The Engineer articles from September 2006

The Engineer archives from September 2006

COMMENT: Let's get this show back on the rails.
September 4, 2006... There are some subjects that government ministers love to talk about. Ask them about cracking down on anti-social behaviour or modernising the NHS, for example, and they will soon have your head spinning with a list of achievements past and...

THE BIG PICTURE: BEAR gives soldiers a lift.
September 4, 2006... Robot combines three technologies to perform battlefield rescue manoeuvre A robot - dubbed bear - which has been designed to find, pick up and rescue soldiers on the battlefield, has received a grant from the US Army's Telemedicine and...

THE BIG PICTURE: Hydrogen fuel-cell UAV takes to the air.
September 4, 2006... Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have successfully conducted test flights of a hydrogen-powered unmanned aircraft, believed to be the largest to fly on a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell using compressed hydrogen....

THE BIG PICTURE: Lexus to showcase hybrid-drive V8.
September 4, 2006... Lexus plans to use the forthcoming Paris Motor Show for the European launch of the LS 600h, the world's first premium five-litre V8 saloon with a hybrid powertrain. The hybrid drive in the LS 600h has a power output of 444bhp, delivers...

IN BRIEF: Nanotech provides a flexible approach to body armour.(Brief article)
September 4, 2006... According to recent research, incorporating nanoparticles into body armour can make it lighter, more flexible and more effective. Current armour relies on a stiff and relatively heavy layer of ceramic material to absorb ballistic impact,...

IN BRIEF: Silk road to nerve treatment.(Brief article)
September 4, 2006... Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London, are using silk to encourage damaged nerves to regrow. It is hoped that their work will lead to new treatments for damaged peripheral nerves and to treat spinal cord damage. Prof John...

IN BRIEF: Water pipe wizard of Oz.(Brief article)
September 4, 2006... Corrosion in Melbourne's water pipes is being measured using technology developed at Monash University. Previously, pipe corrosion could only be measured accurately with ultrasonics which required the pipes' cladding or protective paint...

NEWS: Train reaction.
September 4, 2006... A fully integrated radio communication system promises many advantages for the UK's railway network The first UK trials of the next-generation train radio communication system are to start in Scotland in March. GSM-Railway (GSM-R) is...

NEWS: Untapped field.
September 4, 2006... Small-scale, high-performance wind turbines on unused farm sites aim to supply local needs An ambitious project has been launched to create a local renewable energy network by installing mini wind turbines in up to 21,000 farms across the...

NEWS: Cooking up a transport solution.
September 4, 2006... Used chip oil could one day be a key ingredient in the production of hydrogen for fuel-cell cars Fuel cell cars could one day run on hydrogen made from cooking oil now research into a novel way of producing hydrogen is to take a step...

NEWS: Fired up for the future.
September 4, 2006... An environmentally-friendly spark-free combustion system is about to be revved up The glamour of the fuel cell is keeping a credible rival out of the spotlight - the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) internal combustion...

NEWS: Swallow drive.
September 4, 2006... UK team aims to make diagnosis of dysphagia less time-consuming and more accurate Work by UK researchers could greatly reduce the time it takes to diagnose a wide variety of swallowing disorders by using advanced algorithms and image...

NEWS: Powerful ally.
September 4, 2006... Ceramic film is helping micro fuel cells keep pace with the job of powering mobile electronic devices Portable electronic equipment is a burgeoning market, but one that is increasingly frustrated by battery life not keeping track with the...

NEWS: No hiding place.
September 4, 2006... Mobile phone tracking system has been designed to catch workers who are skiving Skivers will need to think again now that a tracking system for mobile phones covers the entire country. Employees who work away from base can be pinpointed...

NEWS: Powering down.
September 4, 2006... The needs of consumers, business and the environment all converge around the single issue of energy efficiency, argues Phil Morris Technology is popularly billed as nature's most ruthless and unrelenting antagonist. It scars the landscape,...

