Engineering Matters

🎤 Listen: A View of the Future from Coire Glas 🎤 On Coire Glas, in the remote Scottish Highlands, geologists and engineers are developing a vision of Scotland’s energy future. SSE Renewables plans the first pumped hydro storage facility in the UK for decades here, taking advantage of the unique and awe inspiring landscape. But first, they need to understand conditions on and in the ground. And to do that, they needed to trek to the mountaintop, bringing in all the tools they needed by hand or by helicopter. Coire Glas Hydro Pumped Storage Limited is the largest hydro storage project in UK history and would be the first one to be built for 40 years. The project will have a 1500 MW capacity, enough to power 3 million homes for 24 hours, all of which can be generated at the flip of a switch. But the project is located up a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. SSE has been working on plans for Coire Glas for over a decade. Last year ground investigations began. Jessica T Smith works for SSE and is technical authority for engineering geology on the project, she explains how the remote location led to Coire Glas feeling more like an offshore project. With access to the site so limited, David Shillitto (ChPP) and Balazs Rigler of Fugro had to come up with clever and innovative ways to get equipment to site and complete the necessary ground investigation, including the use of a helicopter to deliver the borehole drilling equipment. The ground investigation team work is now complete and the data collected will be used to inform the final design. The guests all highlight the importance of collaboration and early contractor involvement in delivering the ground investigation comprehensively and efficiently despite the conditions. Thanks to: Jessica Smith, senior engineering geologist, SSE Renewables Chris Jack, technical director, COWI Balazs Rigler, UK wireline services manager, Fugro David Shillitto, senior project manager, Fugro https://lnkd.in/e5dA--j8

🎤 Listen: The Washing Machine Project, Engineering Matters Awards Community Champions 🎤 For 70% of the world’s population, doing the laundry means hours of difficult manual washing. It was this fact that led Navjot 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 Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) vice president Yewande Akinola MBE FIET HonFREng 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. https://lnkd.in/ejNB8uXu

🎤 Listen 292: Place is the space for growth 🎤 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 Combined Authority, and Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford City Council, joined Tim Newns, MD for Levelling Up at the UK Department for Business and Trade, and Richard Robinson, president of AtkinsRéalis in the UK and Ireland, 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. https://lnkd.in/eA8tiDZz

🎤 Listen: 291: Making the case for cutting carbon 🎤 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 materials, while continuing to be mindful of cost, scope and performance. In this episode, we talk to two experts from Tarmac about the tools and methods available to assess carbon cutting innovations, and to compare them using the new project management Thanks to: Jessica Tuck, UK, Tarmac Tim Smith, Tarmac #Engineering #civilengineering #roadbuilding #roadconstruction #carbon #projectmanagement #asphalt #cement #binder #electricvehicles #ev #hvo https://lnkd.in/esNfCxQp

🎤 Listen: Racing for Innovation: Inside Formula Student 🎤 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. Thanks to: Naomi Rolfe, project lead Formula Student, Institution of Mechanical Engineers Dan Jones, chief judge, IMechE Formula Student John Dangerfield, head cost and manufacturing judge, Formula Student Cara Fox, team principal, Queen Mary Racing (Queen Mary University of London) Prescott Campbell, team leader, Oxford Brookes Racing (Oxford Brookes University) Dash Gilbert, technical partnerships lead, Oxford Brookes Racing #Formulastudent #motorsports #Silverstone #racing #automotiveengineering #IMECHE #InstitutionofMechanicalEngineers #F1 #EV #internalcombustion #AI #AIracing https://lnkd.in/eQ7fhFfc

⏰ Entry deadline approaching ⏰ There are just five weeks to go to register to enter the Engineering Matters Awards, and demonstrate the impact of your work in engineering. Entry is free and easy: just check the category criteria, drop us a line with a quick description of your entry, and one of our producers will set up an interview. The Awards seek to highlight the benefits engineering brings to the world across six impact categories: Net Zero, Diversity & Inclusion, Sustainability, Health & Safety, Environment, and Community. Every entry in these impact categories will also be considered for the Innovation category. This year, we are partnering with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Engineers Without Borders UK, who have helped shape the awards criteria, and will join us in the shortlisting and judging process. To learn more, check the page here: https://lnkd.in/eGXJT7Xt To enter, email will@reby.media, johnnie@reby.media, or alexa@reby.media. Or fill in the short form here: https://lnkd.in/edJkjP8K (there's also a link on the Awards page).

🎤 Listen: Award winners' episode — Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) 🎤 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). 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 #sustainability, #agriculture, #engineering, #reforestation, #biodiversity, #biodiversitynetgain, #bng, #farming, #verticalfarming, https://lnkd.in/eMhgEUWs

🎤 Listen: Engineering Matters Award Winners' Episode 🎤 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. Thanks to Simon Sturgis, 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 and Sarah Perring, policy and strategy lead, Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom for Transport #NetZero #construction #architecture #engineering #carbon #carbon #assessment https://lnkd.in/eTSYUt4W

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. #EWB #engineerswithoutborders #design #challenge #competition #PuNgaol #designforpeople #engineeringstudents. https://lnkd.in/e9XEfKHG

Reby Media welcomes new partners for 2025 Engineering Matters Awards Reby Media has welcomed two new partners for the 2025 Engineering Matters Awards, Engineers Without Borders UK and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The partners have helped shape the judging criteria for the awards, and will play a central role in judging entries. The Engineering Matters Awards champion the engineers who make the world a better place. Whether it’s a transformative project, a pioneering innovation, or exemplary leadership, the Engineering Matters Awards offers the perfect platform to highlight engineering excellence, with all gold winners featuring in their own dedicated episode. “The IMechE and its mission of improving the world through engineering is well-aligned to the aims of the Engineering Matters Awards, which provides great examples of the positive social impact of engineering,” said Joyce Achampong, the Institution’s Associate Director of Impact. “The nominees, winners and their projects show that there is much more to engineering than the stereotypical cars or trains and that engineering continues to have a crucial role in developing innovative solutions that address global challenges. I urge engineers of all industries to consider their projects for a nomination and I look forward to reading the longlist in the Autumn” “The assessment criteria for the Engineering Matters Awards include the principles of global responsibility—responsible, purposeful, inclusive and regenerative—that we actively promote,” said John Kraus FRSA FICRS, CEO, Engineers Without Borders UK. “The awards will help to demonstrate good practice examples for how engineering can play its full role in shaping a world in which we meet the needs of all people, while respecting the planet’s natural limits and restoring depleted ecosystems.” https://lnkd.in/ebyj_cet