Engineering Matters

For 70% of the world’s population, doing the laundry means hours of difficult manual washing. It was this fact that led Nav Sawhney to leave his job as a design engineer at Dyson and try to come up with a way to fix this problem. After six different design iterations, Nav and his team at the Washing Machine Project had come up with the Divya, a hand crank washing machine that uses no power, 50% less water and a fraction of the time.

The machines are built from durable and easy to access materials. When they are distributed, the Washing Machine Project team teaches people how to use them. Locals learn how to maintain and repair the machines during a six month monitoring and evaluation period, helping develop new employment opportunities in the community.

The Washing Machine Project partners with local NGOs to find the people who would most benefit from owning a Divya. Over the last six years they have impacted nearly 30,000 people with their machines. They have been able to deliver these machines with the support of industry, including companies like RS Components. Innovation consultant, TV presenter, and IET vice president Yewande Akinola came to know the project through her work with RS, and describes the approach it takes to sustainable design engineering.

Nav and his team are continuing to grow and expand looking into new potential areas of innovation, like cooking or air conditioning. Organisations can find out more about how to support the project at thewashingmachineproject.org. 

Guests

Navjot Sawhney, founder of The Washing Machine Project

Yewande Akinola, MBE, vice president, the Institution of Engineering and Technology 

The post #293 Engineering Matters Awards: Community Champion, The Washing Machine Project first appeared on Engineering Matters.

How should local and regional leaders encourage investment in their communities? Around the world, cities struggle with a legacy of industrial decline. In England, devolution of planning policy to mayoral combined authorities has allowed for regions like Greater Manchester to outpace national growth. But within regions, local areas can themselves fall behind, and require a joined up approach to planning and investment.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford City Council, joined Tim Newns, MD for Levelling Up at the UK Department for International Trade’s Office for Investment, and Richard Robinson, president, UK & Ireland at AtkinsRéalis, at a panel discussion at UKReiif in May 2024 to consider the importance of place in planning and investment.  After the event—and after the 2024 UK general election—John Rayson, MD of Northern Transformation at AtkinsRéalis, joined Engineering Matters to explain the history of devolution in England, and to consider the impact of newly proposed new devolved authorities.

In this episode, we learn from the successes of Greater Manchester and Bradford. We discover how they consider the history and needs of places within their communities, and the opportunities they present. We find out how the creation of place-based plans can spur investment, from national and international investors. And we discover how transport infrastructure within and between regions can provide the foundation for growth.

Guests

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

Susan Hinchcliffe, Council Leader, Bradford City Council

Tim Newns, MD, Levelling Up, Office for Investment, UK Department for International Trade

Richard Robinson, President, UK and Ireland, AtkinsRéalis

John Rayson, MD for Northern Transformation, AtkinsRéalis

Partner

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

The post #292 Place is the Space for Growth first appeared on Engineering Matters.

Project managers have traditionally measured the viability of a project design or materials choice as a triangle, balancing cost, scope and performance. With the addition of carbon, this triangle becomes a three-sided pyramid, with four considerations each interacting with the others. 

Materials suppliers and project designers now have a wealth of carbon cutting innovations available to them. They can use materials derived from plant sources, replace fossil fuels used in materials processing, and use electric vehicles for delivery. The challenge is to show clients the carbon benefits of these innovations, while continuing to be mindful of cost, scope and performance. 

In this episode, we talk to two experts about the tools and methods available to assess carbon cutting innovations, and to compare them using the new project management pyramid.

Guests

Jessica Tuck, National Technical Director, UK, Tarmac

Tim Smith, Regional Technical Manager, South, Tarmac

Partner

Tarmac is the UK’s leading sustainable construction materials, road contracting and building products business. It leads in the supply of construction material comprising aggregates, asphalt, cement, lime, concrete, road contracting, building products and recycling services.

The post #291 Making the Case for Cutting Carbon first appeared on Engineering Matters.

