http://www.theengineer.co.uk/xmlservers/RecentlyCommentedStoriestRSS.aspx http://www.theengineer.co.uk/xmlservers/RecentlyCommentedStoriestRSS.aspx http://www.theengineer.co.uk/magazine/graphics/logo.png http://www.theengineer.co.uk http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/and-now-for-the-good-news-about-uk-apprenticeships/1011681.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/and-now-for-the-good-news-about-uk-apprenticeships/1011681.article @David Evans: I agreed with you right up until you said "set the starting salary at £40k or whatever to match the City" at which point I coughed into my coffee. Within the existing Western system, you’ll never get engineering salaries to compete with ‘the City’ (by which I assume you mean the bankers etc.) – it’s not right, we’re not ‘worth less than them’ but it’s just never going to fly. Fortunately, the kind of people we need for engineering are unlikely to be the same sort that would fancy a job in banking, and probably vice versa too. All the same, relatively crap salaries remains an issue in engineering in the UK in particular, aided and abetted by a curious lack of respect for the profession that built Britain up so well in the first place, and could yet save it from terminal decline. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:59 GMT 10 Feb 2012 4:59 pm 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/electronics/news/nanoparticle-infused-oil-could-improve-transformer-cooling/1011673.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/electronics/news/nanoparticle-infused-oil-could-improve-transformer-cooling/1011673.article ...following Mr. Taylors comments... -curious about particle settling over time. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15 GMT 10 Feb 2012 4:15 pm 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/news/government-sets-up-offshore-renewable-energy-centre/1011677.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/news/government-sets-up-offshore-renewable-energy-centre/1011677.article Why doesn't President Obama do the same thing across the pond? He talks the talk, but so far has not walked the walk! Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:04 GMT 10 Feb 2012 2:04 pm William Ingham 5350 1 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/scotlands-renewables-ambition/1011565.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/scotlands-renewables-ambition/1011565.article I have long been disappointed that the great concentration of renewable is on wind. This source is less reliable than other forms and it has been suggested that not more than 20% of energy demand should be supplied by this method not only because of its unreliability but also because it can only be used when available so a lot of energy will go to waste at night. Scotland already has two pumped storage schemes which can help to use excess night energy and perhaps more could be built including the CraigRoyston project that was proposed in the late 70s. Scotland also has many sites suitable for tidal power although this would be more reliable it would still suffer from not being a conservable resource. The only conservable renewable resource remains hydro but there was an enormous amount of investment in this in the 50s and 60s and few worthwhile sources can remain. However it might be worthwhile revising the existing schemes with bigger turbines so that they can be used to match a higher demand for a shorter time thereby helping to balance other renewables. Archie Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:50 GMT 10 Feb 2012 12:50 pm 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/video/remote-control-car-paves-the-way-for-autonomous-vehicles/1011674.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/video/remote-control-car-paves-the-way-for-autonomous-vehicles/1011674.article The main challenge here is to create an instrumentation system that working with specialized software can identify what is going on around the vehicle. This is a typical situation when you try to replace human sense by robotic systems. If we think that many of our reactions and interpretation of scenarios are developed through a learning process along the years, than we can imagine the different approaches one can take trying to solve the problem. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:16 GMT 10 Feb 2012 12:16 pm 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/military-and-defence/news/semi-autonomous-robot-could-offer-support-to-foot-soldiers/1011671.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/military-and-defence/news/semi-autonomous-robot-could-offer-support-to-foot-soldiers/1011671.article Wonderful though this technology is, I think nature has it beaten, hands down. It's called a horse. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:14 GMT 10 Feb 2012 10:14 am 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/automotive/news/liquid-nitrogen-engine-could-be-an-alternative-to-batteries/1011156.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/automotive/news/liquid-nitrogen-engine-could-be-an-alternative-to-batteries/1011156.article O Pearson - there is a "Liquid Nitrogen Motor" patent that was issued in April of 2010 in the United States. It is a flash-expansion turbine that expands the liquid nitrogen directly in the turbine. http://www.nitroturbodyne.com Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:20 GMT 10 Feb 2012 6:20 am 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/wind-farms-female-engineers-and-thameslink-under-the-spotlight/1011635.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/wind-farms-female-engineers-and-thameslink-under-the-spotlight/1011635.article Yes, Rob Hill, people have been considering but not modelling the effect of the wind being slowed down. See http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028063.300-wind-and-wave-farms-could-affect-earths-energy-balance.html In the process he forgot to balance off the effect of removing trees from huge areas of the Earth's surface, which spoils the logic a bit. The whole question seems trivial to me due to the small scale of our current efforts and the fact that windmills reduce CO2 technology reliance. As for those who think windmills "spoil" the landscape, please have a thought for sensitive little me and my highly attuned aesthetic sensibilities. As a trained architect I'd like to point out, apologetically, that windmills are a very welcome distraction from the horrible sight of badly designed human habitations and roads, cars and airports, overgrazed and degraded, deforested derelict landscapes which, far from being "areas of outstanding natural beauty" are clear, obvious and forensically supportable evidence of mankind's stupidity, ignorance and greed.. I repeat, the existing "Natural" landscape is usually no such thing. An informed mind's eye sees beauty in the desire, expressed by wind-farms, to be a part of Nature and not apart from it. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:36 GMT 10 Feb 2012 0:36 am 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/opinion/comment/the-child-in-time/1011593.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/opinion/comment/the-child-in-time/1011593.article my son is now selecting his A levels after completing the eng diploma with a predicted A*, he wants to be a civil engineer and has now been told by the A level college that due to the diploma he cannot now study Maths or Physics A level. After looking at the entry requirements for an Engineering degree it seems that the advice to do the diploma was in fact wrong and has seriously affected my sons career prospects. Does anyone have advice on how to proceed Thu, 9 Feb 2012 20:19 GMT 9 Feb 2012 8:19 pm 0 http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/is-shale-gas-all-its-fracked-up-to-be?/1011405.article http://www.theengineer.co.uk/blog/is-shale-gas-all-its-fracked-up-to-be?/1011405.article David Lynch , The biggest shareholder of Cuadrilla is AJ Lucas which is listed on the ASX . The shales which Cuadrilla are testing in Lancashire are 3 thousand feet thick . Many of the shales which are exploited in the US are less that 3 hundred feet thick . The gas may be liquids rich but even if it isn't it can be converted into liquid road transport fuels . Also as a feedstock to fertiliser and chemical works . Not just feedstock to electricity generation . Surely we owe it to our burgeoning unemployed youth to try and create some industry out of this for them - and for ourselves seeing as we need them to support us in our old age ? What do you think ? Thu, 9 Feb 2012 16:50 GMT 9 Feb 2012 4:50 pm 0