-
Apr 18, 2019 | 06:01 am
It survived the French Revolution and two world wars. The landmark is part of Paris’ soul, embodying the city’s history and partially shaping its identity through its religious and architectural significance. The Notre Dame de Paris, a jewel in the French crown, and a marvel of civil engineering, has suffered extensive damage due to fire.The stunning monument has stood for over 850 years, which made watching it go up in flames so quickly on live television all the more devastating. It has seen much of Paris’ story unfold; the coronations of both Henry IV of England in 1431 and Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804 took place within these walls. Famous French author Victor Hugo set his 1831 classic “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” here — the book is one of the reasons the cathedral got its much needed renovations in the nineteenth century.Source: Thibault CamusWork began on the Notre Dame in[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 16, 2019 | 04:28 am
Taking a high-rise structure from concept to completion is no easy task — structural and geotechnical engineers usually face an array of design-related challenges. From vulnerability, to seismic activity, to understanding the risks of underlying soils, designing a tall building is a feat within itself.However, engineers in Kenya can rejoice as The Britam Tower in Nairobi has been named as having the best in mechanical and electrical engineering by The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).The CTBUH recently announced their winners of the Best Tall Building Worldwide and Category Winners at the 16th Annual CTBUH Awards Program, which recognizes projects and individuals that have made significant contributions to the advancement of tall buildings that also achieve sustainability at the highest level.Source: Gapp ArchitectsThe Britam Tower, which is the tallest building in Kenya, beat four other projects to the prize, including the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco who won[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 15, 2019 | 08:01 am
Scientists believe if we’re going to combat climate change, we need to electrify all forms of transport. In fact, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the demand for air travel by 2050 could increase aviation sector greenhouse gases by 700 per cent compared to emissions in 2005.As it stands, aviation is responsible for two percent of the world’s carbon emissions. While at cruising altitude, conventional aircraft release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which also have a harmful effect on the environment.Therefore, it’s critical for engineers to find a way to decarbonize aircraft.Source: Harbour AirProfessor of energy and transport at University College London Andreas Schäfer said, “If you look at the opportunities for reducing aviation CO2 that have been looked at for a long time, then you’re running out of options. The potential for reducing CO2 emissions is not sufficiently strong in comparison to the growth rate of air transport.”So[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 15, 2019 | 07:40 am
Flying cars could be the key to lowering carbon emissions through sustainable transport in the future, according to a new study.The University of Michigan has found while flying cars — which are technically called electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or VTOLs — are not justifiable for short trips, they have a niche role in sustainable transport for trips further than 100km.The researchers also found that flying cars could be crucial to reducing congestion in big cities. According to the authors of a joint study from the University of Michigan’s Centre for Sustainable Systems and the Ford Motor Company, this would involve a flying ride-share taxi service.Source: Dave Brenner/University of Michigan School for Environment and SustainabilityFor example, a fully loaded VTOL with a driver and three passengers would produce less greenhouse gas than a regular car, which carries 1.54 people on average. The study found they produced 52 per cent[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 12, 2019 | 01:39 am
Judith Resnik never planned on being an astronaut. Her dreams were initially set on being a professional concert pianist. However, in the end, she was neither. Resnik was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot, the first Jewish American in space and the fourth woman in space.Born in 1949 to Sarah and Marvin, both Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Resnik grew up in a simple home in Akron, Ohio. Her father was an optometrist and her mother a former legal secretary; however, they would divorce when Resnik was just a teenager. With a fond crush on Tom Selleck and an infamous halo of dark hair, Resnik excelled at many things throughout her life. An outstanding student, she shone in areas of mathematics, languages and music. She would go on to earn a perfect score in her SAT exams.Source: WikipediaResnik pursued studies in mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, only to develop[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 11, 2019 | 06:08 am
Until yesterday, every image you have seen of a black hole has been digitally rendered.Despite being theorized for well over two hundred years and being common knowledge to even those outside the realm of astronomy, it has been all too easy to forget that we have never actually seen one.Looking a bit like an out of focus doughnut, this groundbreaking first image shows a supermassive black hole found at the center of M87, a galaxy near our very own Milky Way.The image is composed of a fiery looking halo surrounding a dark center. That center is the black holes event horizon, the point at which the gravitational pull becomes so strong that not even light can escape. The halo around it is a combination of dust and gas, the only thing that makes this image even possible to see.Source: Event Horizon TelescopeSitting 55 million light years from Earth and measuring[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 9, 2019 | 07:10 am
