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THE MONTHLY DIGITAL BRIEFING MAGAZINE FROM ENGINEERING DESIGNER
JULY 2021
11 ART AND DESIGN
How a traditional Japanese papercutting art inspired a new stent design
17 LEAF READER
The wearable sensor for plants that can detect disease and damage
22 LEARNING ENGINEERING
A round-up of the best children’s books on engineering
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CONTENTS 06
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18 05 ENGINEERING DESIGN NEWS All the latest news and views from the world of engineering design 18 ENGINEERING THE WORLD’S FASTEST TRACTOR How a young team of designers and engineers set a new world record
MANAGING EDITOR Libby Meyrick EDITOR Geordie Torr ART EDITOR Becca Macdonald SALES DIRECTOR Lee Morris 020 3900 0102 • ied@syonmedia.com
22 FIVE CHILDREN’S BOOKS THAT TEACH ENGINEERING LESSONS A collection of kids’ books that give an insight into what engineers do 24 IED NEWS An update of the latest goings on at the Institution of Engineering Designers
© Copyright the Institution of Engineering Designers 2021. Unless otherwise indicated, views expressed are those of the editorial staff, contributors and correspondents. They are not necessarily the views of the Institution of Engineering Designers, its officers, or its Council. The publication of an advertisement or editorial does not imply that a product or service is recommended or endorsed by the Institution. Material may only be reproduced in any form by prior arrangement and with due acknowledgement to Engineering Designer. Unless otherwise stated, all articles have been written by the editor, Geordie Torr.
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ABOUT US
WHO ARE WE? THE INSTITUTION OF Engineering Designers, established in 1945, incorporated by Royal Charter in 2012, is a licensed body of both the Engineering Council and Society for the Environment, and we register our suitably qualified Members as Chartered Environmentalists (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioners (REnvP), Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineers (IEng) or Engineering Technicians (EngTech), Chartered Technological Product Designers (CTPD) and Registered Product Designers (RProdDes). We also offer professional recognition to CAD Managers (RCADMan) and Practitioners (RCP), and those who teach and lecture in design or CAD. We represent our Members’ interests at the highest levels and raise awareness of their professional standards, while providing a resource and information service, and a friendly and approachable route to assessment and registration.
WHY BECOME A MEMBER OF THE IED?
Membership of any professional body gives you professional recognition and status, and an acknowledged code of conduct to work to. Membership of the IED gives you the added credibility
of being acknowledged for the role you play in Design and Innovation, and helps to develop your skills and knowledge in these areas. As well as the various registrations, membership of the IED gives you the opportunity to meet other designers and discuss issues particular to your field of expertise or interest. Many of our Members prefer to communicate primarily through the discussion forums on our website, as this lends itself to their work schedules; however, we also run seminars, meetings and events where Members can carry out continued professional development and meet up. The IED is the only institution that represents designers in all Engineering and Product Design fields, as well as those who teach these skills. Members of the IED receive our quarterly journal, Engineering Designer.
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AUTOMOTIVE
We’ve made the application process as simple as possible. In order to maintain the high standards of membership, we require that all prospective Members: ■C omplete an application form; ■ Submit a CV and details of relevant educational qualifications. All applicants are then assessed by a committee of Members. ■
‘For any design engineer hoping to pursue a career in industry, membership and registration shows commitment to continuing professional development and promoting good practice in those with whom we interact on a daily basis. The IED provides a natural home for those whose roles encompass a diverse range of skills.’ BH, Chartered Engineer
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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
AEROSPACE If you are a designer who would like to gain formal professional recognition or work in an organisation that employs designers and would like to have your employees gain membership and professional recognition, contact the IED on 01373 822 801 or send an email to: membership@ied.org.uk to discuss your next step.
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NEWS TECHNOLOGY
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NEW BATTERY COULD MAKE FLYING CARS A REALITY
A TEAM OF ENGINEERS at Pennsylvania State University has designed a battery prototype that they say could be the key to making flying cars commercially viable. Published in the journal Joule, the new research appears to solve many of the problems involved in powering electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. ‘I think flying cars have the potential to eliminate a lot of time and increase productivity and open the sky corridors to transportation,’ said a member of the team, Chao-Yang Wang, director of the Electrochemical Engine Center at Penn State. ‘But electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles are very challenging technology for the batteries.’ ‘Batteries for flying cars need very high energy density so that you can stay in the air,’ said Wang. ‘And they also need very high power during take-off and landing. It requires a lot of
power to go vertically up and down.’ The researchers tested two energydense lithium-ion batteries that could be recharged with enough energy for an 80-kilometre eVTOL trip in only five to ten minutes.The batteries were capable of sustaining more than 2,000 rapid charges over their lifetime. Flying car batteries have one unusual requirement – they must always retain some charge because power is needed so that the car can stay in the air and land.This makes recharging the batteries more problematic, because the internal resistance to charging increases as the charge in the battery increases. In order for flying cars to be commercially viable as taxis, they will also need to be able to recharge rapidly so that they can maximise revenue during rush hours. The researchers discovered that the key is to heat the battery in order to allow rapid charging
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without the formation of lithium spikes that damage the battery and are potentially dangerous. They incorporated a nickel foil that can rapidly heat the battery to 60°C. By heating the battery, recharging remained within the five-to ten-minute range. Heating the battery also allowed it rapidly discharge energy during take-off and landing. ‘Under normal circumstances, the three attributes necessary for an eVTOL battery work against each other,’ Wang said. ‘High energy density reduces fast charging and fast charging usually reduces the number of possible recharge cycles. But we are able to do all three in a single battery. ‘I hope that the work we have done in this paper will give people a solid idea that we don’t need another 20 years to finally get these vehicles,’ he continued. ‘I believe we have demonstrated that the eVTOL is commercially viable.’ ■
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TECHNOLOGY
STUDENTS STUDY DRAGONFLIES’ FLIGHT SECRETS TO INSPIRE NEXT-GEN DRONE DESIGNS
A TEAM OF University of South Australia PhD students has modelled the dragonfly’s unique body shape and aerodynamic properties in the hope that it will provide inspiration for the next generation of flapping-wing drones. Working remotely due to the pandemic, the students turned their homes into makeshift labs, solving mathematical formulas on whiteboards, digitising stereo photographs of insect wings and then turning them into 3D models, and using spare rooms as rapidprototyping workshops in order to test parts fabricated for their flappingwing drone. Their findings have been published in the journal Drones. ‘Dragonflies are supremely efficient
in all areas of flying. They need to be,’ said Javaan Chahl, professor of sensor systems, who led the study. ‘After emerging from underwater until their death, male dragonflies are involved in perpetual, dangerous combat against rivals. Mating requires an aerial pursuit of females and they are constantly avoiding predators. Their flying abilities have evolved over millions of years to ensure they survive. ‘They can turn quickly at high speeds and take off while carrying more than three times their own body weight,’ he continued. ‘They are also one of nature’s most effective predators, targeting, chasing and capturing their prey with a 95 per cent success rate.’
