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Life-long learning and development from the Institution

evelyn alves — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:10:52 GMT

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As the economic climate remains challenging, training budgets can be amongst the first to be cut. However, at times like these, professional development becomes even more important to forward thinking organisations and individuals alike, which is why the Institution's Learning and Development has been delighted to see an increase in numbers of delegates attending courses in 2011 as well as more and more engineering companies opting for in-house training courses.

To remain competitive and at the cutting edge, organisations need to attract, develop and retain top talent; they need to ensure that their employees remain the best in the business so need to help them to continually improve their skills and knowledge throughout their careers; a skilled and motivated workforce can drive business, seek out new opportunities, maximise savings and recognise efficiencies.

Equally, members themselves may need to enhance their skill set if they are looking for new opportunities, developing their career within their organisation or want to increase the effectiveness of their teams or develop the next generation of engineering leaders.

At the Institution we recognise the value of lifelong learning and continual development which is why we have developed a comprehensive portfolio of training courses covering both technical and leadership and management topics. The portfolio is constantly evolving and includes some brand new titles for 2012 including Innovation and problem solving and the engineer’s role in product recall.

All of the Institution’s courses are designed by engineers for engineers, so whether you are a new graduate engineer taking your first steps in business or a senior engineer looking to develop your team or stay on top of current best practices; or whether you are looking to develop new technical skills or move your career into engineering management our courses will provide you with the practical and applicable tools and techniques that you need.

As well as being a great way to upgrade and enhance skill sets, the courses also offer great networking opportunities as delegates meet, share and learn from their peers and as such add immediate value and deliver a tangible return on investment (ROI) for organisations.

All of the courses are mapped against UK-SPEC competence frameworks to help developing engineers as they progress towards professional registration and also count towards CPD for members who are already registered.

To learn more about how the Institution’s training courses can benefit you and your organisation contact us on +44 (0)20 7304 6907 or email training@imeche.org.

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President’s Review of 2011

evelyn alves — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:32:56 GMT

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Throughout what has proved to be a challenging year economically, the Institution has continued quietly and assiduously to work hard in supporting its members, and deliver the things that really matter: from high profile educational activities inspiring the next generation, to getting engineers heard by media and government, to sustaining an organization with global reach that truly represents the profession, and encourages professional learning and development.

To end the year we have some breaking news - our President will be the new Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Transport as from mid January 2012. We would like to congratulate him wholeheartedly on behalf of all at the Institution.

Here, the President Rod Smith looks back on 2011

Broadening and growing the membership

Without doubt, the biggest message of the year is the Institution's return to growth, with a rise in paying members and a net number of registered engineers. This is the first increase since 1991 so quite a turn around.

Perhaps one of the most significant achievements in 2011 was the Institution's successful reapplication for its Engineering Council licence to confer professional registration on individuals, and accredit university programmes and company professional development schemes.

The reapplication process for the licence was a rigorous one, and yet on a Continuous Performance Improvement Indicators index, the Institution gained a total score of 18 out of a maximum score of 20, making it among the top performing professional engineering institutions in the UK.

The Institution had no 'considerations' ie items we must do and report back about - a huge leap forward. The manner of the re-acquisition of our licence shows that the Institution is fast-growing but also, just as importantly is maintaining its quality and high standards. The two elements are equal and we are committed to achieving both, and that is very important for our membership.

Another achievement is the record number of Associates who joined the Institution this year since graduation. As the next generation of professional engineers, Associates are the life blood of this Institution, and so it is really important that so many graduate engineers chose to mark the start of their careers by becoming Associates. At the same time, older Associate members had told us that they didn't have the time to apply for Chartership, so during the course of the year, we have taken the time to understand how we can help and support them on their career journey. The career learning assessment method has enabled them to make their plentiful career experience and learning count for them.

Over the past twelve months, we have developed new routes to registration, with Career Developer also demonstrating its value to members who used the tool in significant numbers.

Our EngTech community continues to grow, and as at the third quarter of the year, we had elected more EngTechs than any of the other professional engineering institutions. We now have 126 approved schemes in colleges, companies and organizations.

Strengthening links with the membership and membership engagement

Over the course of the last year, John Wood, my predecessor as President and Stephen Tetlow have had the privilege of meeting members all around the globe making ground-breaking visits to meet burgeoning communities of engineers in China, India and the Middle East. I have concentrated on UK regional visits and it has been fascinating to meet members whether they are students, apprentices, technicians, seasoned professionals in industry or the armed forces, or academics who are helping to bring on the next generation of engineers. Whatever stage in their career, it has been heartening to hear their experiences and see the extraordinary voluntary work that they do to engage members, support potential new members or raise the profile of engineering to the public or media. I have been encouraged by the vitality of our regional activities and particularly by the drive and enthusiasm shown by many of our younger members and am pleased that the long term future of the Institution is in their capable hands.

With nearly 20% of our membership based overseas and members in over 120 countries, it has been encouraging to see the progress that we have made towards evolving into an international membership community: the Institution may be UK-based but it is most definitely global in its outlook.

The Institution's committed focus on the continual development of engineering skill and knowledge worldwide was further bolstered this year with the positioning of learning and development at the heart of the Institution's brand. A fully committed workforce is vital to business. In 2011, the Institution worked hard to support members to achieve professional registration, understanding that engineers or technicians undertaking that process are immersed in a learning culture that encourages them to take responsibility for their career.

Our members know that an engineer's success in the workplace results in a globally respected workforce that in turn breeds further success: the better they are, the better your business can be.

The acquisition of the SIA Group enabled the Institution to deliver on this through a range of global training and professional development courses, developed by engineers for engineers, to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need - whether they are taking the first steps in their career or are looking to progress into more senior engineering management or technical roles.

The better communication of industry news and updates from the Institution was effected thanks to a resurgent PE magazine, which has now existed for a full year in its new format. Now firmly established as a leading voice of the engineering profession, PE better reflects the needs of the membership, and by including the Institution's update, Agenda, inside the magazine, effectively shares with members the things that they tell us they want to know about. We are extremely proud that precisely one year from its relaunch, PE has just been named as the Association of British Publishing Agencies' winner of the Best Membership Title, which is a wonderful achievement. I have been engaged in very positive discussions with our other sister Institutions and hope to announce, in due course, further areas where we can work together even more for the good of the profession.

Intellectual leadership

The Institution has delivered on its commitment to inspire the next generation of engineers and support high profile global education initiatives. Our position as an education champion is firmly entrenched within our strategic objectives, and in support of this, we have signed up as sponsors of Bloodhound until 2013. Our involvement with Bloodhound has provided many great opportunities to reach out to young people and enthuse them about engineering. The launch of the Bloodhound showcar on Horseguard's Parade attracted the attention of media, the public and many children, whilst our members organised large-scale educational events centred on Bloodhound in Preston and Cumbria.

Once again, we saw the Institution's power to set the agenda on key engineering issues faced by global society, with the launch at the beginning of the year of Population: one planet, too many people? The report considered the challenges of providing food, water, urbanisation and energy through sustainable solutions to meet the anticipated demand through to the end of the century, in developed developing and newly developing countries.

The report proved to be so thought-provoking that it inspired a spin-off competition, the Population Challenge, which set small teams of young engineers the task of considering sustainable engineering solutions to the challenges of the changing demographics within the population in their country. It was a proud moment for the finalists from Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Hong Kong, the UK and the USA to present in the House of Commons their solutions to the problems of food security, integrated transport networks, renewable energy and water supply. The outcomes will be used in the development of Institution positions and policy, to engage public and political debate around sustainable solutions to the population challenge, and to inform our contribution to the UN Earth Summit 2012 'Rio+20'.

The March 2011 earthquake and following tsunami , created severe problems for the electricity supply industry, not only in Japan, but with repercussions world-wide. We are engaged with our colleagues in the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in a dialogue directed to exploring potential solutions.

For probably the first time in the history of the Institution, a large delegation of Chinese engineers visited our headquarters to attend a seminar organised by our Railway Division to discuss our plans for introducing a high-speed rail system into the UK. This was an outcome of a ten minute interview I gave on Radio China on the possible causes of a major accident which occurred to a high-speed train in China.

Our commitment to providing further thought leadership globally was further evidenced by the first ever Institution technical seminars and conferences to be held in India.

Developing an awareness of engineering and the profile of the Institution

It's been a record-breaking year for the Institution, with the highest ever level of media coverage. For the first time, we have seen significant growth in online coverage, not just the regular printed press and broadcast media, with the result that we have received coverage well ahead of our expectations.

The Institution has also continued to be sought by Government as a source of expert engineering opinion, and this was demonstrated very recently in Scotland. Launched at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, the Scottish Energy 2020? report sparked a fierce debate at First Minister Questions between Labour, Conservatives and the Scottish National Party. Furthermore, the Institution hosted a briefing for all MSPs to provide greater detail on the report and to outline our key concerns about the Scottish Government's commitment to sourcing 100% of the country's electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020.

Although any media and political activity helps to increase the profile of the Institution, a project which has longevity and follow-up activity helps to deepen our communication with influential people like politicians and journalists and sets us apart as experts in the field. Since the launch of the report, the Institution has been invited by the Energy Minister to a meeting to discuss the 2020 Routemap for Renewable Energy in Scotland. It is our hope that this will allow the Institution's members to introduce more engineering rigour and validity into the Routemap, helping Scotland's Government achieve its renewable ambitions as well as increasing people's awareness of the valuable role engineers can play in developing policy.

2012 is set to be an exciting year for engineering, and we look forward to building on our achievements from this year. Our members and supporters make us who we are, so if your New Year's resolution is to become more involved mentoring developing engineers, acting as ambassadors to inspire children, or becoming membership assessors, we would love to hear from you. Do email us at: membership@imeche.org or ambassador@imeche.org if you would like to get involved.

Thank you for all your hard work in support of engineering, and may I wish you all my season's greetings and a successful year in 2012.

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New Bloodhound education centre aims to encourage engineers of the future

evelyn alves — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:09:55 GMT

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The end of October saw the opening of the Bloodhound Education Centre in Bristol that is aimed at providing an exciting learning opportunity for pupils in primary and secondary schools, and to students in further and higher education.

