• Siemens to build major battery storage facility in Germany

    Siemens to build major battery storage facility in Germany

    Siemens Smart Infrastructure and Zukunftsenergie Nordostbayern GmbH have together signed a letter of intent in Wunsiedel for the turnkey construction of a 100MW battery storage facility in the German town. The plant, with a storage capacity of 200MWh, is intended to use surplus renewable energy and cover demand peaks in the power grid. The 5,000 square-metre energy storage facility is capable of supplying 20,000 typical households with electricity for a year. The lithium-ion battery storage system will be provided by Fluence, a joint venture between Siemens and AES. Siemens will handle project management, including a technical implementation concept, as well as the construction of a medium-voltage switchgear system and connection to the high-voltage grid. The letter of intent also includes…

  • National Grid to be stripped of role operating UK’s electricity networks

    National Grid to be stripped of role operating UK’s electricity networks

    In 2017, Ofgem gave National Grid two years to separate its functions involved in operating the electricity system. This led to the creation of the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) in 2019, although it was still owned outright by National Grid. However, in January Ofgem recommended creating a new body entirely free from National Grid that would lead the transformation of the UK’s electricity system to its long term goal of carbon-free power. It was also concerned that the relationship between National Grid and its subsidiary ESO could create conflicts of interest. It seems the Government has now taken that recommendation on board and will, according to The Times, unveil a consultation outlining the creation of a “Future System Operator”. The body would manage the UK’s electricity…

  • View from India: Airports adapt to post-pandemic travel

    View from India: Airports adapt to post-pandemic travel

    Nowadays, the airport is more like a city. Looking ahead, large airports could start to resemble an integrated township, complete with shopping malls, hospitality brands and hospital units. “As the airport will have all the tech updates of a smart city, operational efficiencies will improve and sustenance will become profitable. Sustenance takes into account the electricity-water usage and wastage,” suggested Sanjay Sudhakaran, CEO, Schneider Electric Infrastructure Limited, speaking at a recent webinar hosted by CII/Schneider, titled 'Sustainable and Resilient Airports of Tomorrow'. Software solutions could help in the management of electricity and water, with software tools and data analytics to enable ease of operations. A data-centric approach could help in creating a seamless experience…

  • Analysis: Illegal gold mining in Peru set to continue

    Analysis: Illegal gold mining in Peru set to continue

    The price of gold is sensitive to crisis, but can itself be the cause of turmoil, especially in an environmental context. During the past year and a half of the global pandemic, the gold price reached historic heights. As a result, an artisanal gold-mining boom swept the world, notably in countries that are but resource-rich. From African states like Ghana or the Democratic Republic of Congo , to Indonesia in Asia, dangerous and often deadly illegal gold-mining has flourished. Some criminal narcotics gangs are even said to have dropped the drug trade and are concentrating on artisanal gold mining because of its higher profitability. Despite a global illegal gold-mining trend, its impact might be nowhere near as consequential and devastating for the climate as it is right now in Latin…

  • Sensors on floor of Atlantic Ocean to measure Earth’s ‘pulse’

    Sensors on floor of Atlantic Ocean to measure Earth’s ‘pulse’

    The seismometers, which detect vibrations due to seismic waves, will be deployed in an array across a region encompassing the Canary Islands and the archipelagos of Azores and Madeira. They will continuously record Earth’s ground motions over the course of a year. The project particularly aims to gain more knowledge about massive “upwellings” of material pushing up from Earth’s mantle, which are poorly understood because they can occur far from the boundaries of continental plates and are therefore not covered by plate tectonic theories. Professor Ana Ferreira of UCL Earth Sciences said: “This is a first of a kind seismic experiment. It is the first time we have covered such a large region of the North Atlantic Ocean with these highly sensitive instruments. By analysing their data, we hope…

  • The eccentric engineer: ‘child hatching’ to save premature babies

    The eccentric engineer: ‘child hatching’ to save premature babies

    Persuading old institutions to adopt new technologies hard, and when the Establishment turns against you, even the best ideas can be relegated to the ranks of side-shows. In the 19th century, premature babies stood only about a 50 per cent chance of surviving due to their inability to maintain homeostasis. The first baby incubator was developed from Stéphane Étienne Tarnier’s idea that this might be controlled by isolation and a rigorous hygiene and feeding regime in a warm, humid environment. Tarnier introduced his prototype incubators, based on poultry incubators he’d seen at the Paris zoo, to the Paris Maternité in 1881. Simple devices – wooden boxes with glass lids, lined with hot water bottles – they reduced infant mortality at the hospital by 28 per cent. Soon more sophisticated machines…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Scottish Power and Shell propose North Sea floating windfarm