SUSTAINABLILTY
THE FUTURE IS VERTICAL: OFFSHORE WIND FARMS USING VERTICAL TURBINES ARE BETTER AT HARVESTING ENERGY OFFSHORE WIND TURBINES that use a vertical design rather than the conventional ‘propeller’ design are much more efficient in large-scale wind farms, according to a new study. When used in pairs, vertical turbines can boost each other’s output by up
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to 15 per cent, the research revealed. Researchers from the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics (ECM) at Oxford Brookes University in Headington, Oxford, used more than 11,500 hours of computer simulation to show that vertical axis
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Dragonflies’ amazing eyesight, speed and aerial agility make them notoriously difficult to capture, so the researchers developed a special optical technique that enabled them to photograph the wing geometry of 75 different dragonfly species from glass display cases in museum collections. In a world first, they then used the photographs to construct 3D images of the wings that enabled them to pick up subtle and not so subtle differences in their shapes. ‘Dragonfly wings are long, light and rigid, with a high lift-to-drag ratio, which gives them superior aerodynamic performance,’ said Chahl. ‘Their long abdomen, which makes up about 35 per cent of their body weight, has also evolved to serve many purposes. It houses the digestive tract, is involved in reproduction, and it helps with balance, stability and manoeuvrability. The abdomen plays a crucial role in their flying ability.’ The researchers believe that dragonfly-inspired drones would benefit from reduced drag and improved load capacity, and would be particularly versatile, capable of collecting and delivering awkward, unbalanced loads, safely operating near people, exploring delicate natural environments and executing long surveillance missions. ■
wind turbines (VAWTs) perform more efficiently in compact wind farms than the traditional horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs). The team found that the positioning of the turbines was critical to the design of wind farms. When arranged in a grid formation, the VAWTs increased each other’s performance. This is in direct contrast to HAWTs, which often interfere with each other’s performance. ‘Modern wind farms are one of the most efficient
NEWS MATERIALS
NEW DESIGN APPROACH REDUCES THE WEIGHT OF CARBON-FIBRE-REINFORCED PLASTIC
SCIENTISTS AT TOKYO UNIVERSITY of Science (TUS) have developed a new optimisation approach that will aid in the design of lighter carbonfibre-composite materials. Carbon fibres are stronger, stiffer and lighter than steel and have consequently largely replaced steel in high-performance products such as aircraft, race cars and sporting equipment. They are typically combined with other materials to form a composite, such as carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), which is renowned for its tensile strength, rigidity and high strength-to-weight ratio. Research aimed at improving the strength of CFRPs has mostly focused on a technique known as ‘fibresteered design’, which optimises the orientation of the carbon fibres. However, as Ryosuke Matsuzaki, a member of the research team, points
out, this approach has drawbacks. ‘Fibre-steered design only optimises orientation and keeps the thickness of the fibres fixed, preventing full utilisation of the mechanical properties of CFRP. A weightreduction approach, which allows optimisation of fibre thickness as well, has rarely been considered.’ In a new study published in the journal Composite Structures, Matsuzaki and his colleagues at TUS, Yuto Mori and Naoya Kumekawa, proposed a new design method that simultaneously optimises both the fibre orientation and thickness depending on the location in the composite structure. The new technique allowed them to reduce the weight of the CFRP compared to that of a constant-thicknesslinear-lamination model without compromising its strength. The method consists of three sets
ways to generate green energy; however, they have one major flaw: as the wind approaches the front row of turbines, turbulence will be generated downstream,’ said Joachim Toftegaard Hansen, the study’s lead author. ‘The turbulence is detrimental to the performance of the subsequent rows. ‘In other words, the front row will convert about half the kinetic energy of the wind into electricity, whereas for the back row, that number
is down to 25–30 per cent,’ he continued. ‘Each turbine costs more than £2million/MW. As an engineer, it naturally occurred to me that there must be a more cost-effective way.’ ‘This study evidences that the future of wind farms should be vertical,’ said Professor Iakovos Tzanakis, who led the stud. ‘Vertical axis wind farm turbines can be designed to be much closer together, increasing their efficiency and ultimately lowering the prices of electricity.