The idea behind the centre is to support the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) Project which is sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. This project is set to be the most inspirational engineering achievement of this generation, with the principle aim of it to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

Steve Lewis, manager of the Bloodhound Education Centre, said: “The intention of the Education Centre is to provide schools and other educational establishments in the region with a facility that will both enliven learning and stimulate interest within the STEM subject areas. Using the development of Bloodhound SSC as a focus, we aim to inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.”

“As an iconic engineering project with sponsorship from major national and international companies, and also local businesses, we are in the enviable position of being able to provide a high quality educational environment that will supplement and enhance provision within the region. Our policy of working in collaboration with existing networks and initiatives will result in a more cohesive pattern of activities and resources being made available.”

The event in October took place in one of the new facilities of the S&B Automotive Academy (S&B), a private training provider who manages apprentice programmes for a number of companies.

After a series of speeches about S&B the chance arrived for the Bloodhound Project leader Richard Noble to explain more about the exciting venture to the audience. Richard recalled the story of the Thrust SSC from 1997 which saw little if any public interest due to a lack of technological understanding. With this in mind a website was set up with all the technical data online and it later turned out that people were checking these pages with Richard emphasising the fact that the public loves technology.

It was decided that the recruitment of engineers was of high priority, achieved by running an iconic project through schools to create new engineers, thus leading to the introduction of the £16 million Bloodhound Project.

There have been over 4,600 schools and colleges registered to the project with the total number of school children involved expected to rise to 2 million by 2013.

Steve went on to explain how Bloodhound will help students: “The centre will operate at all levels up to and including college and sixth form learners, and be available to youth groups and so on. As well as offering hands-on interaction with regalia from the world of science and engineering, there can be sessions focused on specific topics or themes as required by visiting groups. This can be either project or curriculum linked.”

“The centre will include experimental rocket artefacts from the ‘Falcon Project’ and examples of the latest in textile and carbon fibre technology. This will be supported with, amongst other things, a 3D printer from Bits From Bytes and also feature interactive whiteboard technology from Promethean. Siemens will provide CAD software and Cosworth has also expressed interest in supporting the centre. Overall, we are confident of providing a unique facility that will be a place for both learning and inspiration.”

The Institution’s Marketing and Communications Executive Isabelle Kihm added: “Bloodhound SSC is definitely an attractive project, as it aims to inspire a whole generation of children to consider a career in science and engineering. For the Institution, where a key goal is to promote engineering as a career of choice to school students, it is important to support such an inspirational project.”

November saw Land Speed Record holder Andy Green present a series of lectures in South Africa about Bloodhound to help mark the 50th anniversary of the annual John Orr Memorial Lecture. These lectures, hosted by the SA Institution of Mechanical Engineers (SAIMechE), tie in with the fact that the car will be raced in the Hakskeen Pan desert in 2013.

The lectures saw Andy sharing his record breaking experiences whilst also telling audiences about the remarkable engineering adventure he is currently embarking on with Bloodhound. This John Orr Lecture series is South Africa’s longest-running science event; having being staged annually since 1961, commemorating one of the country’s most distinguished engineers, Professor John Orr. Each lecture was extremely well attended with everyone selling out as the Institution continues its global outlook as we head into 2012.

The Institution’s Middle East & Africa Regional Chair, David Blackwood commented: “The 2011 John Orr Lecture’s were a great success, with Andy providing much energy and enthusiasm which really shows his passion for engineering and the Bloodhound SSC programme.

“I was privileged to attend the lecture held in Durban, South Africa at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and was extremely impressed with the energy and large turnout of the audience that came to the lecture. I’d also like to say thanks to SAIMechE for organising a fantastic John Orr lecture.”

For information on the Institution’s backing of Bloodhound please visit: www.imeche.org/bloodhound

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Specialist vehicle manufacturer employees highlight importance of Institution membership

evelyn alves — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:03:43 GMT

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Employees at the leading prime defence and security systems integrator, General Dynamics UK, continue to give their backing to professional registration with the Institution.

The company specialise in producing defence and security solutions for a variety of customers, and continue to have a number of Institution members who work towards professional membership each year, with the past 12 months seeing a record breaking number of engineers gaining accreditation with 18 members becoming Chartered across all engineering disciplines.

William Gibby is the Discipline Chief Engineer of Hardware and Installation Engineering at General Dynamics UK and is also a Chartered Engineer (CEng) as well as being a Fellow of the Institution (FIMechE).

He explained about how he helps promote the Institution to potential members: "In my own role, I'm a Chief Engineer and I'm closely linked to the professional registration scheme within the company, so I do try and promote it. There are a number of benefits, it not only benefits the individual but also the company as a whole as when we are working on bids, etc we do get asked how many Chartered Engineers will be working on the programme, especially on international programmes."

"Not all engineers in the business do carry out professional registration but in my own view it definitely sets the standard that people can look up to and strive to achieve in their own careers. I do think it's set a good standard and it's set a benchmark for the rest of the business for development to further their careers."

William also stated how membership to the Institution had benefited him: "From getting access to certain information including the likes of the IMechE website or just general literature that I get through the post. There are also great networking opportunities; I've been up to the Institution's headquarters for a couple of meetings and you get the chance to speak to likeminded people from the industry which you then can feed back into the company process."

Meanwhile 26-year-old Platform Engineer Nathan Wooldridge is currently in the process of applying for CEng accreditation through the Institution.

Nathan stated why he had decided to apply for accreditation: "It's just the way that it sums up all of your experiences that you have been working within a job, whilst it encapsulates all of your experiences in one agreed status."

"It shows an employer that you have got a balance of working in a highly qualified job but that you are also interested in your own career development. It's not just your academic side of things but you also have a career path defined and a vision of where you want to go in your career."

"General Dynamics UK is keen to show any customers and stakeholders that they have got the high quality engineers and one way that is reflected in is in the number of people we have got chartered here."

Nathan also helps play a big part in helping to recruit fellow young engineers as he explained: "When I was in high school I always thought I wanted to be an engineer, but never really had that evidence, so I was told to link all the maths and physics into practical examples."

"What I have done is that I have gone back to my old high school on several occasions to give presentations to say that the maths that they are doing now can be applied to engineering in various different examples. Then I have given examples of what we are missing as there are a lot of academic studies without the practical, so when challenged with the question of how does this apply to you, I have gone back into the schools and given them examples from within my engineering job."

With the defence sector being increasingly aware of safety issues it is important for a company such as General Dynamics UK to be accredited with an independent professional body such as the Institution.

As William stated, "It is important to us; it sets the competency level that the accreditation bodies like the Institution want from the company in developing our engineers. So it is important for us to get recognised that we do follow the competencies and procedures required from the Institution."

While Nathan also agreed: "I joined General Dynamics UK on the graduate scheme and knew that I wanted to become chartered as I had had the benefits explained to me. It's always been something which I have been interested in and this is one way in which to be acknowledged as one of the top engineers."

For more information about professional registration, please visit: www.imeche.org/membership/professional-registration

For details about gaining accreditation for your company's professional registration schemes, please visit: www.imeche.org/membership/professional-registration/companies-universities-trainers

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WEXAS Travel’s destination ‘What’s Hot’ for 2012

evelyn alves — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:43:32 GMT

We offer our partners the opportunity to write articles and tell their story. These stories are clearly marked as such, but we also want them to be useful and interesting to our members.

The Institution’s travel partner, WEXAS Travel has just announced its Destination ‘What’s Hot’ list for 2012. Whether it’s a cultural sojourn, a luxury beach holiday or an active adventure there is sure to be something to capture your imagination.

WEXAS is one of the UK’s most respected travel companies, endorsed by such Honorary Presidents as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, John Simpson and Michael Palin.

WEXAS Membership

To get access to specially negotiated travel offers and member only exclusive deals, register your free WEXAS Membership

Founded in 1970 by current chairman Dr Ian Wilson, WEXAS has over forty years of experience, and remains an independent, family-owned business that provides the highest level of personal service. Discerning travellers come to WEXAS in search of expert guidance and real value for money for holidays, cruises, short-breaks, flight bookings and more.

WEXAS continues to explore different avenues of world-wide travel. The ‘What’s Hot’ list for 2012 includes a variety of destinations, some of which also feature within the WEXAS new-look multi-destination brochures. Following in the success of its China, Japan & South East Asia brochure, January 2012 marks the launch of the second new-look brochure, which showcases a wide range of tailor-made travel itineraries that WEXAS offer to Australia, New Zealand & The Pacific Islands.

View the WEXAS top seven destination hotspots

Whatever travel plans you may have, whether to the hotspots or elsewhere, your WEXAS travel specialists are eager to help you plan and arrange your next itinerary.

Don’t forget, the Institution has negotiated for members to receive free WEXAS White membership, entitling you to a host of travel benefits at no extra cost:

Personal one-on-one advice and bookings service from well-travelled destination specialists
FREE UK airport VIP lounge access on qualifying holidays
Specially negotiated travel offers and member-only exclusives
Travel service extended to friends and family
24/7 emergency overseas assistance

WEXAS’s aim is simple – to help you create your ideal holiday and to organise it flawlessly.

To activate your free membership, call the WEXAS membership team on 020 7838 5820 or visit www.wexas.com/imeche.

Institution goes inside Formula One at sell out event in Inverness

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:36:34 GMT

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Members from Inverness have just delivered a barnstorming event that offered children, students, professional engineers and members of the public alike a rare insight into Formula One.

Jackie Christie, one of the many technical personnel responsible for keeping Formula One car's in race trim opened up the doors to the world of Formula One at an event at Inverness's Eden Court OneTouch theatre on Wednesday 7 December.

The event represented the North of Scotland Prestige Lecture for 2011. Jackie presented on many different elements of Formula 1 including Team structure, life on the road, a typical race weekend agenda, in depth car design, logistics and the factory.

Speaking afterwards, Jackie commented: "I was extremely pleased with the response and size of the turnout tonight. The quality of questions was outstanding. Formula One is often seen as the remit of glamorous drivers, but engineers who build and maintain the cars play just as vital a role."

"We wanted this event to give people a taster of what working in Formula One is really like and hope it will have given people more of an insight. I hope it will have helped inspire the audience."

Demand for tickets was so high that organizers had to change venues to accommodate the hundreds of people wishing to attend. The event was totally oversubscribed, selling out in just two days, and despite snow and icy conditions, just over 250 people travelled from as far as Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Kyle of Lochalsh and, indeed, Northern Ireland to be in attendance.