LETTER: Kits build engineers.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... Your article on the decline of science and technology in education (Comment, 21 August) got a discussion going here. It turned out that every one of our engineers - and most of our scientists - had used Meccano. I have spent years writing...

LETTER: Engineers are they needed?(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... In view of the fact that the UK is producing 20,000 engineering graduates a year, why is there a shortage of engineers? If there aren't 20,000 vacancies to absorb them, why are we encouraging children to study engineering? Colin Mynott,...

LETTER: Declining standards.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... Your editorial raises some fundamental concerns. But the debate should go far beyond education and training and look at the professional status of UK engineers and technologists compared with their peers. I went through my engineering...

LETTER: Metrication adds up.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... In your recent editorial you rightly wrote: 'By all means make science and engineering more exciting and more accessible, but let's do it from a position of knowledge, rather than from half-truths and misunderstandings.' Doing this requires...

LETTER: Team up on turbines.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... Recent articles and pictures of off-shore wind turbines, tidal and wave power generators leads me to believe these designers don't talk to each other. Could they not share the huge costs of building at sea by co-operating on common...

LETTER: Tilting at windmills.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... Driving in Scotland and seeing signs 'No super-pylons' (referring to windmills being constructed in the Highlands), I reckon we should give locals a choice. Either a field of windmills which have a dramatic effect on the landscape (but...

LETTER: Sensor danger.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... Your article 'Sight for sore eyes' (News, 7 August) reminded me of a letter in a recent motoring magazine. The writer was driving in bright weather on a narrow, twisty road. As he went under a viaduct, the resulting fleeting shadow caused...

LETTER: Is the 2CV greener?(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... The Peugeot 908 RC has had its aerodynamics 'fine-tuned' to achieve a drag coefficient of 0.556. Perhaps the company should look to the Citroen 2CV, which, according to Wikipedia, has a drag coefficient of 0.51. I suspect that,...

LETTER: Emissions failure.(Letter to the editor)
September 4, 2006... I agree with Lewis Booth (Viewpoint, 21 August) that people are not really trying when it comes to adopting more economical, less carbon- emitting vehicles. The only car I ever had that bettered its published consumption was a 1989 Ford...

NUCLEAR WASTE: Going underground.
September 4, 2006... The UK's nuclear waste looks certain to be buried deep in the bedrock. Stuart Nathan investigates the disposal in repositories whose construction could become another engineering wonder of the world Imagine building a structure that has to...

INSIGHT: Marque of respect.
September 4, 2006... At this month's Paris Motor Show Mercedes will debut the latest edition of its SLR, combining cutting edge F1 technology with the luxurious refinement of a top-end super-car. Niall Firth reports Nothing unites the mega-rich with sports...

INTERVIEW: Formula for success.(Interview)
September 4, 2006... Jonathan Neale, McLaren Racing's managing director, changed gear fast when he swapped the defence industry for the faster pace of Formula One. Niall Firth reports It has been a mixed bag for McLaren's F1 team so far this season. Now...

DESIGN ENGINEERING: The dust busters.
September 4, 2006... A Scottish software company is playing a part in NASA's return to the moon by modelling the behaviour of moondust, a major hazard for lunar astronauts. Stuart Nathan reports NASA's project to return to the Moon is now in full swing and...

DESIGN ENGINEERING - SPRINGS: Light years ahead.
September 4, 2006... Yamaha's YZ motorbikes are the first in the world to have titanium springs as standard, making them lighter and faster for racing. Stuart Nathan reports For the sport of motocross, reducing the weight of the motorbike can be the...

DESIGN ENGINEERING - PLM SOFTWARE: Solutions for life.
September 4, 2006... A raft of new-style manufacturing technologies - designed to benefit small businesses and industry giants alike - look set to help us organise the workplace more efficiently. Charles Clarke explains After six years or so of getting used to...