Multinational oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil is working towards a clean energy future. They are embarking on a process of introducing technology into industrial plants that will make them more sustainable into the future.A new television advert from the company shows that their engineers and scientists are working towards refining carbon capture technology for industrial plants. By replicating the real process of how plants capture carbon dioxide, they are hoping industrial plants and power stations could do the same.The World Economic Forum is suggesting that carbon capture ‘could be the game-changer the world needs with investment into clean energy technologies being a crucial move. According to the IPCC SR 15 report, investment into clean energy and energy efficiency technology needs to increase ‘by roughly a factor of five’ by 2050 if we are to keep global warming at 1.5 Celsius.This is especially important for engineering industries as 60% of[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 9, 2019 | 06:50 am
The Paris Climate Agreement is ringing alarm bells for engineering industries around the world. The message of the agreement seems clear: transition or die. Extreme weather events, rising sea levels, smog pollution and deforestation issues are no longer something we can undermine.Australia was one of the participating nations who signed the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. The Australia Labor Party made a promise to the public that they would cut emissions by 26 percent by the year 2030 if put into power in the next election.Despite the promise, many are concerned that the party will be all-talk and no action. It seems targeting emissions in all levels of Australian society is a bigger task than the government anticipated as Australia’s emissions have actually been rising. What is actually being done?Australia has shown some promise in the photovoltaic sector. There are a significant number of utility solar projects run by both government[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 9, 2019 | 06:11 am
Engineering legacies are all around us. They are constant reminders of the hard work done by engineers who came before us and how, against all odds, they were able to create incredible industries, build amazing marvels, and improve the world that they lived in.What kind of engineers paved the way for the industries we know and love today? Well as it turns out, they were no different to the engineering students who are endeavoring to change the world we live in today.Henry Royce never went to university. He was not from a wealthy background, but he had a knack for engineering. He made a career for himself by fitting into technical roles until he eventually founded a company in 1884 known as FH Royce and Company. They would produce dynamos, electric cranes and other small-sized electrical equipment.Henry Royce was particularly enamored by the sector of mechanical engineering related to motor[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 4, 2019 | 04:03 am
World Water Day (22 March) has come and gone - blink and you would have missed it. However, an organization that didn't miss it was The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the United Kingdom. They used this day to celebrate the civil engineers making a difference in the world of water infrastructure.ICE hosted an exhibition with real-life engineers, both active and retired, who dressed up as engineering-inspired superheroes. They hosted two exhibitions named ‘Invisible Superheroes' and ‘Water: From Source to Tap.'Source: WWTOnlineThe purpose of the exhibitions was to inform young attendees about career prospects in civil engineering and to speak about the importance of clean water in our future. The ‘superheroes' were there to also inform about threats to the water infrastructure in the UK; mainly, ‘fatbergs and flooding.'Fatbergs are masses of solid waste that get lodged in sewerage systems. These piles of waste mainly consist of congealed fat[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 4, 2019 | 03:37 am
Pick-and-place robots are predicted to fully replace factory floor workers in the future. However, before these robots take over the floor, they will have to become more flexible with the objects they can pick-and-place. It all has to do with the robot's ‘vision.'Making pick-and-place robots ‘see’ the objects they are to be picking up is not easy work. Things can often go wrong when a robot tries to pick up an object it has never encountered before.However, a team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory developed the idea that they could assign 3D key points which would help the robot identify where and how to pick new objects up. They call their innovation kPAM - or Key point Affordance Manipulation.Source: CSAIL | kPAMRuss Tedrake, the senior author of the report, wrote:“Understanding just a little bit more about the object - the location of a few key points -[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 4, 2019 | 03:08 am
A priority of all engineering companies is the implementation of workplace safety and with the development of new safety technologies, industrial environments are closing than ever to achieving accident-free workplaces.British-Dutch oil and gas company Shell has pledged for the last five years to continually ensure impeccable safety across every level of their company.It all started with their Goal Zero ambition to achieve no harm and no leaks across all of their oil-related operations and then spread out to their other enterprises. The goal is outlined on their website and says:“To achieve Goal Zero, we focus on the three areas of safety hazards which have the highest risks for our type of activities: personal, process, and transport safety. We set consistent, high safety standards across Shell and we expect all of our employees and contractors to meet them..."Source: IBMSafety in the Engineering industry is a leading example of teamwork with many[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 4, 2019 | 02:43 am