    Scottish Power and Shell propose North Sea floating windfarm

    The companies say their plan will create new jobs in the region (the north-east of Scotland) and contribute towards the UK’s 2050 net-zero carbon emissions target. Floating offshore wind is expected to be a significant area of green growth this decade as technology costs fall. It could prove a particularly cost-effective approach in areas with deep waters where fixed offshore wind is not feasible, such as the site to the north-east of Scotland proposed by the companies. The Scottish coast is seen as an ideal location for offshore wind investment thanks to the Scottish government’s renewable energy ambitions and geographic considerations. Hywind Scotland – the first floating offshore wind farm – has the highest average capacity factor for any wind farm in the country, with average capacity…

  • New broadband tech enables 25 gigabits on existing infrastructure

    New broadband tech enables 25 gigabits on existing infrastructure

    Currently, the fastest speeds available to consumers top out around 1 gigabit, and even these speeds are only scantly available in the UK. The ‘25G PON’ technology can deliver download speeds of 25 gigabits per second over a single optical fibre, and it can run on the same underlying infrastructure that Openreach is already building across the UK. This means the technology could be rolled out relatively easily and quickly allowing consumers and businesses to upgrade without disruption. While the technology has been tested at Openreach’s Adastral Park lab in Ipswich, Nokia and Openreach plan to launch a field trial by the end of 2021 that will more clearly demonstrate how easily it can be integrated into current infrastructure. The trial will put the technology through its paces using…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Chancellor welcomes new manufacturing hub in Leeds

    Chancellor welcomes new manufacturing hub in Leeds

    UK tech start-up UtterBerry has bought premises in Leeds, which will open in the autumn, and will create up to 1,000 positions. UtterBerry, a spin-out from Cambridge University, is known for its AI sensor technology which has been used on projects such as Crossrail, Thames Tideway and London Underground. “There is so much talent in the area, and I want to invest in local people to create the jobs for the future,” said Heba Bevan, UtterBerry’s chief executive. “We’re proud to be bringing unique jobs to the area and to build the technology of the future in the heart of the city.” She added: “As the nation builds back stronger after the pandemic, we are looking forward to building the manufacturing hub that will educate and train the next generation and give opportunities to local workers…

  • Gigafactory ambitions ‘face dead end’ without extra investment

    Gigafactory ambitions ‘face dead end’ without extra investment

    The committee concluded that a government scheme intended to support the establishment of ‘gigafactories’ with the Automotive Transformation Fund is insufficient for the scale of ambition. The entire fund is worth £500m but a single Gigafactory costs £2-4bn to establish. There is one official Gigafactory in Europe (Giga Berlin), which will manufacture battery packs and powertrains for Tesla EVs. Deutsche Welle estimates that the factory will cost €4bn, of which the EU contributed €1bn from the €2.9bn European Battery Innovation fund. Witnesses told the committee that national governments in other European countries are supporting factories with £750m each. There are no so-called gigafactories in the UK, although the struggling automotive sector has been heartened in recent months with…

  • Scientists turn methane into methanol at room temperature

    Scientists turn methane into methanol at room temperature

    Methanol is used to make various products, such as paints and plastics, and as an additive to gasoline. According to experts, methanol, which is rich in hydrogen, can drive new-age fuel cells that could yield significant environmental benefits. If natural gas, of which methane is the primary component, could be converted economically into methanol, experts believe the resulting liquid fuel would be much more easily stored and transported than natural gas and pure hydrogen. That also would greatly reduce the emissions of methane from natural gas processing plants and pipelines. Today, escaped methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide, nearly negates the environmental advantages of natural gas over oil and coal. To use this knowledge, a team of researchers from…

  • Public transport and buildings need better ventilation to cope with virus threat

    Public transport and buildings need better ventilation to cope with virus threat

    Published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the report finds that leading engineers believe ventilation is too often neglected, and the Covid-19 pandemic in particular has exposed flaws in the way in which we design, manage and operate buildings. With the government ending all lockdown rules from Monday but Covid cases rising rapidly again, experts have stressed the importance of employing simple steps to minimise the virus’s spread. The report warns that unless the ventilation issues are addressed, future pandemics could impose high financial and health costs on society and constrain our ability to address other challenges such as climate change. Efforts to increase resilience to infection must also work alongside the delivery of significant carbon emission savings from our buildings…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Back story: Esmeralda Ypsilanti, ‘There is more of a push in the UK to diversify engineering’

