ENGINEER Neil Rozee is the toast of his bosses after a student project led to major breakthrough.

Neil was on work placement at Bamber Carpets, part of Accrington-based Gaskell Textiles, during a year out from his degree course when he was given a 'mission impossible' brief by his bosses.

They asked him to solve a long-standing problem in carpet tile manufacture of coming up with a system to guarantee four 'clean' edges on every tile during production.

And after extensive research Neil came up with a solution that has led to a major investment at the firm.

"It involved a fair amount of research and travelling and I looked at cutting gear of all types including lasers and waterjets," explained the 24-year-old from Blackburn.

Eventually Neil came across ultrasonic cutters which are used in the aerospace industry.

And after managers from Gaskell travelled to see the cutters in action they were convinced it was the solution to their problems.

"I don't mind admitting that I laughed at the idea at first," said general manager Ian Lumsden.

"After 21 years in this business I didn't think it was possible to achieve what this machine has."

The ultrasonic machine cuts the carpet tiles using a one inch blade which vibrates at 20,000 times a second.

The new machine has led to less wastage and a dramatic decline in the number of imperfect tiles.

And Neil's successful project has landed him a full time job at Gaskell Carpets of Rishton, a sister company of Bamber Carpets.

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