The audience consisted of a broad spectrum of people, including young children with their fathers, students, semi-professional Scottish go-kart racers and a wide range of professional engineers ranging from off-shore oil and gas to medical sectors. On arrival at the theatre, guests had the chance to look over a simulator in the foyer, which had been branded with the Institution's logo. To meet the needs of the many youngsters present, a representative from STEM Highland answered questions about studying STEM subjects or careers in engineering, while interest in becoming an affiliate, associate or Corporate Member of the Institution was high, with membership forms flying off the shelves. There was also considerable interest in the Institution's recent report Scottish Energy 2020 which many members of the audience had heard about through Scottish media.

Ryan Magennis, the Chair of the Inverness Panel, who organized the event, summed up its success: "It has been a fantastic turnout from people of all walks of life tonight who all share a common interest in Formula 1 and engineering. Anyone based in Inverness is used to having to travel for any Institution event, so it was great for us to have people coming to Inverness for this event. Jackie has a lot of passion for his job and the sport, he provided inspiration to an enthralled audience. We can't thank Jackie enough for all he has done for the event."

"It is also great to see how engineering is growing and thriving in the highlands and we hope that events such as this will help continue this trend. Our Panel has only been in existence for three years, but thanks to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers and members in this area, we have seen real growth. We have endeavoured to set the bar high with an event that really promotes engineering within the community and successfully raises the profile of the Institution in the Highlands. This has paid off because we have already had lots of interested people wanting to come along to whatever event we do next year."

To get involved in events and activities in the Inverness area http://nearyou.imeche.org/near-you/UK/Scottish-Region/inverness-area

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“A farmer and a woman” - The new Fellow securing food for the nation

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:43:00 GMT

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The latest cohort of new Fellows elected to the Institution was welcomed to One Birdcage Walk this month. Among the distinguished and high achieving engineers meeting together for the first time was new Fellow Christine Tacon, whose considerable engineering skills and knowledge are helping to ensure that UK agriculture is sustainable and ethical and, in the context of the global population challenge, is helping to deliver food and water security now and in the future.

Christine Tacon is an embodiment of the adage that a contemporary mechanical engineer is probably not what you think. The new Fellow has been Managing Director of the Co-operative Farms for the past decade, and is clear that introducing engineering principles and fostering collaboration with agencies from outside the farming world has revolutionised the business’s productivity and its self-perception with regard to long term social, environmental and economic sustainability.

She said: “When I joined the business 11 years ago, it was losing money. Although we were attracting the very best people, they were all farmers and tended to focus on competing with the farm next door, rather than on the market. I realised that we could benefit from talking to external opinion formers and the government and EU, who pay our subsidies. Within a year, I was invited onto the DEFRA sponsored Implementation Group of the Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy, and through this connection met EU Commissioners to gain their perspective. Gaining this external view helped me to develop and lead a strategy on food production which meant the business moved towards producing food for the market, grown to order, rather than speculatively.”

“It was also important to start caring for the environment, as well as producing food, so we introduced a strategy to secure water sources, building new reservoirs, cleansing and recycling water in packhouses and sinking new bore holes; to protect the environment through signing up to environmental schemes and doing more by having our own projects to protect endangered species; to ensure food security by increasing production of crops we can grow competitively in the UK; and educate children about food production – all vital if, as a nation, we are to ensure our ever growing population can continue to be fed, given the challenges we face due to climate change.”

Christine offered a real insight into how her engineering skills and expertise helped her to bring about this revolutionary approach. She said: “At face value, one might expect an engineer to be involved in agriculture only to design a pump to bring water from a reservoir. However, they have more to offer at a strategic level: using their education and analytical skills to challenge the irrigation methods used including adopting a technology that measured the moisture in the soil where the plant needed it, rather than the rainfall; sometimes we are irrigating whilst it is raining! Also, when the Co-operative Farms were looking to come out of dairy production, I did a regression model based on previous years’ milk patterns and showed that the nation would not go over its quota, meaning that quota prices were too high, so we sold ours and made £5m more than if we had sold a year later.”

The decision that Christine made to exit dairy farming and expand into fresh produce and packing, together with bringing an FMCG approach to the farming sector, ensured that she transformed the Co-operative Group’s farming business from a £6m loss, £40m turnover in 2000 to £6m profit and £65m turnover. Her engineering analytical skills also enabled her to effect cultural change and greater efficiency within the business with initiatives based upon corporate co-operation, such as sharing combine harvesters, moving them north once no longer needed in the south, which created a massive reduction in fixed assets.

Christine’s influence has been felt even more widely within the farming industry. She implemented Habitat Heroes – an industry leading environmental management system and species protection project. She networked with landowners, government, the BBC, the EU, industry leaders and grower groups, leading to demonstrable change in strategy and communication on Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform implementation and cattle movement process to contain TB. She chairs the BBC’s Rural Affairs Advisory Committee, which advises all BBC food and farming programmes including Countryfile, which is now the broadcaster’s most watched factual programme.

She has been at the vanguard of high profile education projects, initiating the multi-award winning ‘From Farm to Fork’ schools education project: over 60k primary school children have spent an educationally structured day on a farm to date. She also chaired the 2011 Oxford Farming Conference on a programme which she put together with her fellow directors, all volunteers. The speakers included Professor Aubrey Manning, talking about the impact of a population of 9bn. A debate in the Oxford Union with Jonathon Porritt of the Optimum Population Trust against Sir Paul Judge - the past chair of Food from Britain – considered whether unrestrained population control and food security are incompatible. On the second day of the conference there was a technological session with Professor John Boyer talking on water scarcity and its solutions and two presentations from scientists on the technological solutions on increasing productivity in plants and livestock. The conference was attended by the Secretary of State, Minister of Agriculture, other MPs and MEPs and the European Commissioner, 500 delegates and about 50 members of the press, as well as countless students and interested members of the public who increased their knowledge of the key issues by viewing the conference online.

Having achieved so much for the Co-operative Group, and having previously enjoyed a successful career working for such companies as Mars, Anchor Foods UK, Redland plc and Vodafone, did Christine feel it was the natural time for her to become a Fellow of the Institution? She smiled, and said: “Er, not exactly; I only really found out that I was eligible for Fellowship when I received a letter from the Institution! I had been maintaining my membership, but it felt a little bit dodgy because I was not in what you might call mainstream engineering.”

“I became a Chartered Engineer within 3 ½ years of leaving university – I read Manufacturing Engineering at Cambridge. Gaining Chartership was a very proud moment of my life and a real highlight to be accepted as a Member of the Institution. I had never considered being a Fellow. Then I received the letter, and almost at the same time, I heard Dr Tim Fox on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme being interviewed by John Humphrys about the Institution’s views on food security. I thought to myself, ‘Well, I work in the farming business, and I have campaigned with the UK government on food production and water security.’ Hearing that interview made me realise that my perception about the Institution not really being interested in those people working outside mainstream engineering, was not accurate, so I decided that this could be a good time to become a Fellow of the Institution.”

In January, Christine will be embarking upon a new direction when she steps down as Managing Director of the Co-operative Farms. With her passion for food security, the impact of food on diet and climate change, she is looking to ensure her expertise can continue to bear fruit: she wants to build a portfolio of small and big business, become a good board member in a non-executive capacity; advise Government committees and offer real value to a not for profit charitable or educational organization. She has no doubt that Fellowship of the Institution will offer her real benefit as she changes career. She said: “I’m proud to be a Fellow of the Institution. I’m going to put this on my business card, and who knows – I might well be useful to an engineering organization supplying the food process industry.”

Read case studies of some of the other new Fellows:

Julia Brown

Michael Copson

Group Captain Nick Cox

Nuno Lourenco

Stewart Jackson

Aaron Hankinson and Mark Ellis

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An international engineering community - Reviewing the Institution’s first events in India

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:11:30 GMT

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A testament of the Institution’s continued global growth was the first ever Institution technical events held in India last month. Here, we look back on what was achieved.

With India being a rapidly growing market there are now an increasing number of student and professional members of the Institution working for big engineering employers in the sub-continent. To meet the needs of professional engineers and students working or studying there, the Institution developed two technical events for the automotive and process industry sectors.

The Institution’s Automobile Division held its first ever international conference in India on 8 – 9 November in Le Meridian, Pune. The Innovations in Fuel Economy and Sustainable Road Transport seminar brought together a global assembly of senior industry representatives, to examine the latest research advances in low carbon technology for road transport in what is an expanding Indian market.

The 100 attendees were treated to 19 presentations over the two days on subjects ranging from hybrid and electric vehicle technology advances to lightweight vehicles and extreme engine downsizing. The conference was supported by ARAI, SAE India, SAE International, FISITA and UKTI who all helped raise awareness of the conference amongst their members and the local automotive industry.

One of the highlights of the conference was the panel discussion session, during which senior representatives from ARAI, Ricardo India, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover engaged in a heated debate on the future landscape for fuel economy and the expected impact of future legislation on vehicle makers.

Siddartha Khastgir, an Institution Representative attended the event and he commented: “The first ever Institution conference was a grand success and this paves way for many more such conferences in India. The two days offered an excellent opportunity for the Institution to interact with various people and introduce the Institution to them, receiving a very positive feedback and a lot of new potential and interested members in the process.”

Some two weeks later, on 22-23 November, a second set of seminars took place in Chennai. This time the focus was on Bulk Solids Handling: Technology and Development for the 21st Century.

The main message from the seminars aimed at attendees was that of gaining a comprehensive insight into the leading-edge technology used to handle bulk materials such as mined ores, stone and coal. Whilst also enhancing their knowledge of industry best practice and regulatory requirements to help them stay ahead in a competitive market place.

There was a total of 290 attendees, including delegates, 14 exhibiting companies, sponsors and international speakers from India, France, UK, South Africa, Germany, and USA who were all able to network amongst themselves over the course of the two days.

Bulk Materials Handling Committee Chairman Graham Leason said: “After over 12 months of hard work by the Institution & L&T teams, the Institution’s "Bulk Solids Handling seminar, was held in the impressive conference facilities of the Larsen & Toubro campus in Chennai. There were 22 international speakers presenting on a wide range of topics including rail unloading, material characterisation, port handling systems and belt conveying.”