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of processes: preparatory, iterative and modification.The preparatory process involves an initial analysis using the finite element method to determine the number of layers, enabling a qualitative weight evaluation by a linear lamination model and a fibre-steered design with a thickness variation model. In the iterative process, the fibre orientation is determined using the principal stress direction and the thickness iteratively calculated using maximum stress theory. Finally, in the modification process, modifications are made to account for manufacturability by first creating a reference ‘base fibre bundle’ in a region that requires strength improvement and then determining the final orientation and thickness by arranging the fibre bundles such that they spread on both sides of the reference bundle. The method led to a weight reduction of more than five per cent while also enabling higher loadtransfer efficiency than that achieved with fibre orientation alone. ‘Our design method goes beyond the conventional wisdom of composite design, making for lighter aircraft and automobiles, which can contribute to energy conservation and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions,’ said Matsuzaki. ■
In the long run, VAWTs can help accelerate the green transition of our energy systems, so that more clean and sustainable energy comes from renewable sources.’ ■
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NEWS MEDICAL
PRIZE AWARDED FOR ‘SMART’ WHEELCHAIR WHEEL A CARDIFF METROPOLITAN University student has won this year’s Design the Change competition with an innovative design for a new ‘smart wheel’ for wheelchair users. After buying a wheelchair and experiencing for himself how exhausting it could be to get around in – particularly when travelling uphill – Thomas Salkeld, 23, a third-year product design BSc student, built a prototype of the motorised wheel, which can be added to most wheelchairs to provides users with assistance on uneven ground, going uphill and on long journeys. It can even be controlled from the user’s phone. He the spoke to people with spinal cord injuries people and got feedback about his design. ‘I’m ecstatic about winning the competition as designing to help people is my passion and what I wish to pursue in the future,’ Thomas said. ‘The aim of my design was to really take into consideration what the users
want and the problems they face every day in regards to their mobility in a wheelchair, then applying my engineering, design, prototyping and technology skills that were necessary. ‘The aesthetics were designed to be functional but also pleasing to the eye, allowing the users to be proud of the product on their wheelchairs,’ he continued. The Design for Change competition, which is now in its second year, was set up by law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, which supports people with spinal cord injuries. The competition invites UK-based university students to design
TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRONICS DESIGN MADE SIMPLER BY NEW COLLABORATION A NEW COLLABORATION between SnapEDA, a search engine for electronics design, and DesignSpark, an online design community and resource centre for design engineers, is set to speed up the design of printed circuit boards (pcbs). The new integrated search capability will enable engineers to more easily find and design-in electronic components by making available free computer-aided design models that are compatible with virtually all of the primary pcb design tools. Electronics design engineers have to contend with two major issues: how to select the right part from the billion-plus electronic components in production and the how to procure the sophisticated digital models they require for each component in
their designs.These issues place a significant burden on engineers that then hampers innovation. Simple keyword searches using the new SnapEDA engine on the DesignSpark website will help engineers find the parts they need and once they’ve selected a product, they will be able to instantly download the relevant CAD model. Datasheets and other specifications provided by RS Components will also be available, as will the ability to check prices and purchase components. Supported pcb design formats include DesignSpark PCB, Altium, KiCad, Fusion360, Cadence Allegro, OrCAD, EAGLE, Pulsonix, DipTrace, Proteus, ExpressPCB Plus, CircuitStudio and and P-CAD. ‘Since launching DesignSpark
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a product aimed at improving the lives of people with a spinal cord injury. Thomas’s design won him a £3,000 prize, with an additional £2,000 being awarded toCardiff Metropolitan University. Victoria Oliver, head of the spinal injury team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, said: ‘We were blown away by the quality of the entries this year and it’s fantastic to see how much research went into everyone’s designs. A spinal cord injury is a life changing event that makes even the most mundane of tasks time-consuming, and innovative designs and products can really help make the world more accessible to the 50,000 people living with a spinal cord injury in the UK. Thomas’s design showed real awareness of the challenges facing those with a spinal cord injury who use a wheelchair and he went to great lengths to make sure his Smart Wheel design was practical, comfortable, and aesthetically pleasing.’ ■
11 years ago, RS Components has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the engineering community through tools and resources,’ said Natasha Baker, founder and CEO of SnapEDA. ‘This commitment resonates with us here at SnapEDA, where we have similarly been unwaveringly committed to helping engineers design faster with free, innovative design tools and resources we’ve brought to the market.’ The new search engine can be found at www.rs-online.com/ designspark/snapeda-parts-finder. ■
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TECHNOLOGY
ENGINEERING HACKATHON REDUCES CAR FACTORY FOOTPRINT BY A FIFTH A GROUP OF YOUNG engineers at Siemens has collaborated in an innovative 48-hour virtual hackathon to accelerate and optimise the design of a future factory for Welsh hydrogen-car maker Riversimple. The participants were split into three teams focused on three areas: the composite manufacturing process; assembly and end of line; and energy. They collaborated online to redesign the production facility’s layout for assembly, the levels of automation, number of production staff and shifts required for 24/7 production, and energy efficiency. Using Siemens’ PLM software Plant Simulation to help model, simulate, analyse, visualise and optimise production systems and processes, including the flow of materials and logistic operations,they helped to reduce the size of the factory, which was originally supposed to have a 14,000-squaremetre footprint, by 20 per cent.
‘When we announced our longterm strategic partnership with Siemens at the start of the year, we were optimistic of the possibilities that our collaboration could bring in terms of supporting our preparations for full-scale manufacture,’ said Chris Foxall, financial director at Riversimple. ‘Through the innovative work of the hackathon and leveraging Siemens’ expertise in technology software and plant simulation, driven by its engineering talent, we have been able to reduce the size of the proposed factory by 20 per cent, saving significant cost from the outset and supporting our ambitions for environmental sustainability.’ ‘Hackathons are proving to be an incredible method of fast-tracking ideas and turning them into solutions,’ said software engineer Olivia Kelly, one of the hackathon’s facilitators. ‘It was a fantastic experience being part of the Riversimple hackathon
