Developing Engineers

Photo courtesy of Abdul Awaes

Over the past few weeks, I was fortunate to travel to the U.A.E. and India as part of my annual visits to these countries. Although I travel to these countries fairly frequently, the pace of change in these countries is somewhat astronomical. In the U.A.E., I visited the City of Gold (Dubai), where new skyscrapers are being erected extremely quickly. The reason for this growth is of course due to the black gold known as oil. After the discovery of several oil deposits in the region in the 70′s, a massive influx of trade and foreign workers that made Dubai grow at an extraordinary rate. Today, the Dubai skyline is filled with state-of-the-art skyscrapers, including the Burj al Khalifa (pictured), that use innovative technologies to ensure they are environmentally friendly.

In India, I visited the Western state of Gujarat, where it was recently announced that the state had secured a massive investment from various organizations totaling Rs.15 lakhs crores (£200bn). A majority of that investment went to the power sector, as Gujarat continues to invest in greener technologies such as wind farms, and solar arrays. Gujarat is also known for its oil refineries, a sector that continues to grow in the region.

Even with the continued investments in both these countries, most of the developments are in the larger cities in the region. This hasn’t stopped development in the rural villages however as charities have taken it upon themselves to help equip and educate rural communities to develop long term low carbon power generation solutions. One of those charities is The British Asian Trust, part of the Prince’s Charities community. One of the initiatives developed by the British Asian Trust was the Barefoot College. The Barefoot College aims to alleviate the problems of frequent droughts, unsafe drinking water, adequate health and education facilities, and power generation. The College also focuses on educating women to become more active members of their societies by putting them in charge of key technologies that will help develop their communities. A case study of how the Barefoot College helped and educated a woman from a small village in Rajasthan to become a Solar Cooker Engineer can be found here.

I read recently that a German company, PC-Aero has developed a heavier than air fixed wing aircraft capable of carrying a single person with plans to carry two persons, then four persons as the technology develops. (see video)

This raises an interesting possibility of using such technology, not just for the recreational market, but also for the aid aircraft sector. Through organisations such as Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), an aid aircraft is taking off every 3mins worldwide, accumulating tens of thousands of flying hours every day.

Such levels of flying take vast quantities of Avgas, which can be hard to find and secure in some challenging locations. What if the electric aircraft could serve in such a situation? The hangar would be  roofed with solar panels, charging the aircraft while on the ground. Given, the original outlay would be higher and maintenance costs would be higher, but the long term investment could yield a return.

At present, the technology is in its infancy and the payload capabilities are too small. Nevertheless, I see a great future for this technology, delivering aid where it is most needed.

A few days ago, I received a job vacancy email from Gradsouthwest (thanks Mayo!). The role was with a company called Engineering Arts, who are based in Cornwall and deal with creating interactive shows with RoboThespian robots. The vacancy reminded me about several issues discussed on this blog about the nature of engineering, and I thought that I might share some of my feelings with our readers.

Firstly, like engineers, artists are also in a profession that is hard to define in terms of recognition. Its easy to say that somebody like Leonardo da Vinci (also an engineer!) is an artist, but what about your four year old niece who finger paints random drawings that no one but her can make sense of? Can she be considered an artist?

In my opinion, they both are artists. And, forgive me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Leonardo da Vinci or your niece would care about whether or not they were being considered an artist, because to them it’s all about their own work. This brings me to the points made about whether or not the term “Engineer” needs to be protected, or at least differentiated, so that some sort of recognition could be made. To me, the title of “Engineer” can be applied to any human being or creature on the planet that demonstrates the creative spark, the ingenuity, and the motivation to transform the resources around them for some socially beneficial purpose. And since when did engineers become so insecure about themselves that they prefer to be recognized by their titles rather than their work?

Secondly, the recent hikes between courses at university, will add fuel to the fire that the arts and engineering industries don’t mix. For the sake of diversity, it is important to show that engineering is much more than fixing engines, doing calculus, or even using a screwdriver. It is important to develop courses at university that highlight just how important and far-reaching engineering is so that it can attract more students from various backgrounds. This should include its impact on not just the arts industry, but its impact on issues in politics, business, economics, media, and even literature (see here).