“The overall impression at the end of two busy days was that the seminar was a great success with many people asking for further Bulk Materials Handling events organised by the Institution in the future.”

Senior Business Development Manager Steven Gasser commented on the Institution’s position in India. He said: “I have been working with our colleagues in India since 2008 and over this time we've seen a growth in industrial engagement and membership of the Institution. Now, with the help and support of Larsen & Toubro we have seen how the Institution’s learned society programme can bring additional benefit to the mechanical engineering community in India. I am sure that this will be the first of many successful events that will help the Institution to continue its Vision of ‘improving the world through engineering’.”

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Young engineering star of the future takes top accolade

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:02:24 GMT

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Earlier this year University of Cambridge engineering (MEng) student Osaseri Guobadia was recognised for her hard work as she picked up an undergraduate award at the Institution’s Vision Awards ceremony.

The Vision Awards underpin the Institutions Vision to improve the world through engineering, by inspiring, preparing and supporting tomorrow’s engineers to respond to society’s challenges.

They unite three very important and unique types of people who are doing just that; Engineering Technicians, Undergraduates and Whitworth Award holders. They possess talent, leadership skills, motivation and a desire to educate the next generation.

Osaseri is approaching the end of her first term at Cambridge and she gave her response to picking up such a prestigious award: “Winning the award was incredible. It has given me the confidence to believe that I can achieve anything I set my mind to with enough hard work and perseverance. That was just what I needed before going off to university.”

“The award will also allow me to fund travel that I eventually plan to undertake to do research and testing for my current and future water collection and purification projects. This will be integral in these products making any real difference to the people I hope to cater to.”

As she has just only really started life at university, Osaseri hasn’t yet had the chance to undertake an internship as part of her higher education studies. This didn’t stop the highly motivated student from finding an internship as she prepared for life at university though. She said: “I spent two very good weeks at Arup last spring, with their Advanced Technology and Research department. I was introduced to the use of HyperMesh, Nastram, Ls-Dyna and D3PLOT as design analysis tools. I was also able to gain a basic knowledge of HTML while coding the format for a map (using Google Maps API) to display wind properties from countries around the world. I even got to see a wind tunnel and work on the analysis of the data retrieved from a wind tunnel test.”

Osaseri is a deeply motivated and ambitious student who is looking to make a difference around the globe with a project which she hopes to develop in the coming years, as she explained: “In between studying for my degree, I am looking to develop the water purifier I have already designed and created, as it is far from being market ready. There are also other areas which have sparked my interest recently, in particular, rainwater harvesting and its obvious benefits to those who suffer from the consequence of freshwater scarcity.”

“For now I’m a bit hooked on water purification and distribution but I believe that my career will involve the design and development of a variety of products and services to increase the quality of life of people throughout the world.”

“I think my main ambition is to be part of the solution to the world water crisis. I believe that there are so many simple products and systems that can be produced at low cost to make a great difference to the problem of water scarcity in the developing world.”

The water purifier project has seen Osaseri shortlisted for the Women of the Future 2011 Young Star Award, which is given to high achievers, aged 16-21. The nomination recognises her work on the prototype of the sand and activated carbon water purifier that she designed while completing her Design and Technology A Level and a Gold CREST Award from the British Science Association (BSA).

If this wasn’t enough the youngster is also keen to volunteer and she explained what she has planned for the future as well as what she is up to at this moment in time: “Right now, I am a member of the Eco-house Initiative, a student society in Cambridge working to develop sustainable housing for the developing world. We are currently working with a charity in Latin America to produce a design for temporary housing for overpopulated urban areas. Another first year student and I coordinate the research and design surrounding rainwater harvesting and storage within the water and sanitation group. I hope that I will be able to go to Brazil in the next couple of years to gain hands-on experience in building these houses. I’m also looking to volunteer with an organisation such as WaterAid to gain more understanding of the real effects of water scarcity and viable solutions.”

Osaseri is an extremely hardworking, motivated and ambitious student and judging by what she has achieved so far and what her plans are for the future then she was a more than worthy winner of the Institution’s Undergraduate award.

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Ambitious young engineer picks up top award - Associate member aims to make a difference

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:56:26 GMT

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The start of December saw E.ON Combustion Engineer Kelly Walker receive a prestigious award as she picked up the Women’s Engineering Society Prize at the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award Ceremony in London.

Kelly is based at the E.ON New Build & Technology, in Nottingham, and is an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers aiming to become Chartered in 2012.

This prestigious award honours the very best female engineers under the age of 30 working in the UK today with Kelly being shortlisted to the final two after competition from over 100 other engineers.

Kelly gave her reaction to being selected for this award: “I was really thrilled to be in the final and to receive such a prestigious award. I hope it will give me the opportunity to engage with more young people and infuse them about engineering.”

“The application form was pretty tough as the questions were aimed at establishing the engineers’ potential to be an effective role model not only their capacity as a technical expert. Then I gave a presentation on my role within E.ON and was interviewed by an adjudicating panel of 12 senior engineers and executives.”

It is quite rare to have a young female combustion engineer in the power generation sector, but despite this Kelly has never been put off in achieving the most that she can from her role: “I haven’t met another female combustion engineer in any coal-fired power stations. I think it’s not just a disproportion in gender; there is an age gap as well, as many engineers in the power industry have 25-30 years’ experience. So being young and a woman is sometimes a shock to them, but that quickly resides once I start talking technical!”

Kelly’s current role within E.ON places her in a highly visible position in a pan-European team of engineers. She is responsible for the provision of both specialist and general technical consultancy to the E.ON coal and oil power stations throughout Europe and to E.ON Climate & Renewables.

She explained a little bit more about her role at E.ON: “I’m a technical consultant for E.ON’s steam generating fleet, I drive change through general improvements in combustion and boiler performance of coal fired power stations and for the last 12 months I have taken lead roles in biomass projects at Fiume Santo (Sardinia) and Provence (France).”

“My role is split into many aspects, the technical assessment and development of engineering installations that are capable of integrating biomass fuels; through either co—firing, or the complete decarbonisation of fossil-fuelled plants to 100% biomass - these are significant engineering challenges. I co-ordinate safety audits and risk assessments of plants that need to install new equipment or to ensure their operation is in accordance with engineering best practice. I engage in site testing for new biomass or coal fuels; to certify environmental compliance and make sure that the unit is not significantly affected by the change in fuel type. I undertake combustion optimisation that improves the performance of the existing low-NOx technologies and increases overall unit efficiency, as less coal is required to generate the same electrical load.”

The former Leeds University student has a real enthusiasm for cleaner and greener energy and she gave her thoughts on what a young enthusiastic women can bring to this sector: “It’s a really exciting place to be at the moment; there is a global energy crisis, and with the Kyoto Protocol up for renewal the key carbon emitters don’t seem too keen on finding the answers.”

“Everybody needs to take stock of their energy usage because sustainability is a real challenge, and we need to be realistic; as the population continues to grow so will the demand for electricity. At the moment coal is a very abundant resource and this established technology provides a compromise between economics and cycle efficiency. We have to make the coal combustion process cleaner and better, and one such method to offset these emissions is through biomass fuels. It’s a really exciting challenge as there are many issues in trying to get several systems and processes optimised for a fuel that was not considered as part of the plants original design.”

“I think that young people can offer a lot, they have the enthusiasm, drive and dedication to want to make a difference, and once they have the necessary skills set then they can apply these concepts into useful engineering applications. Working as part of a technical team provides a perpetual learning environment and you can develop to levels of responsibility at a reasonable pace. With international projects you are able to really make a difference in the world and have a large impact from your position within the company.”

Kelly had a simple message for any female engineers who were considering a profession in this field of work, “The fundamentals and scientific base on which engineering are built can be applied through a learned skills set combined with creative thinking, regardless of gender. You can use engineering as an invaluable opportunity to shape the future of our society through the integration of physical and technological improvements, and it’s really fulfilling to see how the calculations and decisions you make affect something in principle.”

“You can leave a small legacy behind and with humbling satisfaction know that you have done something worthwhile with your life and your career. Electricity is actually something that people need; working in power generation and sustainability is a fantastic career path to follow.”

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Not a Done deal: Member’s new book highlights crucial global trends for engineers

evelyn alves — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:52:21 GMT

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Adrian Done is a humble man, even more so following the high praise which he has received recently following the release of his book, Global Trends: Facing Up to a Changing Word.

The Chartered mechanical engineer is an associate professor at the IESE Business School in Spain and a research associate with the Advanced Institute of Management (AIM) in the UK. His book highlighting 12 major global trends which will mould the 21st century world and how that will impact upon our lives has certainly received rave reviews.

Professor Ian Goldin, ex-VP of World Bank and Advisor to Nelson Mandela, gave his backing to the book: "Adrian Done provides us with an enjoyably written and wide-ranging account of critical challenges of the coming decades. We ignore these trends at our peril. I recommend this book to all who need to prepare for the future - which is all of us."

Now it’s time to meet the man behind the book itself.

Adrian’s professional career spans nearly three decades after entering the automotive industry in 1985 as a sponsored undergraduate trainee engineer with Ford on what he describes as: “the excellent Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Monitored Professional Development Scheme.”

“In the early 90’s I moved up the automotive supply chain to GKN, firstly as a project engineer and subsequently as a plant manager. Having achieved CEng status my career moved into business academia in the areas of production, technology, operations and supply chain management.

“In 1999 I obtained a bilingual MBA at IESE Business School- who made me an offer I couldn’t refuse to stay on as a member of faculty in Barcelona whilst completing a PhD at London Business School. As a result, I’ve been conducting research and teaching postgraduate and executive education courses within these top-tier business schools since 2000. During this time I have been closely involved with thousands of executives across diverse business sectors.”

Inevitably, compiling a book covering such diverse issues took Adrian some time. With his research team at IESE it took three years to investigate the broad range of topics and a further year to distil the findings and produce the finished publication.

Adrian felt the need to write such a book, because: “For several years before the current economic crisis I had become increasingly concerned at the short-term nature and narrow scope of managerial decision making from middle to high levels of organizations. Since my days as a project engineer to my current role in which I am privileged to be in close contact with prospective and current business and policy leaders, I have become aware that gaining vision is something that is left to chance. Yet a broader perspective combined with timely and appropriate action could certainly have averted the economic chaos we are currently in. And the same is likely to be true for a whole host of other 21st century challenges that are on the horizon. The objective behind my book is to help see the big picture through connecting the various dots of interrelated global trends.”