SUSTAINABLILTY
WAVE ENERGY PROTOTYPE BEGINS SEA TRIALS IN SCOTLAND EDINBURGH-BASED WAVEenergy developer Mocean Energy has deployed its scale prototype wave-energy converter Blue X atthe European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) Scapa Flow test site off Orkney, Scotland. Fabricated at Fife fabricators AJS Production, the Blue X is 20 metres long and weighs 38 tonnes. It’s essentially a floating-hinged raft that features a unique geometry designed to improve performance and increase durability by diving through the largest waves. It’s a standalone device that is operated wirelessly, a 4G connection
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allowing commands to be sent and data downloaded from shore. When the initial sea trials at Scapa Flow have been completed, the Blue X will be moved to EMEC’s grid-connected wave test site at Billia Croo on Orkney’s west coast, where it will go through its paces in more rigorous, full-sea conditions. ‘In the days and weeks ahead, we will produce first power and prove how the Blue X machine operates in a variety of sea states,’ said Mocean Energy’s managing director, Cameron McNatt. ‘In the Scapa testing phase, we will test power production and compare results
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and coming up with some gamechanging solutions with an emphasis on sustainability.’ ‘The hackathon was a monumental exercise that resulted in a practical design for a future factory that will produce the cars of the future,’ said Brian Holliday, managing director, digital industries, Siemens UK and Ireland. ‘I am extremely proud of our team of engineers, including many apprentices and graduates at the start of their careers. Once again, we set a significant challenge to use brainstorming and development to accelerate ideas into real-life solutions, and once again they have come up trumps, demonstrating the power of collaboration and digital enterprise tools.’ Riversimple hopes to begin full production of its Rasa hydrogen electric vehicle in the new factory in 2024, with a capacity of 5,000 vehicles per year. ■
against our numerical predictions, and we will test operations including towing, installation, removal and access at sea. ‘As we drive toward net zero, we will need many forms of renewable energy and wave energy can make a significant contribution,’ he continued. ‘Our test programme in Orkney will allow us to prove our concept at sea, particularly that its novel hull shapes will produce more power than traditional raft designs. This enables the development of commercial-scale technologies suited to the oil and gas and other industries.’ Next year, Mocean Energy plans to connect the Blue X to a subsea battery that will be used to power a remotely operated autonomous underwater vehicle. ■
NEWS MEDICAL
JAPANESE PAPER-CUTTING ART INSPIRES STENTS DESIGNED TO DELIVER DRUGS
A TEAM OF ENGINEERS has designed a new type of stent that could be used to deliver drugs to the gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract and other tubular organs. The engineers took inspiration from kirigami, the Japanese art of folding and cutting paper to create threedimensional structures. Thesoft, stretchy tubular stents are made of silicone-based rubber that has been coated in a smooth layer of plastic that has itself been etched with small ‘needles’ that pop up when they’re stretched. The needles penetrate the surrounding tissue and deliver a payload of drug-containing microparticles. Once the stent has been removed, the drugs continue to be released over an extended period. According to one of the study’s authors, Giovanni Traverso, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a trained gastroenterologist, this kind of localised drug delivery could make it easier to treat inflammatory diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, such as inflammatory bowel
disease or eosinophilic esophagitis, by delivering drugs directlyto the affected tissues. ‘This technology could be applied in essentially any tubular organ,’ Traverso said. ‘Having the ability to deliver drugs locally, on an infrequent basis, really maximises the likelihood of helping to resolve patients’ conditions and could be transformative in how we think about patient care by enabling local, prolonged drug delivery following a single treatment.’ Inserting stents into the gastrointestinal tract can be difficult because digested food is continuously moving through the tract. The MIT team sought to get around this by creating a stent that would be inserted temporarily, lodge firmly into the tissue to deliver its payload and then be easily removed. ‘The novelty of our approach is that we used tools and concepts from mechanics, combined with bioinspiration from scaly-skinned animals, to develop a new class of drug-releasing systems with the capacity to deposit drug depots
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directly into luminal walls of tubular organs for extended release,’ said the study’s lead author, Sahab Babaee, an MIT research scientist. ‘The kirigami stents were engineered to provide a reversible shape transformation: from flat, to 3D, buckled-out needles for tissue engagement, and then to the original flat shape for easy and safe removal.’ Researchers in Traverso’s lab have previously used kirigami to design a non-slip coating for shoe soles. The researchers created kirigami needles with a range of different sizes and shapes. By varying these features, as well as the thickness of the plastic sheet, they found that they could control how deeply the needles penetrate the tissue. ‘The advantage of our system is that it can be applied to various length scales to be matched with the size of the target tubular compartments of the gastrointestinal tract or any tubular organs,’ Babaee said. The researchers tested the stents by endoscopically inserting them into the oesophagus of pigs. Once in place, the stents were inflated using a balloon inside the stent, which caused the needles to pop up and penetrate roughly half a millimetre into the surrounding tissue. The needles were coated with microparticles containing a steroid used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. Deflating the balloon caused the needles to flatten out, enabling the researchers to remove the stent endoscopically. The entire process took only a couple of minutes. The microparticles gradually released budesonide for about a week. The researchers are now experimenting with the delivery of other types of drugs and working on scaling up the manufacturing process, with the goal of eventually testing the stents in human patients. The study has been published in the journal Nature Materials. ■
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NEWS TECHNOLOGY
PLANS FOR WORLD-FIRST FULLY REUSABLE, ENTIRELY 3D-PRINTED ROCKET RELEASED SEATTLE-BASED SPACE-exploration company Relativity Space has unveiled plans for its Terran R rocket, a reusable, entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle. According to the company, the two-stage, 66-metre-tall, five-metrediameter rocket will be capable of launching a 20,000-kilogram payload into low Earth orbit. It will be outfitted with seven 3D-printed Aeon R rocket engines capable of producing 137,000 kilograms of thrust each, while its upper stage will house a single Aeon Vac engine. The company plans to launch the rocket from Launch Complex 16, its site at Cape Canaveral in Florida, from 2024. This year, it hopes to launch its much smaller Terran 1 rocket from the same site.