India’s government is under scrutiny after a bridge collapse in Mumbai left at least six people dead and 36 people injured.This is the third foot-overbridge tragedy India has seen in just two years, placing a harsh spotlight on the shortcomings of India’s infrastructure sector who struggle to stay up to date with modern practices and maintenance requirements.Source: Bhushan KoyandeShirish B Patel, an urban planner and civil engineer, says that what’s happening in the case of the various bridge collapses is a result of hastily appointed designers and engineers who are not necessarily the most skilled but the cheapest to hire.“Over time the quality of design is sure to degrade, as designers pursue lowering costs and cutting corners rather than enhancing their skills. Salaries are cut, fewer of the brighter students enter the profession, and the downward spiraling cycle continues.”Just four days after the collapse, Neeraj Kumar Desai of Prof D.D.Desai’s[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 4, 2019 | 01:00 am
Algate Panyika Mtemah is an Engineering Institute of Technology born and bred in Zimbabwe. He is currently working in the Metal and Minerals Processing Plant industry. He studied EIT's 52724WA - Advanced Diploma in Civil and Structural Engineering. To say he has done it all is an understatement.He is fond of the application of knowledge in innovative engineering design, construction, operation, and maintenance. His daily responsibilities include quantity costing of mining project processing plants.Algate loves witnessing the building of mining plants from scratch, seeing the final product and seeing it ready to be sold on the market. He is fascinated by the interdisciplinary fashion in which the industry operates. He says you can expect to see all sectors at work: civil, mechanical, industrial, electrical and chemical engineering.Algate has enjoyed a wonderful career of employment and on-the-job learning — while also studying towards achieving recognition in the engineering industry.He spent his[…]
Read more...
-
Apr 3, 2019 | 07:45 am
A private research university in Rhode Island is making substantial strides in the world of nanoscale engineering.Researchers at Brown University have figured out how things stick together at the nano level, and this discovery could help inform micro and nanoscale device manufacturers.The researchers have published their findings in Scientific Reports. The lead author of the study, Haneesh Kesari, says there have been theories about how things stick together at the nanoscale level in the last 100 years, but nothing has explained it as well as their research does.Source: Kesari Lab / Brown UniversityThe engineers found that at the smallest of scales adhesive forces known as van der Waals forces exist. Kesari, who is also an assistant professor in Brown's School of Engineering, explained in a press statement: “At the sub-micron scales, the adhesive forces become dominant, while the force due to gravity is essentially meaningless by comparison. That is why small[…]
Read more...
It survived the French Revolution and two world wars. The landmark is part of Paris’ soul, embodying the city’s history and partially shaping its identity through its religious and architectural significance. The Notre Dame de Paris, a jewel in the[…]
Taking a high-rise structure from concept to completion is no easy task — structural and geotechnical engineers usually face an array of design-related challenges. From vulnerability, to seismic activity, to understanding the risks of underlying soils, designing a tall building[…]
Scientists believe if we’re going to combat climate change, we need to electrify all forms of transport. In fact, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization, the demand for air travel by 2050 could increase aviation sector greenhouse gases by[…]
Flying cars could be the key to lowering carbon emissions through sustainable transport in the future, according to a new study.The University of Michigan has found while flying cars — which are technically called electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft,[…]
Judith Resnik never planned on being an astronaut. Her dreams were initially set on being a professional concert pianist. However, in the end, she was neither. Resnik was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot, the first Jewish[…]
Until yesterday, every image you have seen of a black hole has been digitally rendered.Despite being theorized for well over two hundred years and being common knowledge to even those outside the realm of astronomy, it has been all too[…]
Multinational oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil is working towards a clean energy future. They are embarking on a process of introducing technology into industrial plants that will make them more sustainable into the future.A new television advert from the[…]
The Paris Climate Agreement is ringing alarm bells for engineering industries around the world. The message of the agreement seems clear: transition or die. Extreme weather events, rising sea levels, smog pollution and deforestation issues are no longer something we[…]
Engineering legacies are all around us. They are constant reminders of the hard work done by engineers who came before us and how, against all odds, they were able to create incredible industries, build amazing marvels, and improve the world[…]
World Water Day (22 March) has come and gone - blink and you would have missed it. However, an organization that didn't miss it was The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the United Kingdom. They used this day to[…]
