This week we attended Bridge of Don Academy careers / parents evening. Rubberatkins had a stall in the event and also completed presentations to parents and pupils. Stuart and Himanshu from our R&D team presented their career journey as engineers providing background information on how they got where they are and what studies they complete over the years.

We look forward to the next open evening at the academy.

On the 16th of February Rubberatkins took part in Business 5’s football tournament at Strikers.

The tournament was organised alongside the Aberdeen and Grampian chamber of commerce to help bring local companies together and raise money for Charity.

Team Rubberatkins was represented by Matthew and Ryan (R&D); Andy (GM); Mark and Greg (Sales); John, Steven and Ross (Production) and Alex (Maintenance).

Having exceeded all expectations, our team reached the final of the Europa league, only losing 1-0. As a result we qualified for the National finals which were held in Glasgow on the 14th of March.

On this ocassion we have reached the quarter finals of the Europa League (still not too shabby).

Our players would like to say thank you for the charity donations and the support received from everyone at Rubberatkins and beyond.We have managed to collect £740 for Kidney Kids Scotland !!!

A special thank you to our owners Jill and Nick who very generously paid the entry fee for both the Aberdeen and Glasgow tournaments and doubled the money raised for charity.

Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year. From our family to yours.

Team Rubberatkins

We started our Christmas celebrations early this December with a party of epic proportions in Aberdeen’s Rox Hotel. Our US based colleagues, joined by our directors Nick and Jil, had their fabulous party a week later. As our Houston 'correspondent' Lisa reports-‘We started out with a White Elephant gift exchange at the Westin Hotel bar, which provided a lot of laughs! We followed the gift exchange up with a nice Italian meal at Grotto Ristorante, and then headed over to Baker Street Pub at The Waterway for dancing and more fun. It was truly a night of merriment, and I think we are all looking forward to the next one!’. Aren’t we all Lisa?! smile

In between Halloween and Guy Fawkes celebrations we decided to indulge ourselves in some homemade cakes. As always our Rubberatkins Star Bakers outdone themselves and our November Bake Sale was yet another success.

£151.86 raised by the employees was doubled by Nick and Jill (company owners). The overall £343.72 was donated to the Kidney Kids Scotland who provide hospital and home dialysis equipment and support for children in Scotland with renal disease. Rubi Paice, daughter of our colleague Taran has a chronic kidney condition and in the future will be one of their beneficiaries. If you would like to follow Rubi’s FSGS journey please click on the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/RubiVsFSGS/

24th October 2017

HURRICANE HARVEY THE HORRIBLE

As you’ve probably heard, the Texas coast was hit hard by a Category 4 hurricane called Harvey on the 25th of August. Harvey made landfall in Rockport, Texas, a small coastal city that is a popular tourist destination. Sadly, much of Rockport is heavily damaged now as the winds blew in at 130mph and destroyed much of the area.

Harvey then moved north, stopping by my hometown where he continued to wreak havoc with strong winds and rain. The areas that were hit were left without power and were also under a mandatory water boil for days after the storm passed. Being that Texas is known for heat and humidity, I can imagine it was a trying time to say the least.

The thing with this storm that made it so detrimental was the fact that it was a slow-moving hurricane, and the rain seemed to go on forever as it passed over Houston. The flooding was astronomical with a recorded 51.88 inches of rain, which if I have done my research correctly, is not quite twice the average yearly rainfall in Aberdeen. This was a new record for rain totals from one storm in the U.S. Luckily, all of us in the Houston office got through without any loss. Mark and Jo (our UK colleagues who moved to Houston) almost had water in their home, but it stopped short of flooding them. Our team was also lucky in that we never lost power or had to worry about our drinking water, but so many other people did not share in our luck. The damage was unbelievable and there are many people who have lost their homes, belongings and sadly some their lives. It will take a great while for those affected to recover from this storm financially, and I am sure emotionally as well.

Here are some facts which give perspective about Hurricane Harvey:

1. Harvey was the first Category 4 hurricane to hit Texas since Hurricane Carla in 1961.

2. Nederland, Texas had the most rainfall with an incredible 60.58 inches within a nine-day span.

3. Harvey left 200 million yards of debris which will take a long time to clean up.

4. The estimate of the damage left after Harvey is $180 billion USD!

End of summer was celebrated with a Rubberatkins Family Barbecue held on the 2nd of September on the greens of Aberdeen’s Bridge of Don.

Private event put together for Rubberatkins employees involved a street food pop-up, face painter and some spectacular inflatable structures to keep the youngest participants entertained.

Burgers, roasted chicken, beer, board games and football kept everyone smiling for the afternoon. We were lucky enough to have some fantastic sunny weather.

We are all already looking forward to next year’s event!

Here at Rubberatkins we like to work hard and play hard. In line with this motto, during one rainy Saturday we decided to organise a staff pool tournament. A fun events designed to cater to all standards of play took place in Rileys, Aberdeen.

Several teams of two fought hard to win the ‘trophy’ but at the end it was all down to those 4 men-Stuart Morrison, Gary Chung, Nick Atkins and John Telfer playing one of the toughest final games ever.