    Back story: Esmeralda Ypsilanti, ‘There is more of a push in the UK to diversify engineering’

    Shini Somara: What inspired you to go into engineering? Esmeralda Ypsilanti: I was interested in designing products that make life easier for people. I enjoy bringing human-centric engineering to design in objects that facilitate people’s lives. SS: Are diverse and inclusive teams important in engineering? EY:   Definitely. Homogeneous teams predominantly design for people who look, act, and use things the same way they do. The more diverse a team, the more perspectives, opinions, and use-cases on the project, then the more viable for everyone. For example, new products are a lot more inclusive of people with disabilities, who occupy a huge portion of the population. This is thanks to diverse and inclusive engineering teams. SS:   I’m really inspired by your confidence. Where does that…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • The measure of: Trombia Free autonomous electric street sweeper

    The measure of: Trombia Free autonomous electric street sweeper

    Developed by Finnish road maintenance equipment manufacturer Trombia Technologies, Trombia Free is an autonomous electric street-cleaner that uses less than 15 per cent of the power needed by current sweeping technologies and 95 per cent less water, while still being capable of heavy-duty operation, effectively removing both debris and fine PM2.5 dust. Image credit: . Built to operate in all weather conditions, the Trombia Free has the look of an oversized robotic vacuum cleaner or lawnmower. It makes use of lidar and machine vision technology to trundle around cleaning up city streets and pathways. The company equipped the sweeper with a safety margin zone so it can register obstacles in front and stop if needed. Vital statistics Working width: 2.2m (up to 3m…

  • Summer STEM Challenge: The Vacuum Engine

    Summer STEM Challenge: The Vacuum Engine

    “I sell what all the world desires: power.” So said Birmingham’s Matthew Boulton when he partnered with James Watt to make the world’s first powerful industrial engines. They were actually 'vacuum engines', with vacuum from condensing steam on one side of their pistons and atmospheric pressure on the other side. Here’s how to make a big working model of those pioneer engines, using a bike wheel, plastic plumbing and vacuum cleaner power instead of steam. Boulton and Watt’s enormous steam engines had a piston in a cylinder, pulling and pushing the flywheel via a crankpin and a valve to turn the vacuum on only when the piston is being sucked down and not otherwise. The valve needs to move with a quarter-turn lag after the piston. A front bike wheel makes a good flywheel since it has ball…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Teardown: Apple iMac 2021 desktop computer

    Teardown: Apple iMac 2021 desktop computer

    Apple’s strongest products have often been those that combine market-leading industrial design with ease-of-use. The 24-inch M1-powered 2021 iMac desktop computer aims to join that group. It may be serendipitous that the latest iMac arrives during a pandemic that has made mainstream consumers more conscious of the hardware that sits in the living room and elsewhere around the house. For many of them, working from home has meant sitting in front of a screen for much of the day as well as perhaps making it available for homeschooling. The iMac line has always aimed to look good. In its latest incarnation, the computer is a mere 11.5mm thick and available in seven colours, strong tones at the back and more muted ones at the front. It has then been configured to do all the things typical…

  • AmpliTube X-Gear FX pedals launched with hardware-software integration

    AmpliTube X-Gear FX pedals launched with hardware-software integration

    Each of the new AmpliTube X-Gear pedals features 16 different effects, drawn from the most popular AmpliTube virtual models already found in IK's popular amp and stomp box modelling software, as well as all-new reverb and delay algorithms from the IK team. Each pedal is accompanied by an exclusive virtual X-Gear version of the same effects hardware for use within AmpliTube 5. An SE version of that program will be included with each hardware pedal to facilitate this. The hardware-software integration will allow users to record, tweak settings and save presets (up to 300 for each pedal) from their computer back to the hardware pedal, giving more freedom and extending the usefulness of each of the pedals. The inaugural four AmpliTube X-Gear pedals will be the X-Drive, for distortion and overdrive…

  • Should we trust machine learning?

    Should we trust machine learning?

