Category Archives: Engineering in action

by Peter Bonnington

Formula Student 2012 – Experiences from the other side

The team from Monash University (Australia) put in some quick laps with their elaborate aero package

I’ve just got back from a busy, but thoroughly enjoyable weekend volunteering for the IMechE at Formula Student 2012 (#FS2012). The weather was pretty variable, and things didn’t necessarily go to plan for all teams involved, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was another great competition.

For those of you who are familiar with Formula Student, please bear with me: Formula Student (FS) is an annual competition ran by the IMechE for engineering undergraduates from universities around the world. It is hosted at Silverstone, typically the weekend after the British Grand Prix, and is a culmination of months of design, development, and build of a ‘Formula’ style, single seater race car.

Event Patron Ross Brawn introduces the speaker from Mercedes HPP

If the above sounds a little ‘regurgitated’, then that is because it is; I have been involved with FS in varying capacities since 2005, so I’ve given that same introduction more times than I’d care to mention! I’m a huge supporter of FS as it supplements degree level education with a range of skills from giving technical & business presentations, generating real sponsorship income and ultimately working with a team to take an entire racecar from conceptualisation to race day.

The quality of some of the cars entered surpass many expectations – this is Karlstad University’s 2012 entry

As Ross Brawn, a Patron of the event, reminds the students, FS is actually on the of the most ‘open’ formulas in terms of regulations. In fact, it is one of the few series where traditional ICE powered cars (with a variety of possible fuels) compete in the same class as full electric and even hydrogen powered cars. You can walk the pits (with all 100+ cars…) at FS every year and without fault, you will alwayscome across a number of new and novel concepts. And don’t think these are rough and ready ‘bodge jobs’; some of the cars will absolutely surpass your beliefs of what students can design, build and race.

Students at the IMechE business networking event

This year I was supporting the event in my new role as Representative for Education on the Young Members Board. The Institution ran a series of Business Networking events on the Friday which were are a great opportunity for students to listen to a number of speakers (including FS veterans) from different industries about their experiences post graduation and opportunities for graduates within their organisations. Myself and a team from the Institute were there to engage with the students on membership, careers and volunteering and answer any questions they may have.

Team Bath Racing putting in good laptimes before a brake light fail ended in a DNF

The talk of the event were the elaborate aero packages fitted to some cars, and the shear pace of some of the electric cars. In fact, the top 3 positions in the acceleration competition were locked out by electric powered cars. The sprint competition (flying laps) ended with 5 out of the top 10 featuring wings, no doubt giving next years teams a lot to think about. Glory in the static rounds where split amongst many of the favourites meaning all was left to play for in the endurance competition on Sunday. There was heartbreak for many top teams, unfortunately including @TeamBathRacing (my old team who suffered a brake light failure and subsequent disqualification) and @UHRacing (Herts’ engine let go with only 2 laps remaining), and in the end, the overall glory went to Chalmers University (Sweden), with the electric powered TU Delft car finishing a close second and Monash (Australia) in third.

I really enjoyed being on the ‘other side’ of the competition. Friday may have been busy, but it was great to engage with so many affiliate members (and indeed the presenters). It says a lot about the lure of the competition that I could barely walk 10 metres without running into old team mates and FS friends who were there judging or merely spectating. As a result of the weekend, an IMechE Formula Student Alumni group has been set up on LinkedIn and for pictures, there is a Flickr group. And of course, there is also the @FormulaStudent Twitter account.

Good luck to all those competing next weekend at Formula Student Austria!

by Rob Thornton

Some facts about cycling – a poor front for a shameless charity plug!

Cycling.  Is it new?  No.  Is it a niche activity?  No.  Do hundreds of millions of people do it every year?  Yes.

Why are writing about it then?  Well, essentially because we’re doing a lot of it at the moment for some good charities and wanted to tell you about it – but more on that later.  So, as some preamble to this shameless plug, we just wanted to make the case for why cycling is such a good thing for us all to do! Continue reading →

by Michael Borg

Planned Obsolescence: Cure or Disease?

So what IS planned obsolescence? It is basically designers and manufacturers planning and designing a product to have a fixed service life, after which a new product must be bought. Instead of making a product that will as long as technically possible, a company would be making a product that is the most economically beneficial in the long run.

Is planned obsolescence a get-out-of-jail-free card for the economy?

The first major case of planned obsolescence was in the early 20th century with the light bulb industry. A group of the largest light bulb manufacturers was created with the sole purpose of regulating the expected lifetime of light bulbs. Before this light bulbs used to last more than 2500 hours and it was one of the main advertising highlights, but the lifetime was reduced to 1000 hours by this cartel. And that what they named themselves: The Phoebus Cartel. This reduction in average bulb lifetime resulted in people buying bulbs more often, and more hence money in the cartel’s pockets. They even fined member companies if samples from their production lines lasted too long!