He went onto state why he had decided to focus on these particular 12 trends, “The 12 global trends came up repeatedly throughout my research as the major issues facing businesses and societies in the coming decades. Whilst not being altogether surprising in themselves these global trends are the major challenges identified by various influential organizations and perhaps more importantly, they constitute a rational and actionable framework for mitigating threats and exploiting opportunities.”

The Institution wondered if Adrian felt there was potentially one of the trends which stood out from the others: “Right now the fallout from the economic crisis stands out- but that is because we are in the thick of it! Nevertheless, it would be dangerous to ignore any of these issues before knowing more about their likely impact within our personal and professional lives. Depending upon what business you are in, how you live and where your community is located, each of these global trends have the potential to profoundly change your life- both for the negative and positive.”

“Look back into history and you will see many, many businesses and societies that have failed due to the arrival of a systemic shock that was simply off their radar screen. In other words, if you are serious about facing up to this changing world, you need to know about each of the 12 global trends!”

As Adrian states, it is important that Institution members are aware of these changing trends as the world evolves in the coming years: “Professional engineers are crucial to help society overcome many of the challenges that face the 21st century world. They have an important array of skills- from a grasp of underlying scientific issues, to ability to crunch some numbers, to the ability to communicate and influence decisions and outcomes- and above all for our ability to implement well-thought-through actions.”

“Professional engineers are equipped with skills that society needs right now and we must boldly demonstrate our value to businesses and society. It is our duty to improve our understanding of the big picture and to use our unique skill-set to help businesses and society to face up to the significant challenges of the coming decades.”

Members of the Institution can get a 30% discount on the book by visiting www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=487914 and using the code WGLOBALT2011

Adrian also has a website to accompany the book: www.facinguptoachangingworld.com

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Bloodhound open up first Education Centre in Bristol

resha patel — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:07:20 GMT

The £1million Bristol Bloodhound Education Centre opened its doors to the public in partnership with S&B Automotive Academy on 20th October 2011. The aim of the Education Centre is to inform and inspire the next generation of engineers and technicians and along with the full-sized model on display, 16 groups of enthusiastic students attended this open day to do just that. With VIPs, students and industry experts in attendance, the Education Centre offered a number of hands-on activities throughout the day for all guests to take part in; Promethean interactive whiteboards were on display as well as Bloodhound balloon car kits and the Bloodhound simulator where the children competed to surpass their peer’s fastest speed. Project Director, Richard Noble was also on hand to speak about the advancements with the car, the main objectives behind the facility and all the benefits the Education Centre will create in the long run.

The centre is open for all schools who are signed up to the project as well as anyone else with a keen interest who would like to learn more about the build, design and development behind the supersonic car. Not only is this space available for students and the informed public but Ambassadors can hold meetings here to discuss best practise and activities in schools in a comfortable Bloodhound inspired environment.

Read the full article on the Bloodhound Education Centre opening and a roundup of the John Orr lecture series held in South Africa presented by Wing Commander, Andy Green, in December’s issue of Agenda.

UK’s top manufacturers recognised at Manufacturing Excellence Awards

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:51:39 GMT

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The Institution identified the UK’s top ten manufacturers at its prestigious Manufacturing Excellence Awards held in the Dorchester hotel in London on 23 November.

Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers said: “The success of these companies is encouraging for UK manufacturing as a whole. But the Manufacturing Excellence programme is not just about celebrating manufacturing success around the country, but about providing practical advice for businesses to support them on their journey during these difficult economic times.”

It was a doubly successful evening for South Yorkshire, as Rotherham-based mechanical seals manufacturer AESSEAL was the overall winner, with Sheffield-based transit manufacturer Loadhog picking up the coveted best small to medium enterprise award.

The award ceremony was compered by Alistair Campbell, and attended by Mark Prisk MP, Margaret Beckett MP as well as a host of other top business names.

The full list of winners:

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers Award for the Overall Winner:

AESSEAL plc.

Rotherham-based mechanical seal manufacturer AESSEAL was rewarded for its outstanding efforts on customer focus, its motivated and enthusiastic staff and its excellent relationships with local schools. The company was also seen as particularly robust given its high number and diverse range of customers.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers Award for Best Small to Medium Enterprise

Loadhog Ltd.

Sheffield-based transit packaging manufacturer Loadhog won for its innovative business ideas including every employee owning shares in the company, the abolition of job descriptions and its strong focus on promoting sustainability.

Barclays Corporate Award for Financial Management

Pipex px®

Pipex is a family-run business from Plymouth which won following its hard work to synchronise its finance and sales teams in order to maximise company profits, as well as for its focus on keeping management costs as flexible as possible in order to maintain healthy cash flow.

Arup Award for Sustainable Manufacturing

Agfa Graphics Ltd.

Agfa Graphics’ Leeds plant was rewarded for its efforts to eliminate waste, encourage biodiversity, generate its own heating and source its own water. The plant sent its last skip of general waste to landfill in June 2010 and now has a policy of zero general waste to landfill.

The ERA Foundation Award for Best Partnership with Education

MBDA UK Ltd.

MBDA won the award for the work it does to promote engineering in local primary and secondary schools, colleges and Universities; as well as for its highly effective work experience scheme.

WMG Award for Logistics and Operational Efficiency

Draeger Safety Ltd.

Draeger Safety UK manufactures life-saving safety equipment for a range of industry sectors and won for its success at reducing machine changeover and the introduction of a new and very successful web-based system.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers Award for Customer Focus

AESSEAL plc.

AESSEAL won for its fantastic efforts to guarantee customer satisfaction, with the ability to perform orders quickly, due to the 24/7 nature of its operation.

Lombard Award for Business Development and Change Management

Leyland Trucks

Leyland Trucks was rewarded for successfully adapting to the global shift in demand and adapting its products to meet local customer needs. The company’s success has also been recognised by its parent company PACCAR, which has asked Leyland Trucks to lead on the company’s planned investment in Brazil.

Power Panels Award for People Effectiveness

Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier’s Derby plant has faced a difficult year. Despite this, the train manufacturer has worked hard to maintain staff morale by focusing on training and developing skills – including encouraging staff to help with the development of products and the company’s excellent and hugely popular apprenticeship scheme.

Autodesk Award for Innovation in Products and Processes

Carl Zeiss NTS Ltd.

Carl Zeiss NTS is a global manufacturer of scanning electron microscopes based in Cambridge. With competition from Japan and the US, the company has focused on introducing new techniques and operating procedures in order to improve efficiency and productivity.

PwC Award for Most Improved Company

Survitec Group-RFD Beaufort

The Northern Irish inflatable life craft manufacturer won due to the profound structural, cultural and behavioural changes it has introduced in the past two years leading to huge improvements in service and quality for its customers.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Manufacturing Excellence programme is the most successful and long established manufacturing support programme in the UK, and the only one that provides a detailed benchmarking and assessment process to help improve manufacturing businesses.

As part of the Manufacturing Excellence programme, companies can get a free consultancy package worth £20,0000. Companies that enter are asked to conduct an in-depth self assessment and those who complete one or more of the eight parts receive a free, bespoke and confidential benchmark report. The best companies in each module receive a free visit from a team of expert assessors who verify the audit responses and offer practical advice and suggestions for the business. The winning companies in each category then receive an award at the Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

Manufacturing Excellence is supported by PwC, Autodesk, PP Business Improvement, The ERA Foundation, Lombard, WMG, Arup, and Barclays Corporate.

For further information about this year’s winners, please visit: www.mxawards.org

To register your company’s interest for the 2012 Manufacturing Excellence programme, please visit: www.mxawards.org/apply

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1 comment from readers

John Hirst

25 November 2011 at 13.39

Don't competition judges ever get tired of AESSeal Ltd?
They win all the engineering competitions. They are good, its true, but it must be getting just as tedious for them as it is for us failed entrants.

F1 engineers help search for design stars of the future

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:46:47 GMT

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Students from schools and universities across England gathered at Bedford Modern School in early November, for the finale of the Formula Student Schools event: a competition for university level students to design, build and compete with a single-seat racing car.

Some of the country’s most talented mechanical engineering students from the University of Bath, the University of Hertfordshire and Oxford Brookes University pitched to a panel of Formula 1 judges about the design, building, development, testing and race experience of their single-seater racing cars designed for a weekend race market.

The F1 Judging panel comprised Darren Freeman (Red Bull Racing); Daren Stanley (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes); Brian O’Rourke (AT&T Williams F1), Nick Brown (Mercedes GP Petronas) and John Jo Finn (Team Lotus).

Students from a number of local schools attended, together with others from Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard and Northampton, and participated in a quiz related to the presentations. Prizes included F1 merchandise, a visit to the University of Hertfordshire F1 simulator, a visit to Nissan Technical Centre – Cranfield for rapid prototype design and make and facility tour. The students also had the opportunity to win free entry and a guided tour of the pits at Silverstone during the Formula Student final at Silverstone in July 2012.

The Formula Student cars designed and manufactured by the university teams were on display as were historic racecars including a 1960 Lotus, and a 1970 BMW together with race car sub assemblies.

The winning team was the University of Bath and their key to success was ‘Design It Simple; Design It Light; Build It Early’.

Dr Kevin Robinson, lecturer in the University’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and academic supervisor to the Formula Student team said: “Getting involved in the Formula Student competition is no easy option as it demands a huge commitment, but it motivates the students like nothing else I have seen.”

“It’s extremely satisfying to see them mature into highly capable, confident engineers. It gives them vital industry experience and puts them ahead of the crowd as graduate engineers.”

The F1 judges commented that there had been three very good presentations on a complex topic and that the Formula Student events get stronger year on year.

Brian O’Rourke of AT&T Williams told the assembled group: “Formula Student really encourages young people to get into something they have been dreaming of. Engineering is all about solving problems and I hope what you have seen today will encourage you.”

John Turton, an Associate of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a keen supporter of Formula Student, was one of the volunteers from the Institution’s Luton Automobile Division branch which organized the event.

He said: “The purpose of this Formula Student schools event is to bring universities, schools, and industry together and promote careers in engineering – the audience is primarily school students who are at the stage in their education of making decisions about their future career.”