Congratulations to Gary and Stuart for claiming the victory.

Baker Hughes 10k- Aberdeen's biggest running event has just completed its 30th year, with more than 3,000 entrants running through the streets. Amongst them was our colleague Krishna, R&D Engineer during the day and keen runner in his spare time. Here is what he had to say about his experience:

‘About 2 months before the Baker 10K was due to start, I signed up with a new goal in mind: I wanted to beat my old personal best of 56 minutes. While doing it I also wanted to raise money for a local charity. This way I would always be driven to practice and finish the event and help the community in a small way. Aberdeen Cyrenians do great work in helping homeless people and in providing counselling and support to those facing domestic violence. I have previously seen their work and so decided to run on their behalf and raise money for them. Thanks to everyone’s support, we exceeded the target and raised over £100 from small donations made by my colleagues at Rubberatkins. The charity raised over £1000 from this event alone.

I completed the race in about 54 minutes but in my mind I was really aiming for 50. I aim to break the 50 minute barrier next year. All the practice for the event helped me get fit and enjoy the Aberdeen’s weather-which has been great overall this year! I also got to see some beautiful areas while running at the Bridge of Don and nearby areas which I wouldn’t have otherwise. I have also realised how much time there is after work to do extracurricular activities so I am now spending less time in front of the TV and more outside. I organise badminton every week on Monday evenings for our company and anyone interested is welcome to join us. We meet at the Club just around the corner from work so no excuses guys!’

Rubberatkins Ltd has entered into a partnership with Bridge of Don Academy with aim to facilitate greater collaboration between schools and businesses in the region.

This new partnership aims to raise awareness of the careers and skills required to work in an oil and gas manufacturing company and provides the school with a committed business partner to support the activity to prepare young people for the world of work.

“We are delighted to be able to collaborate with Bridge of Don Academy and hope we can make a lasting impact on our local young people. We're looking forward to raising more awareness on employability skills, allowing pupils to be more prepared for the work place, and of course from a company perspective raise our brand awareness to encourage pupils to join our team in the future.” said Claire Grant, Rubberatkins’ HR Manager to commemorate the moment.

We are looking forward to working with Bridge of Don Academy in providing real life contexts to pupils’ learning experience.

After their amazing performance during Saturday’s game against Dunfermline at Countesswells, Gordonians win (60-15) reinforced their well deserved promotion to National 3.

Rubberatkins, as a proud sponsor of the club, would like to congratulate the team and we are sure they will do well in the new division. We cannot wait for the new season.

Go Gordonians!!

On the 8th of April Team Rubberatkins took part in the Houston Charity Golf Tournament, which was played to benefit the Texas Children’s Hospital. We were also a proud sponsor of the 18th hole!

With some help of friends we entered the competition as two teams. Nick, Danny, Juan and Chris as Team 1 and Mark, Lisa, Scott and another Nick as Team 2. For some of us it was the first time to pick up a club, while others were definite ringers and saved the game.

Our two teams tied, and while neither of us won the tournament, we had a great day which ended with Nick winning tickets to watch our Houston Astros play baseball, and Mark winning a new Shop Vac! It was a beautiful day and a great deal of money was raised for a very worthy cause! We are all looking forward to next year’s event!

Bridge of Don Academy held an open evening for parents and pupils to gain more details on the company, industries, any job/training opportunities and provide general careers advice.

Rubberatkins’ Head of Elastomer Technology, Himanshu Verma, delivered a presentation titled Working with Polymers helping students understand the complex world of natural and synthetic polymers.

Following the successful launch of Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday, Aberdeen firm Rubberatkins can now proudly boast to having components they manufactured in orbit 485 miles above the earth.

Rubberatkins manufactured specialist elastomeric diaphragms for the propellant tanks used within the Iridium satellites which are responsible for mobile phone communication worldwide.

Nick Atkins, MD of Rubberatkins commented: “It is exciting and rather cool to think that a component we manufactured here in Aberdeen is now in orbit above us. It is a great compliment for Rubberatkins employees to have been selected as a supplier for such an important satellite component based on our outstanding technical capabilities and quality.”

Rubberatkins has been successfully moulding these specialist diaphragms, responsible for separating the propellant, hydrazine from pressurised gas, for the past four years. Exacting Clean Room Manufacturing and Inspection are required to prevent material contamination.

A Scottish firm is flying high after supplying specialist parts for the next generation of space-going communications satellites.

Rubberatkins, an Aberdeen based rubber moulding firm, provided components for part of a planned new mobile phone network circling nearly 500 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Elon Musk’s Space-X project provided the reusable rocket to deliver the payload into low orbit.

The Tesla founder and Pay Pal entrepreneur’s plans to dominate the space race faced a major set-back when one of his craft exploded during refuelling at Cape Canaveral last September.

But the firm celebrated a successful launch and return of the second stage rocket to Earth on Saturday.

Rubberatkins, which has been delivering specialised moulded products since 1988, manufactured specialist elastomeric diaphragms used in the propellant tanks for Iridium’s 10 satellites.

The diaphragms are responsible for separating the propellant, hydrazine, from pressurised gas.