Whilst this can be seen as a disease, it was also proposed as a cure, a cure for the Great Depression in the USA in the 1930s. Bernard London proposed the idea to kick start the economy, although it was never implemented.

More recently, Apple came under fire in the USA for the limited life of the iPod. They made it very hard for an iPod user to replace the battery, which meant that after 18 months of use, it was more worth it to buy the latest model rather than replace the battery.

As planned obsolescence might be economically beneficial, it has some environmental drawbacks. As products have shorter life-cycles, there are a larger number of products reaching their end-of-life and being thrown away. There has been a huge increase in disposed waste resulting from this. Obviously at the moment this is not a sustainable way of life, but we live in a consumer society and seem addicted to it. But can it be a cure for the recession that has not gone away completely? Or is it a disease that will cause countless problems for years to come?

For engineers and designers it can cause moral and ethical dilemmas. I, for one, have always been taught to design something to its full potential, and if I do not do that, am I falling below the standard of the engineering profession? Do you think engineering institutions have tackled or are tackling this issue properly?

by Mariko Abe

Thameslink Programme: What is it?

The Thameslink Programme, as you may well already know, is a £6 billion upgrade/expansion of the existing Thameslink rail network. Current trains are being replaced with newer and longer carriages; in addition to greater capacity, these trains will service a greater range of stations to the north and south of London. Passengers on these trains will no longer need to change trains in London to get to where they need.

At first glance, the Thameslink Programme sounds like a godsend, especially to regular commuters. We’ve all seen the legendary photos of overcrowded trains in Japan and shuddered to think how it felt to be there… Continue reading →

by Rob Thornton

The manufacturing behind Easter…

Many of you reading this may be feeling the after effects of over-indulging in chocolate over the weekend – in fact you may still be over-indulging as this goes to post!  But have you ever wondered how all of those billions of chocolate eggs are manufactured?  Here’s how… Continue reading →

by Dave Hayden

Engineering in the news and around the ‘net

 

The first thing I’d like to say is that it would be great to see a lot of discussion using the blog’s comment system on these articles. I’m not expert on these topics and most articles tend to be drastically biased depending on who wrote them, so let’s hear from you guys. The real experts! Leave a comment!

 

James Cameron wins the race to the bottom of the Mariana Trench

If you’d been following the race between the three competing teams to be the first to bottom and back, James Cameron has won, taking the first footage from the deep!

I’m all for these feats of engineering, it’s a great way we can push our technology and showcase engineering to all on a global scale.

 

Tomorrows world: The Tacocopter and Human Bird Wings

2 weeks ago I was incredibly taken in by a series of 14 amazing videos where Jarno Smeets, a Dutch engineer, designed and built his own flapping bird wings. The next day I wasn’t so sure anymore and today I’ve found articles confirming he’s admitted to the hoax. In my defence Jamie from Mythbusters was convinced too! 

As an Engineer I thought I was immune to these types of hoax by being able dismiss them on technical grounds but Jarno suckered me in with some amazing CAD models and test videos of his invention. He claimed to have used 2 high power brushless motors to power-assist his flapping motion and for awhile I truely believed we’d achieved the required energy density to make such a mode of flight possible…

Maybe again in 25 years?

What’s next a drone helicopter that delivers Tacos right to your door? Link, I’m almost certain this is another fake, but the concept made me smile. In terms of tomorrows world technology, quadrocopters are definitely worth following:  complex formation flying, or playing their own music.

 

The War on Photovoltaics

It’s hotting up in Germany and soon it could all get a bit messy! Big, Traditional Energy Companies don’t like consumer level feed in Photovoltaics. For energy providers shackled by government regulation and tariffs they’re not profitable. Here’s why: Peak Power

Recently I heard that part of the backlash consisted of claims that new PV technology is so widely adopted in countries like Germany that it will destroy their grid. Residential switch gear can’t cope with the power at such a low level in the network. Is this really true though? Or are they just dragging their heels trying to cling onto safe, profitable fossil fuels.

We all know solar isn’t THE single answer to our problems but it was never going to be easy was it? Unless big energy companies get on board with the new market requirements of a green, non-fossil fuel based power network, they shouldn’t be able to make any money anymore. Companies will never be responsible unless it is profitable, so unfortunately they’re going to need a bit of consumer and governmental squeezing along the way.  I guess the trick is not squeezing so hard the bubble bursts.

 

Some amazing pictures and expedition write ups from Polar Discovery

I would thoroughly recommend reading the accounts of these expeditions, starting from here you’ll be told just what it takes to get a team of scientists to the poles, for them to actually carry out their experiments and then get them back again. Trust me, its hardcore!