Formula Student is Europe’s top educational motorsport competition, with students and teams from all over the world coming to compete. The competition is integrated into engineering degree courses, allowing students to take what they are learning in the classroom and lab, into the real world. It tests both engineering skills, and the project management that is vital to a professional career.  In this episode, we take you behind the scenes at Silverstone, as this year’s finals took place, with over 50 teams competing across a variety of disciplines. 

Chief judge Dan Jones went from competing in Formula Student, to a career in motorsports. He explains the process each team goes through on the day. But the work, he says, goes on throughout the year as they design and build their car. Jones also explains how Formula Student has played an integral role in helping him get into a career in motorsport. 

We also hear from the teams themselves and explore how these engineering students tackle everything from design and manufacturing to testing and racing. From internal combustion engines, to the EV cars that now dominate the competition and even new AI cars, we hear from teams competing in all the different classes.

Guests

Naomi Rolfe, project lead Formula Student, IMECHE

Dan Jones, chief judge, Formula Student

John Dangerfield, head cost and manufacturing judge, Formula Student

Cara Fox, team principal, Queen Mary Formula Student

Prescott Campbell, team leader, Oxford Brookes Racing

Dash Gilbert, technical partnerships lead, Oxford Brookes Racing

Links

Formula Student

The post #290 Racing for Innovation: Inside Formula Student first appeared on Engineering Matters.

Lean production techniques have become common across heavy industry. They cut resource use, and promote quality assurance. They were inspired by shelf stocking techniques used in US grocery stores. But can they now be turned to the start of the grocery supply chain, farming itself? That is the goal of Engineering Matters Awards Sustainability Gold Champions, Intelligent Growth Solutions.

IGS’s vertical farming towers take components from heavy industry, and repurpose them for farming. Within a structure around the size of a two-storey house, plants and seedlings grow in trays, in precisely controlled conditions. Clever control of LEDs and other electronics, makes the towers energy efficient, and particularly suitable for use with intermittent renewable energy.

For some crops grown in warmer climates and traditionally transported by road or air, these can deliver carbon benefits in terms of reduced food miles. The towers allow crops to be grown anywhere, meaning that land currently dedicated to farming can be used for carbon sequestration and biodiversity renewal. And, by allowing tree seedlings to be grown reliably at scale, they could help boost reforestation efforts.

Guests

Colin Campbell, chief executive, The James Hutton Institute

Dave Scott, CTO, Intelligent Growth Solutions

The post #289 Engineering Matters Awards: Sustainability Champions, Intelligent Growth Solutions first appeared on Engineering Matters.

We can only efficiently reduce those things that we can measure. The Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard, produced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), established a method for assessing the carbon impact of buildings. Its updated version, which came into effect in July, expanded its scope to include infrastructure, and was designed to be used around the world, not just in the UK. 

For this comprehensive and global impact on carbon reduction efforts, the Institution was named Net Zero Gold Champion in the Engineering Matters Awards. In this episode, we learn why the standard was revised, and how it has been developed for wider use around the world.

The standard allows architects, engineers, and construction professionals to evaluate and reduce the climate impact of their work. And it provides a way to compete effectively to meet clients’ Net Zero goals.

Guests

Simon Sturgiss, lead author, Whole Life Carbon Assessment, 2nd edition;  founder, Targeting Zero LLP

Mark Rogers, Head of Net Zero Carbon, Cost Management, Turner & Townsend

Amit Patel, Head of Professional Practice in Construction, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Sarah Perring, policy and strategy lead, Department for Transport

The post #288 Engineering Matters Awards: Net Zero Champion – Whole Life Carbon Assessment, 2nd edition first appeared on Engineering Matters.

The Engineers Without Borders UK People Design Challenge is a year long challenge that is part of many UK engineering students’ degrees. For this episode we went to Stoller Hall in Manchester to cover the Design Challenge final.

The design challenge each year focuses on a new community, and puts them at the centre of the project. For 23/24 the community was Pu Ngaol in Cambodia. Students received video messages and a briefing pack, and then it was up to them to design a solution to improve the lives of the community of Pu Ngaol.

From using the local river to generate power through to reusing plastic waste, there was a huge range of creative and innovative ideas, so join us as we talk to the students and judges and find out the Engineering for People Design Challenge 2024 Champion.