Both rockets will be built in Relativity Space’s Factory of the Future using the company’s proprietary 3D printing processes, which utilisesoftwaredriven manufacturing, exotic materials and unique design geometries that Relativity Space says aren’t possible to produce using traditional manufacturing. The company operates the world’s largest metal printers and says that it can create its rockets from raw material within 60 days. ‘From our founding days in Y Combinator just five years ago, we planned on 3D printing Terran 1 and then Terran R – a 20-times-larger, fully reusable rocket – on our Factory of the Future platform,’ said Tim Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Relativity Space. ‘Today, we are one step closer to this goal. ‘Together with our first rocket,
SUSTAINABILITY
MATCHBOX CARS GET A GREEN MAKEOVER TOYMAKER MATTEL has announced that it aims to ensure that all of its iconic Matchbox diecast cars, playsets and packaging will be made with 100 per cent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic by 2030. In order to illustrate these principles, Mattel unveiled its new Matchbox Tesla Roadster, the first of its die-cast vehicles to be made from 99 per cent recycled materials and certified carbon neutral by Natural Capital Partners, with carbon-offset credits going towards the preservation of grasslands in Colorado and Montana. The car, which Mattel describes as its ‘blueprint for the future’, is made from recycled zinc, steel and plastic. The company has also revealed plans aimed at helping children to ‘think green’ through an eco-friendly-
themed approach to play that features an expanded range of e-vehicles and e-vehicle chargers in Matchbox fuel station playsets. Matchbox products will now be sold in zero-plastic packaging made from paper and wood-fibre materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and will offer enhanced consumer recycling and waste recovery through a mixture of product design and packaging labelling.For example, the electronics in playsets will be consolidated into a single, easily removable module to help make the e-waste recycling process easier. Matchbox is also exploring ways to reduce energy use, carbon emissions and waste production in its operations. According to Jon Marine, Mattel’s vice president of product
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Terran 1, our second product, Terran R, will continue to take advantage of Relativity’s disruptive approach to 3D printing – reduced part count, improved speed of innovation, flexibility and reliability – to bring to market the next generation of launch vehicles,’ he continued. ‘Relativity was founded with the mission to 3D print entire rockets and build humanity’s industrial base on Mars. We were inspired to make this vision a reality, and believe there needs to be dozens to hundreds of companies working to build humanity’s multiplanetary future on Mars. Scalable, autonomous 3D printing is inevitably required to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the second product step in a long-term journey Relativity is planning ahead.’ According to Relativity Space, which recently raised US$65million to scale up the Terran R programme and undergo long-term infrastructure development, Terran R will eventually offer customers a point-to-point space freighter capable of undertaking missions between the Earth, the Moon and Mars. ■
development, the company is in the process of re-engineering a number of its plastic components so that they can be made using recycled materials. Mattel is taking a holistic approach, he said, taking in part design and engineering, the design of injection moulds and changes to the manufacturing process itself. ‘Since the inception of the modern-day die-cast car nearly 70 years ago, Matchbox has been using design and innovation to connect kids with the real world around them through play,’ said Roberto Stanichi, the global head of vehicles at Mattel. ‘Matchbox is committing to using 100 per cent recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials to do our part in addressing the environmental issues we face today, and empower the next generation of Matchbox fans to help steer us towards a sustainable future.’ ■
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NASA OFFERS US$45MILLION TO REDUCE MOON-LANDING RISKS FOR ASTRONAUTS
AS NASA BEGINS to plan its mission to return astronauts to the moon as part of its Artemis programme, it has announced that it will award contracts of up to US$45million for commercialled work to mature designs and conduct technology and engineering risk-reduction tasks for the human landing system that will be used to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the lunar surface and back. Known as NextSTEP-2 Appendix N, NASA’s research and development procurement programme is designed to iron out safety- and cost-related
issues associated with the regular crewed trips from its planned Gateway outpost in lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface and back. NASA hopes that the programme will be the first step in the development of a broader lunar marketplace by giving companies access to NASA experts. ‘We are priming US industry to become reliable service providers in the lunar marketplace,’ said Greg Chavers, assistant deputy for systems engineering and integration for human spaceflight at NASA Headquarters in Washington. ‘Riding on American
MEDICAL
ENGINEERING STUDENT’S DEVICE SPEEDS UP LIFESAVING PROCEDURE A UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY engineering student has created a simplified tracheostomy kit – a tool that helps medical staff create a new airway for patients in an emergency – that can be deployed in half the time of the standard kit. Francis Pooke’s design, which
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makes the tracheostomy process much simpler and reduces risk, won him Engineering New Zealand’s Student Engineer of the Year Award. In a tracheostomy, a breathing tube is inserted into the trachea (windpipe) when the airway is blocked or compromised following a major injury.
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ingenuity, Artemis astronauts will explore new areas of the Moon, where we will unlock mysteries of the solar system for the benefit of all.’ ‘The approach for recurring Moon landing services is truly a collective effort between NASA and US industry,’ said Lisa Watson-Morgan, human landing system program manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. ‘This announcement is a chance for the pioneering private sector to claim their stake in the emerging lunar economy and make history with NASA.’ ‘Landing humans on the Moon – and achieving a resilient presence there – is no small feat. Lunar landers are a major piece needed to set Artemis in motion toward that goal,’ said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations. ‘We are another step closer to proving, once again, that NASA is a global leader in space exploration. Our presence at the Moon will inspire the next generation of diverse scientists, engineers, and explorers to take even greater leaps.’ NASA expects to award the Appendix N contracts before the end of the calendar year, and then to seek proposals for repeatable human landing services in 2022. ■
It’s critical for a patient’s survival, however, the procedure is rarely performed because of its complexity and the high rate of complications. Pooke worked closely with Christchurch intensive care specialist Geoff Shaw on the design as part of his final year Bachelor of Engineering project. ‘Dr Shaw believed the complication rate of the tracheostomy procedure could be dramatically reduced by simplifying the current methods, which require multiple components and steps,’ he said.
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TECHNOLOGY
NEWS SUSTAINABILITY
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HOW TO HARVEST DRINKING WATER FROM HUMIDITY
A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS at ETH Zurich has developed a zero-energy self-cooling condenser that can harvest water from the atmosphere throughout the 24-hour daily cycle. In the past, passive technologies for atmospheric water harvesting, such as dew-collecting foils, have only worked at night because heating by the sun makes condensation impossible. In contrast, the technology enables water harvesting around the clock, with no energy input, even under the blazing sun. The new device is based around a glass pane coated with layers of silver
and a specifically designed polymer. The pane both reflects solar radiation and radiates away its own heat, thus cooling itself down to as much as 15 degrees Celsius below the ambient temperature. This temperature differential causes atmospheric water vapour to condense into water on the underside of the pane, which features a novel superhydrophobic coating that causes the condensed water to bead up and run or jump off on its own accord. The device also features a novel cone-shaped radiation shield that largely deflects heat radiation from the atmosphere and shields the pane
‘The development process involved a lot of testing and end-user feedback from Dr Shaw. It took several versions before we achieved the final design, but in the end, I believe we’ve developed an innovative solution which has the potential to greatly improve how tracheostomies are performed.’ Pooke’s device, which is currently at the prototype stage and has been 3D printed,features only seven parts instead of the 12 that are in the current clinical kit. It makes the steps
involved easier and more intuitive and halves the number of insertions and removals into the patient’s throat, which helps to reduce the risk of complications. Pooke is now studying towards a PhD. His supervisor, UC Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering Geoff Chase, described the student as ‘an outstanding design engineer who has been really adept at working in partnership with a clinician to create a dramatically simplified approach to a complex procedure.