    For better or worse, says Brian Christian, questions that link ethics and technology, particularly in the field of machine learning “are not going away. In some ways I see this as one of the defining challenges of the decade ahead of us.” By ‘this’ he is referring to the core subject of his new book ‘The Alignment Problem’, which tackles the question of how we can ensure that the growth industry of machine learning “is behaving in the way we expect it to. How do we make sure that we can trust it and that we are safe and comfortable?” Machine learning, says the author, whose previous books have included ‘The Most Human Human’ and ‘Algorithms to Live By,’ “is the fastest-growing sub-field in artificial intelligence and one of the most exciting things happening in science today, full stop”.…

  • Tower of London to offer mixed-reality experiences

    Tower of London to offer mixed-reality experiences

    Layered Reality, which develops digital immersive experiences, including feature-length mixed-reality experiences, for the entertainment sector, said in a statement that it will create an “all-new experience which will explore the landmark’s history in a completely new way”. The company’s ‘Layered Reality’ experiences are based on three multimedia elements: digital elements such as VR scenes, projection mapping, ‘holograms’ , and binaural sound; immersive sets which participants can walk around and interact with live actors; and physical sensations such as temperature, scent, movement, and touch. There are scant details about what the 10-year partnership will involve, although Layered Reality promises a “landmark new experience” which combines live actors, interactivity, VR, and unspecified…

  • 3D-printed knee implants made of metal could cut decades of pain

    3D-printed knee implants made of metal could cut decades of pain

    The high tibial osteotomy (HTO) implants are made of titanium alloy, and are designed to reduce discomfort for knee osteoarthritis patients The ease of 3D printing makes their production relatively simple and could allow for earlier intervention, potentially saving patients decades of pain before surgery becomes viable The implants are due to be trialled on UK patients, following a virtual ‘in-silico’ trial that demonstrated the technique's safety. Using CT scan data from 28 patients, the trial modelled the stresses that would be exerted on the bespoke plates digitally and showed they would be comparable in safety to the standard treatment. The process, called TOKA (Tailored Osteotomy for Knee Alignment), is used to realign a patient’s knee, making it more stable, comfortable and better…

  • ‘Engineers don’t often get much recognition’: Professor Hugh Griffiths OBE

    ‘Engineers don’t often get much recognition’: Professor Hugh Griffiths OBE

    “It really does seem such an honour, because engineers don’t often get much recognition,” says Hugh Griffiths on being elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society. The 2021 elite cohort will, in time, Covid restrictions permitting, attend a ceremony in the Society’s storied halls in Carlton House Terrace, where he will be in elevated company. The Royal Society has counted among its fellows such names as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, Ernest Rutherford and Albert Einstein. Fellowship of the Royal Society is awarded to those who have made a “substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science, and medical science”. It allows laureates to use the post-nominal letters ‘FRS’, which, for the onlooking engineering community…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • Online Media Literacy Strategy seeks to help young people navigate disinformation

    Online Media Literacy Strategy seeks to help young people navigate disinformation

    The strategy [PDF] will involve training teachers, library staff, youth workers, and carers to help young people spot disinformation, including how to critically analyse the content they consume. According to research by the National Literacy Trust, just 2 per cent of children have developed sufficient critical-thinking skills to spot disinformation online. Concerns are not limited to children; the coronavirus pandemic has inspired a wave of dangerous disinformation and misinformation, including falsehoods about vaccines, 5G technology, and the origins of the virus. These falsehoods have led to instances of arson and harassment of telecoms and healthcare workers. Digital minister Oliver Dowden decried real-life harms done by consumers of disinformation. He wrote in a statement: “We want…

    IET EngX
    IET EngX
  • 3D-printed steel bridge loaded with sensors opens for pedestrians in Amsterdam

    3D-printed steel bridge loaded with sensors opens for pedestrians in Amsterdam

    The bridge was installed over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal in Amsterdam’s Red Light District and was unveiled today (July 15) by a robot. The project has been in development since 2015 by Dutch start-up MX3D and uses torch-wielding robot welders for its construction. Researchers from Imperial College London (ICL) will now measure, monitor and analyse the performance of the 12-metre-long structure as it handles pedestrian traffic. The data collected will enable them to measure the bridge’s ‘health’ in real time, monitor how it changes over its lifespan and understand how the public interacts with 3D-printed infrastructure. The data from the sensors will be put into a ‘digital twin’ of the bridge – a computerised version which will imitate the physical bridge with growing accuracy…

  • Labs go auto

    Labs go auto

    The Covid-19 crisis has taxed biomedical laboratories to their utmost, under the urgent imperatives of rapid diagnostic testing and drug discovery. On top of workflow pressures, facilities had to cope with the added stresses of workplace distancing and staff sickness. For many, the pandemic has highlighted a need to automate many standard laboratory procedures sooner rather than later. Automated technology has become increasingly important in the conduct of many types of standard lab-based work. Collaborative robots – cobots – can now be configured to perform routine tests such as batch sample screening and even chemical experimentation. As well as helping to reduce chances of human error caused by heavy workloads, automation also releases researchers from repetitive tasks, enabling them…

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