Nick Atkins, MD of Rubberatkins commented: “It is exciting and rather cool to think that a component we manufactured here in Aberdeen is now in orbit above us.

“It is a great compliment for Rubberatkins employees to have been selected as a supplier for such an important satellite component based on our outstanding technical capabilities and quality.”

The satellite network will eventually form part of a communications “constellation” providing global coverage.

The 10 that were delivered on Saturday will be tested in low orbit before being moved to a current generation device before taking over responsibility.

The old devices will be de-orbited once the new network is in place.

www.energyvoice.com/other-news/129069/scots-firm-rubberatkins-supplies-space-parts/

Team Rubberatkins let their hair down and partied till early hours at Copthorne Hotel this past weekend.

Christmas parties are always epic when you get a team like ours.

Check out our corporate video just in case you have not met the team yet.

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=HKZARS5O6A8

Rubberatkins’ Thermanite® sealing material was specifically developed for high-temperature applications and has proven effective in the containment of superheated steam such as Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage and cyclic steam stimulation.

Steam injection has posed significant challenges to elastomeric seals over the years, with conventional seals failing early in the steam injection cycle resulting in less than desired optimal oil recovery.

Steam injected in conventional slotted liner wells disperses unevenly, with effective heating near the heel but poor heating at the toe of the well.

The Thermanite cups and packing elements ensure optimal heat distribution and minimal temperature loss across the full length of the pipe with zero loss of steam from the injector and producer wells. This provides an increase in efficiency and leads to greater oil production.

Thermanite® provides a sealing solution for harsh conditions where temperatures can reach 600F and provides resistance to sour gas and crude oil.

We’re pleased to announce that our resident Oystercatchers hatched their eggs successfully. They lived in the shelter provided by our skips, and they were soon big enough for their parents to lead them away to live somewhere a bit quieter - perhaps in the grassy area beside our factory.

We don’t know whether the twins are boys or girls, but they are certainly little cuties, and we wish them all the best!

Saturday 11th June saw the months of preparation, blisters, sweating and begging finally come to a conclusion as the Rubberlovers took part in the Caledonian Challenge 54. We headed across to Fort William the day before, with hope in our hearts and enough food to satisfy Homer Simpson for a month. The midges and the damp weather weren’t enough to dull our spirits, and by 6am we were up and getting ready. At 8am we were cheered off at the starting line by our support crews, the sun was almost shining and Martins was driving the pace early on. We made the first checkpoint 10 miles in a good time, but even this early on the cracks were beginning to show – literally. Keiths wife Alison was on foot nurse duties, and we were all applying compeeds and plasters trying to stave off the inevitable blisters. Liane had taken a box of fudge though, so it was all ok. The next stage was 13 miles, from Glen Nevis to Kinlochleven. This one involved hills, the feet started to hurt a little more and the pace slowed down, although this time Andy Wallace was the man in the lead, showing his youngers how real men do it.

The stop at Kinlochleven involved some slightly more serious foot care, plates of stovies were hoovered up and thoughts turned to the 5 miles of uphill struggle that the veterans knew followed this checkpoint. Keith walked with us for this next section, and provided the kind of support and comfort that only Keith can. The rain started falling, and once we had finally crested the top of the devils staircase we could see in the distance the next checkpoint at Glen Coe. This checkpoint didn’t get any closer for around 3 hours, but eventually, (after Andy going down with cramp and screaming like he’d been shot) we slowly crept into the next checkpoint – now 34 miles and around 13 hours in. This was the last checkpoint our support crews could meet us at, so we made the most of it – a warm seat in a campervan, change of clothes, gaffer tape on some feet and red cross intervention on others. An hour after getting in, we were ready to go. It was starting to get dark now, and we headed off thinking at least that the midges wouldn’t come out at night. Apparently we were wrong, word must have gotten around the local midge communities and they were waiting in ambush for us – no amount of smidge or skin so soft made any difference. They must have sucked some essential energies out of us, by the time we arrived at the next checkpoint around 2am bodies were starting to fail. A hot meal, some fresh bandages from the red cross and the taking out of a portaloo saw us set off on the final stage, determined to cross the finish line. This section really took some strength of character, by now our bodies really were starting to fail – Martins had a walking pole gaffer taped to his leg in true Bear Grylls style after pulling something, and the hot meal Andy had eaten at the last checkpoint made a surprising reappearance.

The last hill nearly killed one or two of us, but we drove us on, and we pulled ourselves over the finish line. Karolina, Andrew and Alex (our rubber from another mother) finished at around 23 hours and 20 minutes, and Andy, Martins and myself crossed over at 23 hours and 43 minutes. Job done. 88% of all participants in the walk completed it, which I think works out at around 100 who did not finish – quite a high number and it highlights just how tough it is.

We raised over £2,600 for Foundation Scotland, which is a fantastic amount of money and well over our target – thanks to all of you who contributed in any way. Thanks as well to our support crews, Liane & her mum, Keith & Alison (without Alison not all of us would have finished!) and my folks. We’re all on the road to recovery now, the injuries will become forgotten and at some point some idiot will suggest doing it again…