The Second Coming

What caught my eye was this picture of a fluorescent dye being used to track glacial melt water. When I first saw it I thought it was the beginning of the second coming or something. The Journal diaries with regards to this particular experiment start here

If you want more there are plenty of journal diaries of their expeditions available from the site’s index.

by Rob Thornton

Inspiring the youth of today to become the engineers of tomorrow…

Welcome to our first official guest blog, written by Dr. Anna Coppel, IMechE Greater London Region SET for Sport Chair.

How often have you heard “isn’t that someone who wears overalls and fixes cars” as the response to the question “what does an engineer do?” When I hear this (and I can tell you it has been more often than I would care to share) it makes me a touch angry but determined nonetheless to tackle this common misconception. I’m not talking about challenging people who are our contemporaries, as frankly they should know better, I am talking about opening the minds of young people to the possibilities of becoming an engineer.

Continue reading →

by Rob Thornton

“So, what exactly is tribology anyway?”

Tribology is one of those funny things that pervades the everyday lives of absolutely everyone who lives anywhere in the world – and yet is almost unknown amongst the general public, and more worryingly amongst many business leaders and politicians as well.  Even a lot of engineers are surprisingly clueless about it!

That’s not to say people aren’t aware of the obvious physical effects of tribology, just that very few of the people who should do, actually realise just how important the understanding and correct application of tribology is.

Continue reading →

by Dave Hayden

Nanomaterials, the Final Frontier… of Toxicology

Have you ever seen a video of carbon nanotubes being drawn out and spun into fibres? It’s incredible to see these wispy fibres forming a twisted yarn that has a tensile strength of 63 GPa, but is nearly 6 times lighter than steel. They could be used to make paper thin batteries actually made on paper, cabling, improved solar cells and ultracapacitors, to name but a few applications. What’s better a SUPER capacitor or an ULTRA capacitor? Just sounds like American marketing to me…

It’s hard not to get overly excited when a new super material comes along, but very rarely do we discover the toxic or other unpleasant side effects before we use the material in just about every application we can think of.

Lead pipes, lead make up, lead paint and lead in petrol. For the last hundred years, we’ve kept our buildings fireproof as well as nice and toasty warm with asbestos insulation, and we’ve produced massive amounts of CFCs because they make good refrigerants and blowing agents for foam production.

You could forgive the earlier generations for making some of these mistakes, but in a testament to human ignorance and sheer bloody mindedness, it took about the same amount of time after we’d discovered these materials to be toxic, carcinogenic or destroying the Ozone layer, for us to finally stop using them. Although we’ve seen that just because the EU has banned a material outright, it doesn’t mean other countries can’t keep selling it to the third world! Aye Canada?

It’s definitely about time we were a little bit more careful, lest history repeat itself. The very definition of a nanomaterial is that it consists of particulates at the 1-100nm scale, definitely small enough to be drawn into the alveoli, the smallest part of your lungs or absorbed through your pores. What happens once they get there, we don’t really know. Nano materials have enormous surface area to volume ratios and interesting quantum effects. It’s not an easy problem to solve either: if the new material we are developing is at the forefront of our technology then it is more than possible its toxic effects are also well beyond our understanding.

But aren’t most of these materials confined to laboratories? This isn’t a public health risk. Well, firstly, that attitude sucks if you’re a laboratory worker, who in a lot of footage don’t appear to be wearing respirators, and secondly, nanomaterials are already in use all around us in sun creams, cosmetics, ultra-lightweight composite parts for bicycles, the latest sports racquets and golf clubs.

I don’t take great joy in being the party pooper, but on this one I’d like to throw my magical cautionary dust into the wind. Our latest super material could well be toxic and we don’t even know it. It has happened so many times before; it’s going to happen again unless we start being a bit more careful.

by djpaterson

Winning The Solar-Race: Working Together To Overcome Ecological Debt

The current environmental crisis is the biggest opportunity that humanity ever has ever seen.  What, ‘opportunity?’ Yes, ‘opportunity’.  Within a decade we can end unemployment by putting the whole world to work implementing solutions to the crisis, and socially evolve as a species to boot.

This is especially true of ecological-creditor countries.  In Africa, ManufacturingChange.org is seeing a sharp rise in the number of manufacturing-driven social enterprises that are centred on appropriate-technology-based recycling.  Driven by chronic resource shortages, they’ve started down a path of seemingly recycling everything, into everything.

On the other hand, the Western ecological-debtor countries are (rightly) pouring their resources into specialised high-tech, predominantly solar-based, technology.  The race is on – do we have enough fossil-fuels to build our solar-infrastructure?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  It’s a close one.

I believe that the human species will win our collective solar-race – something which I think every engineer should passionately affirm.  Once over the finishing-line, we may well find that it all came down to the growth of these smaller recycling organisations in the ecological-creditor countries, saving and re-capturing the resources that were needed to drive the solar-revolution.

Do you agree?  Are we working together to overcome ecological debt?  Do leave your comment below.