Links

Engineers Without Borders UK

Engineers WIthout Borders International

Design Challenge

The post #287 Engineers Without Borders: The Design Challenge first appeared on Engineering Matters.

With the launch of robot taxis, we are already seeing autonomously controlled devices operating alongside humans in the public realm. As AI improves it will become embedded in our physical environment, in factories and construction sites, and in our streets and homes.

In episode 267, we talked to Darren Martin about the importance of considering human needs when developing and deploying technological solutions. In this episode, Darren joins us to work through the implications of new machine learning and AI tools moving into the real world. These tools, Darren explains, will play a role across the work of architecture, engineering and construction firms. 

Robot taxis should encourage us to rethink how we use public space, freeing us from the dominance of cars and roads. As Big Tech makes acquisitions and launches experiments in the use of AI in our cities, engineering firms are well positioned both to use these tools, and to undertake the public consultation process needed to ensure they are accepted. And, from the architect’s desk to the job site, AI will help efficiently deliver new homes that are shaped to each resident’s needs and preferences.

Guest

Darren Martin, chief digital officer, AtkinsRéalis

Partner

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.

The post #286 AI In the Real World first appeared on Engineering Matters.

What does it take to win at the Olympics? For Pierre Engel, chief engineer at ArcelorMittal, victory took years of experience, precision, and collaboration. He was aided by kit made entirely of a novel material—low carbon recycled steel.

Pierre’s challenge shared much with those faced by Olympians. But he wasn’t skipping rope to keep himself within his weight class—he was shaving kilos from three of the Olympics’ most important symbols, in order to help deliver this years’ games with half the carbon impact of London 2012.

Pierre joins this bonus episode to explain the engineering that supports the Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower, and the Agitos on the Arc de Triomphe, without drilling into these world famous monuments. And, he says, the techniques and materials employed for these spectaculars could one day help slash the carbon impact of construction around the world.

Guest

Prof. Pierre Engel, chief engineer, ArcelorMittal

Photo credit: Geraldine Bruneel

The post Bonus: Engineering a Low Carbon Paris Olympics first appeared on Engineering Matters.

The UK is a global leader when it comes to the development of offshore wind energy. Despite past government bans on onshore wind development, the UK was able to continue developing its wind energy portfolio by going out to sea. The UK now generates over a quarter of its electricity from wind, with a significant portfolio of offshore wind projects amounting to 80+ gigawatts. 

Despite this success offshore, continuing development is now getting more complicated. With sites selected for development being in much deeper waters the industry is transitioning from fixed to floating foundations. And deployment of offshore wind will need to grow exponentially, not just in the UK and North Sea, but around the world, in order to meet Net Zero targets.

Industry experts like James Faroppa from Fugro, Emily Summers from Simply Blue Group, Daniel Gumsley from Marsh and Amy Beeston from DNV share insights on the intricacies of developing offshore floating wind farms. They highlight the importance of collecting accurate seabed data, the certification process, and the evolving insurance landscape.

The transition to floating wind farms necessitates a shift in traditional methods, requiring innovative approaches to data collection and certification to meet ambitious net zero goals. Collaborative efforts and standardisation across the industry are crucial to overcoming these challenges and accelerating project timelines. The Crown Estate’s proactive approach to seabed planning and data provision aims to streamline the development process, while industry stakeholders emphasise the importance of collaboration, data sharing, and innovation to achieve sustainable and efficient offshore wind energy production.

James Faroppa, service line director marine geoconsulting in Europe and Africa, Fugro

Amy Beeston, geotechnical engineer, DNV

Emily Summers, project development engineer, Simply Blue Group

Daniel Gumsley, offshore wind strategic lead, Marsh

Will Apps, director of offshore wind strategy, The Crown Estate.

Fugro is the world’s leading Geo-data specialist, collecting and analysing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it. Through integrated data acquisition, analysis and advice, Fugro unlocks insights from Geo-data to help clients design, build and operate their assets in a safe, sustainable and efficient manner.

The post #285 Delivering the Floating Offshore Wind Revolution first appeared on Engineering Matters.