 per cent, does not rust or conduct electricity and can be disassembled quickly for easy handling.
Spacelink won the Travis Perkins Innovation Award in 2016.
“With my architectural training, I’m interested in new and better ways of building,” said Mr Singleton.
“In 2012, we built the Startlink house out of pultruded fibreglass.
“Three storeys high, it was built without concrete or steel on innovative fibreglass pile foundations.
“Spacelink takes this a lot further and costs less.
“From lightweight bridges, to temporary structures, railway infrastructure, off-shore and marine applications and a lot else, it opens new doors.
“That’s quite exciting.”