“This event, which we have been running for a number of year, was a great success and improves year on year, so it will continue with further enhancements in 2012.”

For more information about Formula Student, please visit: www.formulastudent.com

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2 comments from readers

Alastair Graham Bryce

27 November 2011 at 11.06

May I suggest the use of the expression 'schools and students' and title 'Formula Student Schools' could cause confusion. Formula Student has always been for University level students and provided a substantial challenge for participants.
There has been another programme called Formula Schools for radio controlled small cars that has been running for 10 or more years.
Or has something changed?

Aneesh

30 November 2011 at 13.36

Can a team from INDIA participate in the FS event??

Professional Liability, exposures and duty of care: do you know where you stand?

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:41:53 GMT

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We offer our partners the opportunity to write articles and tell their story. These stories are clearly marked as such, but we also want them to be useful and interesting to our members.

In the current financial environment, previously stable business relationships may be put under pressure as professional advisers are put at risk from troubled businesses seeking to recoup their financial losses. Combine this with the issues surrounding contract negotiations and it becomes clear that having insufficient insurance could leave Institution members highly exposed. Jelf Professions want to help Institution members feel protected.

Jelf Professions manages the only Institution endorsed professional indemnity scheme which is underwritten by QBE (A+ Rated by Standard and Poors) who are also one of the main sponsors of the Rugby Premiership League – look out for their logo on the back of every premiership player’s shirt. For your chance to win a pair of tickets to a premiership game of your choice, please complete this short survey by 30 November.

Jelf is working with an increasing number of Institution members to guide them through the complex landscape of risk management and insurance. The scheme is designed to suit your needs as a member, for example the polices are written on a full civil liability basis which goes beyond a simple errors and omissions policy and includes cover for copyright, intellectual property rights, libel and slander and cyber liability.

Protection in uncertain times

In uncertain times, such as an economic slump, financial institutions, businesses and individuals who have suffered financial loses inevitably turn to their professional advisors when seeking to recoup their losses. There has recently been a sharp rise in claims of negligence against professionals and this could be the sign of things to come. Jelf Professions invests heavily in their claims advocacy service to ensure their clients have the right level of support when it is most needed.

Duty of care – what does this mean to you as a professional engineer?

Duty of care is a commonly used phrase; however the implications of this duty are far reaching in relation to professionals and the advice they give. It has become common for contracts and warranties to extend the duty of care of a professional to beyond what would normally be expected. In a worst case scenario, if an individual or business has signed such an agreement without seeking legal advice or comments from their insurers they may be left to fight a claim on an uninsured basis. Jelf offers Institution members insured through the professional indemnity scheme a free legal document review service giving them the added peace of mind that their legal documents have been reviewed and where possible their exposures limited.

Contact Jelf

Members can be confident they are dealing with one of the UK’s leading insurance brokers. Jelf is wholly committed to providing first class advice, service and support and to delivering a highly valued, professional service. They have satisfied rigorous criteria relating to professional qualifications and ethical good practice to become one of a select number of brokers to be awarded chartered status.

For further details on the Institution professional indemnity scheme or a range of other insurance services, please contact T: 0800 542 7497 E: imeche@jelfgroup.com

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2 comment from readers

Ben Scott

27 November 2011 at 08.07

Has the Institution considered including a basic individual (personal) professional indemnity policy within the Membership subscription? I believe other Bodies do so. It could even be an add-on like the Benevolent Fund.
I think this advert for Jelf raises more questions than it answers. From my limited experience, organisations are usually contractually or constitutionally obliged to maintain corporate professional indemnity schemes. Therefore, the large majority of the Membership who are employees rather than Directors may never need to get involved with this topic.

Robert Muir

3 December 2011 at 02.20

I am disappointed that an article titled "do you know where yoou stand?" does not address the issues of Professional Indemnity but is merely a shill for a company offering insurance services.
Why not just run it as a featured advertisement in the way that Google does. Then expectations are lowered to spam level before you have to read it.

High achievements north of the border - CEO celebrates Scottish engineering

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:19:18 GMT

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Institution Chief Executive Stephen Tetlow recently visited colleges and companies in Scotland in order to meet some of the Institution’s brightest engineering prospects.

Engineering in Scotland continues to move forward at a rapid pace with Banff and Buchan College in Fraserburgh being the latest establishment to see its engineering programmes being approved by the Institution.

CEO of IMechE Stephen Tetlow was on hand to make the presentation on his recent tour of Scotland and he commented afterwards: “The Institution is committed to raising the skills of young engineers and driving up workforce skills to world class levels. In challenging economic times, the Institution is committed to supporting students and apprentices, and working with colleges to ensure that they have the best possible start. Gaining Institution approved EngTech status will undoubtedly set these students apart, enabling them to gain a recognised professional qualification before they even start work, and I have no doubt Banff and Buchan College is one of the key leading colleges in the country."

The approval will now see the Institution kite mark the training of young technicians and engineering education at the College, offering the chance for over 250 students from the past three years the chance to apply for EngTech registration along with the current student base.

David Cook, College Assistant Principal summed up what this means to the College: “In the modern engineering world professional qualifications are truly global and will allow our students to move seamlessly to careers across the world. This qualification will support careers in current technologies and emergent technologies.”

During the same trip, Stephen took in a tour of the School of Engineering at Robert Gordon University and met key members of the academic staff whilst also visiting both Shell and Halliburton Oil companies where he was given an update on the business and how it has been affected by both the changing economy and the industry itself.

Stephen was also present at the New Members Awards Ceremony at Score Group of Peterhead in order to see present 44 new Members (including 38 EngTech registrants) with certificates while their Engineering Director Mike Billington was also made a Fellow of the Institution. These Members were added to the young apprentices at Score, which currently has the largest Institution-approved apprenticeship scheme in the UK.

Whilst at Score, a group of first year apprentices presented the CEO with a pair of candlesticks which they had manufactured themselves. The gift will be on permanent display in the reception of the Institution HQ at One Birdcage Walk, with six of the 16-year-old apprentices being invited down to see the display in its new setting.

On the evening of 8 November, Stephen Tetlow attend a New Members event at the Aberdeen Trinity Hall, where 35 engineers from some 20 different organisations were recognised for achieving Chartered Engineer or Fellow status.

Sandra Mulligan, Business Development Manager for Scotland commented on the evening: “The evening ran very smoothly and was a well attended event. It was the first event of this kind which we had held at this venue and it was pleasing to be able to hand over these new certificates to the new Members.”

This visit by the CEO rounded off a busy time of things in Scotland as just two weeks previously, the Scottish Region Annual Dinner had taken place at the Radisson Hotel in Glasgow on Friday 28 October.

The evening saw 350 people in attendance from a variety of different companies as they came together for a celebration of Scottish engineering and is acknowledged by engineering employers as a wonderful opportunity to reward their staff, thank key suppliers, do more cost-effective networking in one evening than can be achieved in several months and meet high achieving engineers from a variety of industry sectors.

After dinner proceedings were undertaken by Institution Vice President Archie Bethel, Chief Executive of Babcock International Marine Division, giving employers plenty of time to network with each other throughout the course of the evening.

Sandra summed up the black tie event: “It was a very well attended and productive evening with 350 people in attendance. There were great opportunities for networking among the business involved as employers came together from all over Scotland.”

For information about accrediting your apprenticeship programme, university course or graduate programme, please visit: www.imeche.org/membership/professional-registration/companies-universities-trainers

For information about events and activities in Scotland, please visit: http://nearyou.imeche.org/near-you/UK/Scottish-Region

To contact Sandra Mulligan, Business Development Manager for Scotland: s_mulligan@imeche.org.

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Scottish Energy 2020? A target too far?

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:16:12 GMT

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Earlier this month the Institution launched its report: Scottish Energy 2020? A target too far? report which focused on reviewing the Scottish Government’s declaration that by 2020, 20% of the total energy demand in Scotland would be met from renewable resources.

The figure of 20% exceeds the 15% target that the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009) requires the UK to meet as a whole. More recently the Government had also announced that 100% of electricity generation will come from renewables by the same date.

The Institution’s findings suggest that the original renewable energy target split for Scotland of 50% electricity, 11% heat and 11% energy for transport, making the overall 20%, and subsequent revision of the electricity generation target to 100%, did not appear to be supported by a rigorous engineering analysis of what is physically required to achieve a successful outcome in the timescale available.

During the research for this report, First Minister Alex Salmond announced that the Scottish Government had increased the overall percentage target for energy from renewable sources to 30% by 2020. In light of this report’s analysis, this aspirational target appears to represent an ambition that cannot be justified from an engineering perspective.

In the absence of a credible publicly presented plan to deliver Scotland’s renewable energy at the scale required, the report which was written by Professor Ian Arbon FIMechE and Dr Tim Fox FIMechE considers what these targets mean from an engineering viewpoint.

While the Institution both welcomes and supports the ambitious target and the Scottish Government has published a roadmap, the Institution is concerned that engineering expertise is lacking and the project is missing concrete actions to ensure it is delivered by the 2020 deadline.

The Institution held a private dinner in Edinburgh, hosted by Institution Vice- resident Professor Stuart Cameron, to brief Opposition politicians, resulting in two questions about the report at First Minister’s Questions. The coverage is available online.

A lunchtime briefing at Holyrood for all MSPs was held immediately after First Minister’s Questions to launch the report. There was good attendance from MSPs across the political parties and widespread media coverage in print, broadcast and online media. The highlight was a debate with the Energy Minister on Newsnight Scotland, resulting in his offer to meet the Institution early in the New Year.

The Institution will now produce recommendations based on the Government’s routemap with practical steps on how it can deliver its ambitious target, and meet with the Minister early in the New Year.

Read the full report

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4 comments from readers

Richard F H Young

25 November 2011 at 16.48

I have just retired from 40 years in UK defence and believe that one of our strongest defence requirements is an indigenous, renewable, ZERO waste, power generation capability. I have read the IMechE's brief on Scottish renewable plans and am very disappointed at the Institution's negative comments. We should applaud Scotland's ambitious plans and help to make them happen, supported as they are by Scotland's excellent green power generation record. If only the Westminster community could awake to the potential for renewables such as solar, wind, tidal, pumped storage, hydro and EfW and stop relying on the unnecessary, highly dangerous nuclear fission lost cause then UK would beat its targets in this field. It is sad that whilst countries like Germany, with its excellent engineering base, hotly pursue renewables and reject nuclear, Westminster still has its head in the sand. IMechE's approach needs to support Scotland in making their plan happen.
Eur Richard FH Young CEng; FIMechE

John McGarva

26 November 2011 at 02.29

In addition to the engineering issues there remains another elephant in the room. This is the fact that planning policy does not support implementation of renewable electricity generation. I recently had a planning appeal refused by the Scottish government for erection of a 50kW wind turbine in Dumfries and Galloway. In my view the plans accorded with all relevant guidelines and siting was carefully considered. Scotland's renewables targets need to result in planning policy changes as well.