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from incoming solar radiation, while at the same time allowing the device to radiate heat outward and thus to self- cool, fully passively. Tests of the device under real-world conditions on the roof of an ETH building in Zurich demonstrated that it is capable of produce at least twice as much water per area per day as the best current passive technologies based on foils. The small pilot system, which has a pane diameter of ten centimetres, produced 4.6 millilitres of water per day. According to the research team, under ideal conditions, the device could harvest up to 0.53 decilitres of water per square metre of pane surface per hour. ‘This is close to the theoretical maximum value of 0.6 decilitres per hour, which is physically impossible to exceed,’ said Iwan Hächler, a doctoral student who worked on the project. The researchers suggest that the device could be scaled up and deployed in multiples to create a large-scale system that could provide drinking water to remote communities the lack access to electricity. ‘In contrast to other technologies, ours can really function without any additional energy, which is a key advantage,’ said Hächler. ■
I think the final product can save lives and is easily generalised to other tracheotomy devices. ‘This project shows the impact young engineers can have on real things with high costs in lives and dollars,’ he continued. ‘There are a wealth of opportunities throughout healthcare awaiting bright students like Francis with creative ideas.’ Pooke hopes to interest a medical-device company in further developing his kit and bringing it to market. ■
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NEWS TECHNOLOGY
WEARABLE SENSOR FOR PLANTS CAN DETECT DISEASE AND STRESS
A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS at North Carolina State University has developed a sensor that continuously monitors the plant to which it’s attached for disease and other stressors, such as physical damage or extreme heat. ‘We’ve created a wearable sensor that monitors plant stress and disease in a non-invasive way by measuring the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plants,’ said Qingshan Wei, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State who worked on the project. Currently, testing plants for stress or the presence of disease involves taking tissue samples and conducting lab assays. However, this only provides a snapshot of the situation at the time the sample was taken, which may be some time before the results come in. Plants emit a range of different combinations of VOCs, depending on the environmental conditions affecting them.The new sensors can be tuned to detect VOCs that are released when the plants are infected by specific diseases, enabling growers to react quickly. ‘Our technology monitors VOC emissions from the plant continuously, without harming the plant,’ Wei said.
‘The prototype we’ve demonstrated stores this monitoring data, but future versions will transmit the data wirelessly. What we’ve developed allows growers to identify problems in the field – they wouldn’t have to wait to receive test results from a lab.’ The 30-millimetre-long rectangular patches are made from a flexible material that contains graphenebased sensors and flexible silver nanowires.The sensors are coated with various chemical ligands that respond to the presence of specific VOCs, allowing the system to detect and measure VOCs in gases emitted by the plant’s leaves. The researchers tested a prototype designed to detect two types of stress – physical damage and infection by Phytophthora infestans, the pathogen that causes late blight disease – on tomato plants.The system detected VOC changes associated with physical damage within one to three hours, depending on the distance of the damage from the patch. It took longer for the sensors to detect the presence of P. infestans – roughly three to four days after researchers had inoculated the tomato plants. ‘This is not markedly faster than the appearance of visual symptoms
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of late blight disease,’ Wei says. ‘However, the monitoring system means growers don’t have to rely on detecting minute visual symptoms. Continuous monitoring would allow growers to identify plant diseases as quickly as possible, helping them limit the spread of the disease.’ ‘Our prototypes can already detect 13 different plant VOCs with high accuracy, allowing users to develop a customised sensor array that focuses on the stresses and diseases that a grower thinks are most relevant,’ said Yong Zhu, Andrew A Adams distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State, who also worked on the project. ‘It’s also important to note that the materials are fairly low cost,’ Zhu says. ‘If the manufacturing was scaled up, we think this technology would be affordable. We’re trying to develop a practical solution to a real-world problem, and we know cost is an important consideration.’ The researchers are now developing a next-generation solar-powered patch that can monitor temperature, humidity and other environmental variables as well as VOCs. The research has been published in the journal Matter. ■
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TRACTOR 18 |
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ENGINEERING THE WORLD’S FASTEST
FASTEST TRACTOR There were two ground rules. First, the primacy of operational safety – safeguarding the driver during the attempt and engineers during testing. Second was making sure that it didn’t transform into something unrecognisable as a tractor. Part of that was maximising the number of standard components; more than half of the parts used on the test vehicle were standard tractor or excavator parts. The record attempt required two passes in opposite directions along a long, flat runway. The top speed would be taken as the average over the middle kilometre. The longest track the team could find was at the Elvington Airfield in York. From that, the team ran multiple simulations to generate starting targets of vehicle weight, power, drag and gear ratios. That work suggested reducing weight from 8.5 tonnes to five tonnes to ease acceleration, improve the aerodynamics and increase engine output to more than 1,000 horsepower (the standard diesel engine produces 240 horsepower). Chassis weight was reduced by removing every non-essential structural part – such as the tow hitch – and then running the design through topology-optimisation software and finite element analysis. The ‘weird and wonderful’ shapes output were reinterpreted in sheet steel for buildability and then that model was optimised again. The JCB Fastrac 2 achieved a top speed of 247.47 km/h
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A young team of designers and engineers at JCB managed to set a new Guinness World Record for a modified tractor, called Fastrac 2, driven by none other than motorcycle racer Guy Martin. Will Dalrymple reports JCB MARKETS A BRAND of fast tractors called Fastrac that can travel at speeds of up to 70 km/h. While at that speed even a large field will whip by, it still wasn’t fast enough for JCB Chairman Lord Bamford HonFIED, who had always wanted to attempt a world record, according to project manager Alex Skittery. (In fact, modified JCB engines were used
in the fastest diesel-powered land vehicle, Dieselmax, which achieved speeds of more than 563 km/h in 2006.) But further impetus came from TV show Top Gear, whose jerryrigged tractor-truck reached a speed of 145 km/h on an episode aired in 2019. Skittery adds: ‘We saw their attempt and thought that we could probably do better than that.’