DESIGN ENGINEERING - DRIVES: Driven to succeed.
September 4, 2006... Technological advances mean today's drives add to the functionality, durability and flexibility in areas such as machine control, process applications and broadcast communications. Mark Venables reports Today's drives - with built-in...

ENGINEER CAREERS: Lift-off for aerospace jobs.
September 4, 2006... The slump during the 1990s had a knock-on effect on training and as the industry bounces back, many firms are struggling to fill vacancies for engineers. Julia Pierce reports Within the past decade, the British aerospace industry has...

COMMENT: Attempting to square the energy circle.
September 18, 2006... 'The most important development in UK energy research and innovation for decades.' In this manner, industry secretary Alistair Darling hailed the publication of the first detailed plans for the new Energy Technologies Institute (ETI), the...

THE BIG PICTURE: Concept for the environment.
September 18, 2006... Citroen's diesel/electric hybrid shows that high performance can be green High-performance concept cars rarely include green credentials, but at the Paris Motor Show (30 September-15 October) Citroen is due to unveil its C-Metisse. ...

THE BIG PICTURE: BAE Systems aims for SAFEE aircraft.
September 18, 2006... researchers are beginning preliminary tests on a futuristic onboard aircraft threat detection system at BAE Systems' Advanced Technology Centre . The Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project is said to...

THE BIG PICTURE: Launch of River Class vessel makes history.
September 18, 2006... The first ship to be built at Portsmouth Naval Base in nearly 40 years has been launched. The Clyde is the Royal Navy's new 80m-long offshore patrol vessel (helicopter) and is the first ship to be constructed at the base since 1967, when...

IN BRIEF: Siemens navigation system helps drivers to keep on trucking.(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... Siemens is to introduce a truck navigation system at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show, from 21-28 September, in Hanover. The system takes a truck's individual data into account during routing, and co-ordinates the information with...

IN BRIEF: Samsung produces 32Gb memory device with CTF architecture.(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... Samsung Electronics says it has developed the industry's first 40nm memory device. The 32 Gigabit (Gb) NAND flash device is said to be the first memory to incorporate Charge Trap Flash (CTF) architecture, a new approach to increase...

IN BRIEF: US university strikes gold with minute applications technique.(Brief article)
September 18, 2006... researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, have devised a way to use a brief burst of electricity to release biomolecules and nanoparticles from a small gold platform. The technique could be used to dispense medicine from a chip...

NEWS: Powering up.
September 18, 2006... Automotive industry aims to maximise cars' energy efficiency with use of ultracapacitors The march of the ultracapacitor is accelerating. The energy storage system that can release rapid bursts of power looks set to find a place in more...

NEWS: Joint research.
September 18, 2006... ESA uses spiders' legs as inspiration for flexible mechanism system in space missions ESA HAS developed prototype flexible joints inspired by spiders' legs, which could find their way into future exploratory space missions, such as...

NEWS: Sensible solutions.
September 18, 2006... Remote-controlled snake-shaped robots could be improved by sensors on their skin UK robotics specialist OC Robotics is working with Airbus as part of a consortium to develop artificial skin for the UK firm's 'snake-arm' robots. The...

NEWS: Water works.
September 18, 2006... Industry and academia network to research sustainable energy technologies for water and sewage treatment Cranfield University is to work with a number of major water companies and the government to develop technologies aimed at reducing...

NEWS: Mark of time.
September 18, 2006... Robot scientist devises its own experiments which could help diagnose Alzheimer's disease A pioneering study at Manchester University is using a 'robot scientist' to examine blood samples for biological markers that may diagnose...

NEWS: What a lot of bots.
September 18, 2006... EU project aims to develop communications to control a homogeneous swarm of specialised robots An EU-sponsored research programme is to build robots that can successfully adapt to live in buildings. The 42-month, #1.85m Swarmanoid...