Tim Chittenden

29 ovember 2011 at 10.05

The Scottish target would be much more realistic if it covered renewable and low carbon energy and included a substantial nuclear component which would provide the base load and capacity to enable wind, tidal and hydro-electrical sources to be exploited efficiently.

David Milborrow

30 November 2011 at 10.43

The report says "wind is intermittent and unpredictable". It is neither Nuclear, coal and gas-fired power stations are intermittent - they can trip out without warning. That led to a dramatic event in 2008, two stations tripped and the system frequency plummeted. Wind is variable - it swings around in a way that can be characterised.
If UK the wind power production now is 2000 MW, then production one hour from now will be between 1850 and 2150 MW, with an accuracy of 66%. That is the standard deviation, in other words. Rarely, the output one hour from now may be 1000 MW, or 3000 MW - the tails of the distribution. System Operators draw on work on wind predictability and the NGT website shows the difference between predicted and actual output.
Modest extra short-term reserves may be needed for 40% wind, including some from demand side management and interconnectors. No additional backup is needed to deal with cold windless days - that is what the plant margin is for.

Presidential Visit to Loughborough and Eastern successes

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:04:56 GMT

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Over the last month, there have been notable successes at universities and companies in the East and West Midlands, East of England and the North East. Here we celebrate these engineering good news stories, which also include a successful Presidential Visit to Loughborough.

New graduates at Nissan

In an exciting new development and due to an increase in the amount of design and development work Nissan Technical Centre Europe is doing for future Nissan European models, including the replacement of the hugely successful Qashqai model, which will be built in Sunderland from late 2013, NTCE (the design and development company for Nissan in Europe) has recently signed up a total of 32 engineering graduates to its Cranfield site (and 16 in other disciplines). This is a significant intake of new recruits who come in the form of 15 Mechanical Engineers and an additional 16 Automotive or Motorsport and one Acoustic Engineer.

Following this announcement it was also confirmed that the Institution’s Professional Development Advisor, Howard Canning would be visiting the site.

Lara Mallett, Business Development Manager for the East Midlands and East of England, commented on the intake of these new members: “We are really delighted that Nissan is showing a great commitment to graduate engineers. We are seeing more companies increasing their numbers of graduate intake and working with the Institution can help them develop this future talent.”

This is a significant increase in the number of engineering graduates for NTCE as they look to develop the skills of young engineers in order to create a highly skilled workforce in the UK.

Senior Engineer Richard Spong commented: “I am very encouraged. We find it difficult to recruit good mid career engineers due to the skills required and the fact that other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are heavily recruiting, but we have been able to find good, high calibre graduates.”

Nissan is already looking towards next year and will be looking to sign up a number of other graduates across the board as Richard explained: “We already have a plan for further graduates in Design & Development in FY 12 and I expect that we will have more in the other functions on site as well.”

It is certainly an interesting period in Nissan’s development and something which the Institution will be pleased to be a part of as they continue to recruit young engineers.

Successful new members evening

At a recent New Members and Fellows evening held at the JCB worldwide headquarters in Rocester, Staffordshire, some 46 new Members and Fellows of the Institution were recognised. Out of the 46, 29 Members were receiving certificates for becoming Fellows and the remaining 17 were receiving their Members’ certificates.

It is some four years since the Regions decided that the Institution should celebrate together the success of members who achieve the status of Member or Fellow, with previous celebrations being held at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull, and the Jaguar Visitor Centre, Castle Bromwich, Birmingham.

Midland Region chairman, John Butler, opened proceedings by welcoming everyone and congratulated members on their achievement. The keynote speech was provided by Tim Burnhope, Group Managing Director for Product Development and Commercial Operations at JCB who told the gathered members about the importance of teamwork and really understanding what the customer wanted, illustrating their success with company videos.

John then presented the certificates to the New Members and Fellows whilst the Institution’s Engineering Director Dr Colin Brown read out a brief CV of each member.

Steven Gasser, the Institution’s Senior Business Development Manager was pleased to welcome the new Members and Fellows onboard, commenting: “The New Members evening is a celebration of the successful election of Professional Engineers and Technicians from across our Region. I am immensely proud of the commitment shown by our Members and the contribution that they make to our economy. The Institution is thriving across the Midlands and I’m hoping that the recognition for their endeavours will encourage more engineers to consider Professional Registration.”

Members and Fellows were entitled to bring a guest, which offered a rare opportunity for partners to get an insight into what engineers do. The wife of one new Fellow said: "I was amazed at the diversity of jobs that mechanical engineers do, from cars and trains to medical applications."

After the presentations members were taken round the newly opened and impressive 'Story of JCB' exhibition, showing examples of JCB product from their beginnings to the present day before the evening was rounded off with members and guests being able to enjoy some networking time.

Expansion in the North East

Meanwhile, on its 15th anniversary of being in business, the Duke of Northumberland has officially opened North East Consultancy company MACAW’s new offices, as it looks to continue its impressive expansion plans.

The company operates in the energy sector, working closely with global operators of oil and gas production facilities, pipelines and utility systems to reduce risk, maintain integrity and extend the service life of client assets. MACAW is a continually growing business having expanded from 18 people in 2006 to some 58 in 2011. In challenging economic times, this growth is a real success story, and is part of a burgeoning pipeline engineering sector in the region.

To sustain this growth, MACAW is continuing to recruit skilled workers, and is committed to taking the time to develop its workforce and ensure that the company continues to be regarded as a great place to work. Indeed, as part of its commitment to professional development, MACAW has recently appointed Dr Bob Andrews, a well-established industry expert in structural integrity and solid mechanics, whose experience will be invaluable for the company’s younger engineers.

MACAW currently has 14 Chartered Engineers; six are members of the Institution, including two Fellows, while more than 10 of MACAW’s graduate engineers are working towards chartership with the Institution.

The anniversary event was attended by the Institution’s Business Development Manager Denis Healy with a good proportion of MACAW’s Principals being Chartered Engineers and many of its younger engineers working towards Chartered status.

Denis has been working with MACAW over the last few years, advising engineers on routes to Institution membership and progression through the membership levels.

He commented: “It is good to work with a company that is so committed to developing its people to Chartered status. The Institution is working with MACAW to provide a clear pathway to Chartership for their new graduates, and working for them is now a very attractive proposition for engineering graduates who want to get ahead.”

Dave Smart, a Principal Engineer at MACAW, commented on what it means for their engineers to be associated with the Institution: “Becoming chartered with the Institution recognises and demonstrates the competence of our engineers. MACAW actively promotes and encourages chartership as this is important for staff development and career progression, and supports MACAW’s standing as a professional consultancy. Working with the Institution provides a structured route to professional registration for our graduate engineers.”

Presidential Visit to Loughborough

Earlier this month, President of the Institution, Roderick Smith, visited the East Midlands to see examples of extraordinary engineering innovation, cutting edge academic research and great support for the professional development of apprentices in the region.

First stop on the visit for Professor Smith was Loughborough College to present its Commercial Manager, Chris Garner, with a certificate recognising the recent approval by the Institution of the college’s apprentice scheme. Rod was delighted to meet and talk with some of the apprentices and business partners from the college. He was also fascinated to learn the history of the college, which has enjoyed a long association with the Olympic Games; indeed, an Olympic torch from the 1948 Games in London was on display in the foyer at Loughborough.

Loughborough College spawned the University of Loughborough, and in the afternoon, Rod visited the Sports Technology Research Group, where, in the company of lecturer Dr Ben Halkon, he met the biomechanic researchers who had developed the football for the last World Cup, who offered fascinating insights into the stresses to which the prototype balls are exposed for testing purposes, and the different shapes considered. He also met a female researcher who designs shoes for athletes, which can improve their performance by 0.6% - a surprisingly high figure when hundredths of seconds can be the difference between gold and silver.

Professor Smith also visited the university’s Additive Manufacturing Research Group (AMRG), which is widely regarded as the world's leading centre for additive manufacturing research, development and dissemination. The research group which pushes forward the development and application of additive layer manufacturing technologies into main stream industrial applications, includes both internationally leading academics and one of the world's most comprehensive additive manufacturing laboratories, supported by state-of-the-art testing facilities.

Rod was given a fascinating insight into the possibilities of additive manufacturing by Richard Hague, the Professor of Innovative Manufacturing and AMRG Group Head Director, who is a Fellow of the Institution. He is also a colleague of Ian Campbell FIMechE, the Chair of the Institution’s East Midlands region, who kindly facilitated the visit to the AMRG.

A successful day in the region was topped off by the East Midlands Annual Dinner, held at Derbyshire County Cricket Ground. The event was attended by 250 people and raised nearly £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer. One of the novel fundraising activities on the evening was betting on how long a Stirling engine heated up on a cup of hot water. Among the guests were immediate past chair of the East Midlands, Bob Dewhurst, and Amit Mistry, the Young Member chair for the Leicester region who welcomed the chance to take part in the Presidential Visit, and as a result of participating, is going to arrange a young members’ visit to the AMRG and is looking to set up links with Loughborough College and its apprentices.

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From Brigitte Bardot’s curvy car to Thomas the Tank Engine: The latest Engineering Heritage Awards

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:57:03 GMT

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The ‘most beautiful car ever made’, a cold war icon and the railway that helped inspire Thomas the Tank Engine all joined the prestigious list of Engineering Heritage Award winners during a busy October and November.

The flood of new entries culminated in the presentation of the 69th award to the Jaguar E-type on Friday 25 November. The iconic car, which Enzo Ferrari called the most beautiful car ever made, became the first automobile to win an award just months after Jaguar Land Rover held celebrations to mark its 50th anniversary.

