Page 34 - Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories no. 2/2018

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GLASS FUTURES

GLASS TRAINING AND RESEARCH CENTRE COULD

CREATE HUNDREDS OF JOBS

Glass Futures aims to construction. It needs opportunity in two world’s biggest bottle
‘completely revolutionise a giant building up to a centres of excellence manufacturer Owens
the manufacture of glass’, quarter of a mile long, in the Northern Illinois.
develop new products Magna in Rotherham Powerhouse. Industry is set to put in
and help the industry cut was considered but “Glass Futures wants to up to GBP 20 million,
its carbon footprint by rejected because it attract, train and up-skill with discussions over
80%. It is also set to have ‘wasn’t big enough’. the best brains to develop a similar amount from
an apprentice training The hope is it will be this concept. The UK Government ‘looking
centre. undergoing testing by the has a great opportunity promising’.
The not-for-profit end of this year. to spearhead this, we Katz added: “The glass
company is likely to set Glass Futures is the want to be at the core of industry has furnaces
up on two sites, one in brainchild of industry economic growth.” that run 24 hours-a-day,
South Yorkshire and one body British Glass, based The scheme has the seven-days-a-week for
near the border. in Chapeltown, Sheffield. backing of Austrian up to 20 years. They
At the heart of the Richard Katz, founding glass firm Swarovski, UK cost millions to build
operation will be a director, said: “We will manufacturers Pilkington and enormous sums to
furnace making up to 30 bring together the best and Guardian Industries interrupt, and almost all
tonnes a day of special in global manufacture in Goole, engineering run on gas. It all stops
glass for uses such with the shining lights firm Siemens, Sheffield experimentation. We are
as medical implants, of academia to focus on Hallam and Leeds offering it the chance to
smartphones and hi-tech exploiting this amazing universities and the reinvent itself.”

PRETIOSA VITREA

MORE THAN 20,000 VISITORS

Pretiosa Vitrea, the exhibition dedicated to the evolution available on the Sehen Foundation website.
of glass manufacturing in history, concluded successfully The exhibition “Pretiosa Vitrea - The Art of Glass
at the National Archaeological Museum of Florence Manufacturing in The Museums and Private Collections
in Italy. Sponsored by Pneumofore, the project drew of Tuscany” was held from 17 October 2017 to 29
high levels of interest from both the academic world January 2018 at the National Archaeological Museum of
and general public, attracted by the quality and beauty Florence, Italy.
of the glass artefacts on display: over 300 unique glass The project aimed to emphasize the heritage of glass
findings manufactured by ancient Egyptians, Etruscans, manufacturing through the showcase of artefacts
Greeks and Romans. Among the notable visits, the nowadays preserved in the state museums of Tuscany
exhibition was honoured by the presence of the Queen and in important private collections within the region.
Mother Beatrix of the Netherlands accompanied by her The quality of these findings is comparable in excellence
entourage. Her Majesty showed great admiration for the to the artefacts that can be found in the most renowned
project and the showcased artefacts. international museums.
As a leading supplier of vacuum and compressed air The exhibition, whose title is inspired by the Latin
systems for the worldwide glass industry and strongly definition of glass given by Gaius Petronius in the
committed to cultural responsibility, Pneumofore Satyricon written in the late first century AD, brings
financially contributed to unveil this prestigious and together relevant archaeological findings of Roman glass
invaluable glass heritage. manufacturing in Tuscany, as the glass cameo from
Promoted by the Sehen Foundation in collaboration with Torrita di Siena or the chrysography of Arezzo.
the Archaeological Museum, the exhibition was held It also spotlights some extraordinary excavation contexts
under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Cultural which are significant for the amount and quality of the
Heritage and Activities and Tourism and it is described recovered artefacts, like the ancient ships of Pisa and the
in a content-rich catalogue. A full video report is also Pozzino wreck.

32 glass machinery plants & accessories 2/2018