According to WhatUni.com, the top three most popular courses last year were Medicine, Business and Education with Engineering coming in 9th, just behind Arts and Design (which came in at 6th). After the increase in fees for STEM based subjects, I believe that gap will increase. The question is are we more concerned about differentiating ourselves from others that we begin to alienate new students, or are we going to work with other courses/industries to provide a clearer and more unified approach to engineering?

P.S. I really hope I get that job because I love robots!!

There are several documents floating about on the web that analyse the current state of Wind Turbines and if you can be bothered to read them (or if it’s your job) then you’ll find that; Operation and Maintenance cost and storage of excess power generated are top of the list of issues that need to be resolved before Wind matches the cost per KW generated against conventional methods. If the data found here is anything to go by, Wind Turbines are dropping like Flies (Revenge for all the Birds they’ve killed) and costing their owners millions.

One of the ideas suggested to solve the problem of storage is by PROFESSOR SEAMUS GARVEY. A quick google search of his name would give you details about the Nottingham University Academician and his 8-blade solution that stores air in windbags on the seabed.

Video of Turbine design

The Airbags

A search on the UKERC Research register shows he was awarded £205,464 for a research that lasted 36 months that might or might not be related. Several pages report he has been awarded £280,000 by EON for prototypes.

I do wonder though, if an increase in the number of blades from 3 to 8 will not exponentially increase maintenance costs considering the Airbags would now also contribute to this. The blades on a conventional 3 bladed Turbine at the moment are still too expensive.

Would the solution be simply aiming to reduce the number of parts as in a DYSON BLADELESS FAN as already discussed here.

Would professor Garvey prove himself to be the genius he has declared himself to be in one of his videos or would this idea be as unpopular as the vertical axis Turbines in the long run?

Image courtesy of Alex Osterwalder

As part of my “standing on the shoulders of giants” segment, this week I am going to look at starting your own business.

In a time when finding jobs is hard, it may make more sense to either get more qualifications (adding to your debt) or to start your own business. Starting your own business can be one of the hardest things anybody will ever do in their lives, and success in running your business is hardly ever guaranteed. That being said, it can be the most rewarding endeavors one can do with their lives, both financially and professionally.

The first steps are usually the hardest, and can be an extremely daunting task for inexperienced graduates trying to compete against huge multinational corporations. But anybody who has read Donald Trump’s book can point out, “If you’re going to be thinking, you may as well think big” (BrainyQuote). So the first step is always about the idea. Your idea of what the business is, what it should be, how it should develop its products, its price points, how it should conduct it itself in its environment and other topics that you, the entrepreneur, need to be define. It is also important that you feel passionate and confident in your idea, as this will help you to work harder towards being successful, and knowing your industry doesn’t hurt either.

The next step would be to have a business plan. The business plan is one of the most important documents to have, as you will usually be referring to it in the future to help you remember why you are in business in the first place! It is also a vital tool in attracting investors and raising capital for your company. If you need help in writing a business plan (or any other topic discussed here) then one of the best sites on the net for this is the business-link website (here) and working your way through the different topics will help you define your business. I have only talked about the tip of the iceberg in terms of getting a business off the ground and so I have also listed some sites that may help you to start your own business get started up or if you’re just interested in entrepreneurship in general. I will cover some of these and other topics, such as marketing (very important) in more detail over the coming weeks. Also, there is a business workshop for engineering graduates in Woking, Surrey, which is free of charge to ambassadors of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and highly recommended for engineering startups. If you are a member and interested in taking part then please PM me or write a comment and I will get you more details.

And to end with a quote: “...Obama also noted that the most common course of study for S&P 500 CEOs was not business or finance or economics but engineering” (MSNBC). Food for thought.

Next week: Getting your ideas patented and the patent system!

General

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.s=tl&r.lc=en&topicId=1073858805

http://www.jimpinto.com/writings/engineerstartups.html

http://engent.blogspot.com/2009/01/tech-startups-are-always-experiment.html

http://www.slideshare.net/amithar/an-engineers-guide-to-startups-and-entrepreneurship-presentation

Business Plans

http://www.teneric.co.uk/

http://www.bplans.com/engineering_consulting_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.cfm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2163575_write-engineering-firm-business-plan.html