The most advanced sports car in the world upon its release in 1961, the Jaguar E-type became one of the most enduring symbols of the Swinging Sixties, with celebrities from Tony Curtis to Brigitte Bardot among its 72,000 owners.

Designed and manufactured in Coventry, the car could reach speeds of up to 150mph – unrivalled for a car on sale to the general public – and its sleek, curvaceous design was shaped by the emerging field of automotive aerodynamics. The E-type also pioneered breakthrough engineering technology – its combined monocoque spaceframe would later be adopted by Formula One.

The Engineering Heritage Award was presented by Professor Isobel Pollock, the Institution’s President Elect, to Mike Beasley, former Jaguar Land Rover Managing Director, and 90 year old Norman Dewis, the legendary Jaguar Test Driver and the first person to drive an E-type, at Jaguar’s Heritage Centre in Coventry. Institution members got the chance to go for a ride in one of four classic E-types around the Heritage Centre’s test track after the plaque was unveiled.

A week before the E-type ceremony, Past President John Wood made the journey to Rugby to present the 68th Heritage Award to the pioneering Willans Central Valve Steam Engine. The revolutionary engine is one of the unsung heroes of UK industrial history, generating over two-thirds of the country’s electricity in the 1890s and acting as an absolutely fundamental step towards a fully electrified Britain.

The engineer behind the Central Valve Steam Engine, Peter Willans, died tragically in a horse and cart accident soon after the completion of his engine and, as John Wood says: “Peter Willans’ huge contribution to the industrialisation of the UK and the mainstream use of electricity, has sadly largely been forgotten.”

“Willans’ untimely death cut short a life which was full of invention and promise and I hope this award goes some way to recognising the importance of this impressive example of British engineering, as well as Peter Willans’ achievements more generally.”

October began with a rededication ceremony for the Tees Transporter Bridge, which celebrated its 100th anniversary just days before. Winner of the 19th Heritage Award in 1993, the bridge stands proudly as Middlesbrough’s most iconic landmark and still functions as it did on its 1911 opening. Professor Roderick Smith, Institution President, unveiled a new plaque commemorating its centenary, commenting: “Middlesbrough has often been called the town that built the world, and the Tees Transporter Bridge stands as an iconic, world class example of Britain’s engineering skills.

"The fact that it has stood proudly against the elements for one hundred years is testament to the superb engineering that went into its design and construction, and it remains a proud part of Britain's industrial heritage.”

On 27 October Doncaster’s Robin Hood Airport hosted Isobel Pollock and members of the Institution’s Heritage Committee as the Vulcan Bomber, the last airworthy example of the RAF’s Cold War strategic bomber fleet, became the 66th winner of a Heritage Award. The local media also celebrated the bomber’s win with several radio interviews.

Launched in 1956, Vulcans carried Britain’s first nuclear weapon and soon became the backbone of Britain’s nuclear deterrent until Polaris submarines became operational in 1970. To this day the delta-winged bomber remains a much-loved triumph of British engineering, and the plane will take to the skies throughout 2012 for a Diamond Jubilee tour in honour of the Queen.

Just three days later Isobel Pollock made her way to Wales to present the 67th Heritage Award to the Talyllyn Railway. The historic narrow gauge line, originally opened in 1866, became the first volunteer-run heritage railway in the world in 1951 after rail enthusiast Tom Rolt put an advert in the Birmingham Post looking for like-minded volunteers to help save his beloved railway from imminent closure.

One of those volunteers was Reverend W. Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who joined the TRPS to work as a guard in 1952. The Skarloey Railway, which featured in eight of his Railway Series books, was based on Talyllyn and his experiences working on the rails.

The preservation movement that began at Talyllyn would sweep the globe. Since 1951 750 steam locomotives have been saved from the cutters torch and more than 100 heritage railways restored in the UK alone. Professor Pollock heralded the railway that began a movement: “The volunteers that saved the Talyllyn Railway 60 years ago were the first to recognise the importance of our Victorian railways, kicking off a preservation movement that has swept the globe.

“Today, from Australia to Zambia, rail enthusiasts are keeping an integral part of our industrial heritage alive thanks to the passion and commitment of those original Talyllyn volunteers.”

The members who made it to Gwynedd for the plaque unveiling were joined by BBC Wales, who put together a feature celebrating this engineering landmark.

For more information about Engineering Heritage Awards, please visit www.imeche.org/eha

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3 comments from readers

Alain Foote

25 November 2011 at 16.09

Surely it should be Tom Rolt not Tom Holt!

Dr John jefferis

25 November 2011 at 16.12

Probably Tom Rolt (not Tom Holt).
But well done to acknowledge all these significant pioneers.

Gary Withers

25 November 2011 at 16.39

As The IMechE is an authority on mechanical engineering, I would like to see some assurance that The IMechE create / contribute to relevant pages in the popular web based encyclopedias e.g. "Wikipedia". One example might be an entry for Peter Willans who currently has no entry in Wikipedia.

Nigerian engineers win global Population Challenge

evelyn alves — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:50:18 GMT

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A team of young engineers from Nigeria’s Anambra State University won first prize at the inaugural Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Population Challenge at the House of Commons on Wednesday 23 November, for proposals to deal with Nigeria’s growing food crisis.

Turning vegetable oil into fuel, making sea water drinkable and starting a rail revolution in the US were also among the proposals submitted by engineering groups from across the world to help society cope with an estimated population of 9.5 billion people by 2100.

The winning report, from Anambra State University’s Nuta Bolts engineering group, highlighted the fact that 65% of Nigeria’s food is currently being wasted in a country that is set to more than double its population over the next century. Better storage facilities, measures to stop small-scale corruption and a revamped transport system were all among the proposals. The ideas in the report will be presented to the Rio+20 Earth Summit next June.

The final was held in the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons, and, six MPs including Bob Smith MP, Andrew Mitchell MP, the Secretary of State for International Development and Roger Williams MP, came to hear the presentations, while Chris White MP and Mark Spencer MP joined the winning team members for dinner at One Birdcage Walk.

Onyenanu Ifeanyicitukusu, Team Leader of the Nuta Bolts, said:

“Food security is the most important issue facing Nigeria, with so much food being needlessly wasted. Yet the technology and the means to stop this waste already exist.

“We are very happy to have won this challenge, having spent sleepless nights over the past six months writing this report. We will now go back to Nigeria to present it to the Government.”

Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy and Environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “Coping with the world’s population boom over the rest of this century will be the biggest challenge facing society, touching every area of our lives from energy and water supply to transport and the food we eat.

“We will all rely on the next generation of engineers to come up with the solutions needed to meet the coming population crisis, which is why it is so encouraging to see such solid ideas and original thinking from the young engineers that took part in this challenge.”

Chief Executive, Stephen Tetlow, said: “All the competitors brought a huge amount of intellectual rigour to their reports and delivered great presentations. I advise all the finalists not to stop working on this topic, because it is the most important challenge for humanity. As engineers, we must organize ourselves to deliver the technical solutions required, and work with politicians who have the wherewithal to unlock the problem.”

The five Population Challenge finalists were:

Nuta Bolts (Nigeria) – Food Production in Nigeria
As much as 65% of food crops and fruit produced in Nigeria is wasted due to poor storage facilities. The construction of silos, cold rooms and ovens, as well as improving transport networks would reduce this needless wastage.
Arup (China) – Balance Between Water Supply & Demand in Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s population is still reliant on rainwater piped in from Guangdong Province, which is fast becoming the world’s industrial powerhouse. Yet as the population of the Province booms, Hong Kong may need to look to reverse osmosis to make seawater drinkable and waste water recycling to keep its growing population watered.
Green Engineering (Trinidad & Tobago) – Renewable Energy
With Trinidad & Tobago’s oil and gas reserves set to run out within the next ten years, biodiesel created from waste vegetable oil could be one alternative fuel that keeps the island group powered.
Engineering Nigeria (Nigeria) – Energy Solution for Nigeria
Lack of access to power is one of the biggest obstacles in the way of Nigeria’s development into a fully industrialised, prosperous nation, yet over half of the natural gas produced by the country’s booming oil industry is ‘flared’, or burnt away. In a country whose population is set to more than double by 2100, capturing this valuable resource is just one of many ways to make sure the nation gets the power it needs to move forward.
Atkins (USA) – Transport Integration in the USA
The USA’s current transport model of high car use and domestic air travel is unsustainable, due to both environmental concerns and rising fuel prices. Atkins proposed that Maglev and High Speed Rail schemes needs to be urgently implemented for long-distance journeys, while cycle schemes and improved bus services need to be put in place for short distances.

Find out more about the competition: http://www.imeche.org/knowledge/themes/environment/The-population-challenge

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4 comments from readers

Konigbagbe Stephen

26 November 2011 at 16.09

It is great that Nigerian are now taking there stand on the lane of history, setting the pace. this is just the beginning for Nigerians were are going places............ God bless Nigeria

Tom Greeves

27 November 2011 at 19.30

What an excellent series of presentations. All are badly needed with the present level of population and need to be acted upon asap.
What concerns me is the lack of action to educate the global population, especially younger women, about the unsustainability of further population growth, and lack of efforts to deal with the incentives for a high birth rate such as poverty, lack of medical support, and certain cultural traditions. Maybe not an engineering problem but something that needs to be said to Governments and the local media.

Keith Armstrong

28 November 2011 at 10.53

Some interesting reports. Very glad to know that Nigerians are considering their food security. It is high time the UK did the same. We have been overpopulated since 1800 and last produced enough wheat for our own needs in 1792. Our population then was 9 million. How food insecure are we now with with 63 million!!!
We are trying to become self-sufficient in energy supply but we don't even talk about food security although Prince Charles has raised this issue a few times.
The whole world needs to spend more effort on birth control and stop the problem from increasing. We may be Engineers but we can't make the world any bigger and bio fuel won't feed people!! When will the UK wake up!!

Chigozie Nwachuya

1 December 2011 at 09.38

This is a great feat for NUTA_BOLTS team of Anambra State University, Nigeria. Indeed it is a stepping stone for the greater things more to come in the history of engineering in Anambra State, in Nigeria and in the world at large. They have really profered solutions to challenges of population using food production in Nigeria as a case study. This passionate solutions proposed if well harnesd will go a long way to improving the world through engineering. Please Never Unscrew Technology Absenting Boys Of Landmark Team Spirit.