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UNFAMILIAR GROUND
Aerodynamic drag isn’t significant for most tractors; the main resistive element at standard operating speeds is rolling resistance. But of course, this wouldn’t be a typical situation. The team turned to motor racing group Williams Advanced Engineering, which applied computational fluid dynamics techniques, which Skittery described as a virtual wind tunnel, to understand how the machine was disrupting airflow. To help the JCB team better understand the results, Williams and JCB developed an immersive virtual reality 3D model of the airflow that included airstream bars that were colour-coded to indicate their effect on drag. As a result of this work, the team
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reduced the frontal area, making the cab 400 millimetres lower, 300 millimetres narrower, and adding a front splitter – a kind of pointy front bumper – changed the roof design, added fins to the rear of the roof and made other tweaks. Of the driveline, one of the most difficult areas was the tyres, which had to be safe and stable at 240 km/h. Collaboration with supplier BKT Tires involved modifying a standard tractor tyre shape by adding more natural rubber for better grip and by adding two steel belts to stop the tyre deforming at such high speeds. Test rig measurements found that it gained 20 millimetres of diameter at 240 km/h. The team also shaved the treads in order to reduce outer edge forces and movement due to tyre hysteresis (flexing). At a rig in Germany that normally tests aeroplane tyres, the team
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simulated the record run and also tested the tyres in even more extreme duty. Skittery picks up the story: ‘We did find that limit, as well as the failure mode. In fact, before failure, the tyre started to vibrate excessively before it went bang, so we could instrument that on the machine. We had live vibration, temperature and air pressure monitoring, so if anything got to the ceiling limits, it would tell the driver.’ Axles used were standard, but altered; centre differentials were locked up to prevent excessive wheelspin off the line. Moving up the crankshaft, a sixspeed manual transmission was chosen for weight and simplicity. Although the driver would only get to fifth gear in the run (a 1:1 ratio, incidentally), there the box offered 99 per cent-plus mechanical efficiency. Switching between gears was a
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heavy-duty eight-plate wet tractor clutch that, ironically, offered the heavy duty required, although in a completely different operational context. ‘This duty is asking a lot; it has to handle a really high torque capacity and we need to slip it to get it going from standstill,’ says the project manager. Last but probably most was the engine; not from a tractor but a standard JCB 672 7.2-litre diesel. Block, head, pistons, crankshaft, rockers, rocker shafts, water pump, oil pump and fuel lines was all standard. (Actually the pistons were specially machined to have an open bowl design to reduce the compression ratio.) To quadruple the power output, the team modified the engine to, simply put, squirt in more fuel and blow in more air. A larger fuel pump and larger injectors provided 2.7 litres of red diesel per minute at 2,500 bar. On
FASTEST TRACTOR
Fastrac 2 was based on a standard, commercially available Fastrac model
A parachute was added to the tractor for safety reasons but wasn’t needed
a test run, that reduced the tractor’s fuel efficiency by seven times. Three modifications provided the extra air. First was a larger turbocharger, offering a five bar boost pressure of 1,000 litres per second once the engine was running quickly, but at slow speeds it suffered from turbo lag. To reduce that, a Federal Mogul COBRA electronic supercharger was fitted; running at 24V and powered by lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, this could spin up from standstill to 50,000 rpm in less than a second and fed air into the turbocharger at engine revs below 2,000 rpm. Pressure sensors worked out when the turbo was breathing more air than the supercharger and switched it off. As that didn’t remove all of the lag, the team added another system on top: an air pulse system that injects 20 bar of air into the exhaust manifold
from a scuba compressed-air tank mounted on the back of the vehicle. This provided a five-second boost when setting off from the line and during each gear change. Every run consumed an entire tank. Of course, all of this fuel and air raised temperatures inside the engine. ‘There was a fine balance between hot and cold,’ Skittery says. The team devised various preheating strategies to keep the cylinders warm to reduce cylinder pressures when air is being pumped in. ‘At the same time, we wanted the air inlet to be nice and cold when it was running.’ Cooling systems included a water-charged air cooler that treated turbocharged air. As the water radiator didn’t carry sufficient heat capacity under those conditions, it was supplemented by a 60-litre water tank mounted at the front of the machine that was filled with 25 kilograms of ice, which melted in a single run. ‘We had quite a few trips to Tesco, clearing out its freezers to keep our stocks up.’ In addition, as there wasn’t enough space on the front of the vehicle for the oil and water radiators (where they would be in the standard tractor configuration), they were moved to the sides of the chassis, between the wheels, and cooled only by ram air. ‘It was a really important part of the design process of the bodywork to
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funnel and channel the air into those radiators. There was a lot of CFD analysis to optimise that.’ Water was also injected into the air intake and cold oil washed at the bottom of the cylinders. Although much of the work on the project was one-off engineering, Skittery says that after the project, the entire team was moved on to develop the next generation of tractors. And he says that there are a number of transferable learnings. ‘A lot of this work was about optimising the machine: make it lighter, the tyres more efficient and reduce rolling resistance. A lot of that will be carried forward to the next generation. Fuel isn’t getting cheaper; farms aren’t making more money. The price of wheat remains stagnant. So ways to maximise inputs into farming systems come down to machine design.’ Alan Tolley, former director, JCB engine programmes, reinforces that point. ‘From an engine point of view, the traditional view is that racing improves the breed. It does give a reference in terms of the capability of the base engine.’ ■ FURTHER INFORMATION This article is based on a presentation given as the annual lecture of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Powertrain Systems and Fuels Group. For more, visit www.is.gd/ihumel
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS THAT TEACH VALUABLE ENGINEERING LESSONS Michelle Forsythe, assistant professor of STEM education at Texas State University (TSU), and Julie Jackson, associate professor of curriculum and instruction at TSU, pick five of their favourite science, technology, engineering and mathematics books for children MOST PEOPLE THINK of the children’s classic Charlotte’s Web as a story of devoted friendship between a spider and a pig. But it can also be read as a story of a budding engineer – Charlotte – who prototypes, builds, tests and revises her web to solve a problem.
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As teacher educators, we use children’s books to make lessons about science and engineering accessible to children of all ages. Through books, children can experience how engineers use design-based thinking, which focuses on creative and innovative solutions, to solve problems. They can also explore the history of things that they use every day, such as crayons, bridges and cars. And they can expand their image of who can be an engineer or inventor.
