Engineering Matters

Latest Episodes:

#231 Powering Net Zero Sep 14, 2023

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Governments and businesses around the world have made commitments to achieve Net Zero by the middle of the century. This will require engineering innovation, and changes to practices, standards and regulations, across the generation, transmission, storage and transport segments. In this episode we explore the challenges and how they intersect. The IET’s Powering Net Zero...

#230 National Security’s New Frontlines Sep 07, 2023

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In our increasingly complex and interconnected world, wars are fought not only on the battlefield, but within the infrastructure that supports our society. To address these challenges, engineers must adopt a ‘secure by design’ approach that identifies risks from the outset. Just as cyberattacks extend threats to a new digital domain, so too is climate...

#229 Chip Manufacturing and the World’s Most Complex Machine Aug 31, 2023

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Ever since the first computer chip was created the size of transistors on chips has been getting smaller and smaller. Gordon Moore, who went on to co-found Intel, predicted the doubling of number of transistors on a chip would double every two years, over the last 60 years this has been true but only thanks...

#228 Hydrogen, and the road to Net Zero building materials Aug 24, 2023

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For consumers, and for many businesses, the road to Net Zero is simple: replace fossil fuels with electricity, source the electricity from renewable sources, and use it as efficiently as possible, But this isn’t a road every business can follow. Some have energy requirements so intense, that they cannot be easily powered from the grid....

#227 Electrifying the Skies: Harbour Air’s Green Revolution Aug 17, 2023

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The De Havilland Beaver is a single pilot, seven passenger piston airplane that’s an icon of Canadian aviation. It has been out of production for over 50 years but is still a popular plane for short flights to Canada’s most remote areas. The De Havilland Beaver now finds itself on the cutting edge of aviation....

#226 Gaming: A New Engine for Engagement Aug 10, 2023

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What can an engineer or town planner learn from a computer game Viking? In this episode, we look at how one design team is using real time simulations, or gaming engines, to develop accessible ways of communicating engineering proposal to the public. Games such as Valheim challenge players to survive in a world of richly...

#225 Saudi Arabia: Preserving the past, building the future Aug 03, 2023

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Saudi Arabia has set out on a journey. This historic land is today home to a young country: a quarter of the population are under 15; more than 40% are younger than 25; and 90% are under 55 years old. The country aims to build a diversified economy that will provide new opportunities for this...

#224 Power lines, helicopters, and data analysis Jul 27, 2023

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Power companies like National Grid Electricity Distribution, have used helicopters to monitor power lines for decades. Once, an inspector would check each component visually from the helicopter. Today, they are backed up by a data specialist, who manages the acquisition of LIDAR and other data. The ability of these companies to acquire detailed data over...

#223 Data and collaboration, operations and maintenance Jul 20, 2023

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The operations and maintenance (O&M) sector has changed significantly since the inception of the 3P, or public private partnership, model in the 1990s. Once, these contracts merely assigned O&M responsibilities. Today, clients want suppliers to help them implement specific social and environmental values. This is changing the way O&M contractors work. They must collaborate closely...

#222 Revisited: The future of 3D printing Jul 13, 2023

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In episode #221, Engineering Matters looked at a new way of manufacturing feedstocks for plastics. This approach will eliminate the use for oil products, instead making use of plant-based materials, which will also help remove carbon from the atmosphere. But eliminating the use of finite oil resources is only one part of the circular economy....

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