VIEWPOINT: Time to lead by example.
September 18, 2006... Technological development will not be sufficient to tackle climate change. Regulatory action is required, argues John Bruton The EU recognised the risk of climate change as early as 1990, when we committed ourselves to stabilising EU...

LETTER: Areas of discontent.(Letter to the editor)
September 18, 2006... I don't think I have ever read such racially slanted remarks as those in 'Tilting at windmills' (Letters, 4 September). Local pride and conservation is unrealistic and unsustainable, and with the Scottish Nationalists less than 10 per...

LETTER: A sign of the times.(Letter to the editor)
September 18, 2006... While I agree with Melanie Watson (letters, 4 September) that people should be given a choice of windmills over nuclear power stations, that's where my agreement ends. Her suggestion that signs in Scotland 'No super-pylons' refer to...

LETTER: White elephant.(Letter to the editor)
September 18, 2006... Any engineer worth his salt and who investigated wind farms/turbines would know that they are a white elephant ready for the picking by construction companies and power corporations who see the subsidies as a way of printing money at the...

LETTER: Good tidings.(Letter to the editor)
September 18, 2006... In response to David Cutter (Letters, 4 September) there is a combination wave/tidal device - the Ecofys Wave Rotor - which is designed to attach to wind turbine towers. However, in general, wind turbines will not be installed in high...

SYNCHROTRON LIGHT: Beam dream.
September 18, 2006... The most intense light ever produced by humans could lead to improved cancer treatments, more efficient fuels and spark a revolution in electronic device design. Jon Excell reports Over the past few years, materials scientists around the...

INSIGHT: Deadly accurate.
September 18, 2006... UK commissions precision-guided weapons technology with the aim of minimising collateral damage during missions. Christopher Sell reports Hikers ON the Brecon Beacons might well be used to military jets screaming overhead but, in early July...

MANAGING TECHNOLOGY: The road to China.
September 18, 2006... UK technology firms still have a lucrative role to play, says Andrew Lee, but should take advice on entering the market US and European nations have watched the emergence of China as a global economic powerhouse with a mixture of...

INTERVIEW: Leading light.(Interview)
September 18, 2006... Until recently glowing electronic fabric was little more than the 'geek chic' stuff of sci-fi films. Dr Martijn Krans of Philips Research is optimistic that he can make it a commercial reality. Niall Firth reports Despite making an...

SPECIAL REPORT: Designs for greater wellbeing.
September 18, 2006... The UK medical DEVICES industry is thriving, and offers new opportunities for technology-led companies. Julia Pierce reports As home to the world's single biggest healthcare provider - the NHS - and a vibrant scientific research community,...

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING: Strength in nanos.
September 18, 2006... UK/US research collaboration aims to develop a nanocomposite fibre than can be woven into a lightweight fabric to withstand the impact of bullets on the battlefield. Stuart Nathan reports If a medieval foot-soldier were to meet a modern...

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING - DIAMOND SORTING: Gem of an idea.
September 18, 2006... Fraunhofer Institute and German machine vision specialist speed up sorting with development of a computer-controlled technique based on light refraction. Stuart Nathan reports Natural diamonds are precious, not just for their beauty, but...

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING - MICROWELDING: Stirring stuff.
September 18, 2006... UK specialist adapts friction-stir welding method designed for the aerospace industry in bid to find a solution to the problem of joining ultra-thin metal foils. Stuart Nathan explains Ultra-thin metal foils - used widely in everything...

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING - AUTOMATION: Quality control.
September 18, 2006... Reducing costs without compromising excellence is the aim when manufacturers seek to increase productivity. Mark Venables explains some of the routes taken to achieve this goal When manufacturing companies look to increase productivity, the...

PRODUCTION ENGINEERING - PRODUCTION SOFTWARE: Perfect match.
September 18, 2006... As digital simulation becomes more cost-effective and rigorous, Charles Clarke outlines key developments designed to provide SMEs with affordable sophisticated factory software Digital simulation used to be the preserve of the seriously...