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS Our work suggests that picture books and biographies for youngadult readers can be particularly effective for introducing children to the engineering design process. These are the actions – ask, imagine, plan, create, test and improve – that engineers take to design a solution to a problem. They also help children understand engineering habits of mind. These are the traits, such as creativity and persistence, that help engineers successfully solve problems. Here are five of our favourite science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) books for children, and some of the engineering lessons that they teach.
1
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions
Lonnie Johnson was always curious about how things worked. One day, while trying to figure out a way to replace the harmful chemicals found in refrigerators and air conditioners, he connected a pump with a nozzle to his bathroom tap. When he turned the tap on, water blasted across the room. Johnson had invented a water gun! He tested and redesigned his new invention until it became the perfect summer toy – the Super Soaker. This picture-book biography introduces young readers to the prototype-test-redesign process that is central to engineering.
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Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade’
Grab a front-row seat to the story of how Tony Sarg, an immigrant from Western Europe, created one of the USA’s most iconic holiday traditions – the giant balloons of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
This picture-book biography highlights how engineers draw on imagination and inspiration to improve their designs. After reading it, children can use these same traits to create their own Indonesian rod puppets. These puppets inspired Sarg to flip his marionette strings upside-down so that his famous balloons could soar.
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Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane
Lilian Todd – a self-taught inventor, engineer and contemporary of the Wright brothers – worked to improve airplane designs during the early 1900s. This picturebook biography of her life illustrates how an engineer’s designs frequently fail. And it uses quotes from Todd’s perspective – ‘There is no work so discouraging, so exasperating, so delightful… so exhilarating as building aeroplanes’ – to capture her resilience in overcoming these challenges. As children often face similar obstacles in their own STEM journeys, Todd’s story provides a model for how children can prepare for, reflect on and move forward from moments of failure.
4
Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier
We’ve all eaten Hershey’s chocolate bars and Hershey’s Kisses. However, the road to commercial success for Milton Hershey was circuitous, and he failed many times before he succeeded. This biography, written for ages eight to 12, highlights the power of persistence and the design axiom: ‘Fail often so you can succeed sooner.’
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OTHER BOOKS MANY BOOKS THAT are already in homes, schools and local libraries can also be used to introduce the engineering design process and habits of mind. We recommend looking for the following story features when choosing a book to explore design-based thinking with children. First, the story presents a problem in a real-life context. Second, the story describes a design plan or way to solve the problem. Third, a character creates, tests and evaluates a prototype of this design. And finally, a character improves the design and applies the revised solution. Parents and teachers can find more high-quality STEM books on the National Science Teaching Association’s Best STEM Books K-12 or our own expanded list of favourites. ■
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
This biography, written for ages ten to 13, tells how teenaged William Kamkwamba built a wind turbine to produce electricity for his family in Malawi. The story shows how anyone, of any age, anywhere in the world can be an engineer. This book is a great selection for a family or multi-age book club as it is also available as a picture book, a biography for adults and even a movie. Everyone can pick the version that’s best for them and gather in person or via video chat to talk about lessons learned from Kamkwamba’s dream, determination and design. ■
This article originally appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com)
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IED NEWS
NEW EXECUTIVE TEAM FOR THE IED
Dave Castle
FOLLOWING OUR ANNUAL general meeting on 10 July, we’re very excited to welcome a new Chair and two new Vice Chairs to the IED leadership team. IED Founder’s Award-winner Dave Castle IEng RCADMan FIED MBCS CITP is the Institution’s new Chair.
Dave, who works in the defence and aerospace industry, joined the IED as a student member in 1986, won the IED Prize in 1990, and in 2014, became a Fellow and member of the IED Council. In 2018, he was named Vice Chair of the IED Council and a member
REGISTERED ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTITIONER LAUNCHED WE’RE REALLY EXCITED to announce that the IED has recently been granted a licence to award Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) status to our suitably qualified and experienced members. By making everyday decisions within their profession, designers play a vital role in the protection of the environment and sustainability. Whether it’s through materials selection for a product or working on an environmentally focused project, designers can have a huge positive influence on the environmental impact of both products and projects. As a licensed body of the Society for the Environment, the IED has been able to award Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) status for several years and we’re really pleased that we’re now able to extend this professional opportunity to those members working at REnvP level. To find out more about the new REnvP registration, including the competencies required and the assessment process, please contact Linda, our membership manager, at linda@ied.org.uk or on 01373 822 801. ■
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of the Executive Board. Serving on the Membership Committee, he has been conducting interviews for membership, mentoring applicants and leading a number of working parties, including the implementation of GDPR and modernising the IED’s IT systems. He has also conducted a review of Chartered Product Designer submissions and reviewed member assessment paperwork, and is a member of a number of strategic Council teams. Dave is joined by new Vice Chairs Dan Farrell BSc (Hons) MTech CEng FIED, an engineer at the Moulton Bicycle Company, and Dr Ben Watson CEng CTPD CEnv FIED, an innovation leader in corporate research and development at 3M, who will be joining incumbent Vice Chair Phil Bateman EngTech MIED. If you would like to get involved in the exciting community that is the Institution of Engineering Designers, please contact Dave at chair@ied.org.uk. ■
OBITUARY: MIKE OSBORNE IT IS WITH great sadness that the staff and volunteers at the Institution note the passing of Mike Osborne, former secretary and chief executive of the IED. Mike joined the IED in the post of deputy secretary in April 1982, before succeeding Peter Booker as secretary in 1989. Over the next 11 years, he became a Member of the Institution and served as CEO, leading the IED through many developments and changes, both internally and externally. A driven and dedicated leader, Mike had previously served in the military, which showed through in his attention to detail and his passion for order and accountability. His methods for writing procedures and recording events are still used today and our licensing organisations use our practices as a model to share with other professional bodies. In 2000, Mike retired from the position of CEO, but the following year he volunteered to join both the Editorial Committee and Council, on which he served for three years. Mike was a solid, reliable character who was well liked by the volunteers and staff, and he will be greatly missed. Our thoughts are with his children, Mark and Jane, his grandchildren and Margaret, his long-term companion. ■
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