Issues

Issue 65

December 2015

The ALMA antennas at night.
  • Aerospace
  • Issue 65

ALMA – the high altitude observatory

The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is the largest and most expensive ground-based telescope built, revolutionising our understanding of stars and planetary systems. Building it in the Atacama Desert in Chile required the ingenuity of hundreds of engineers.
A combat boot attached to a metal leg strapped onto a metal plate.
  • Health & medical
  • Issue 65

Blast mitigation and injury treatment

The Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies is a world-renowned research facility based at Imperial College London. Its director, Professor Anthony Bull FREng, explains how a multidisciplinary team is helping protect, treat and rehabilitate people who are exposed to explosive forces.
The Fulton Center from the outside.
  • Civil & structural
  • Issue 65

Fulton Center, NYC

A $1.4 billion project that created a new transit hub and improved links to six subway stations in Lower Manhattan was completed last year. Craig Covil, Principal of Arup and New York Project Director explained the main challenges and how they were overcome.
A peltier thermoelectric device.
  • Electricals & electronics
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 65

Peltier devices

First discovered by Jean Charles Peltier, the Peltier effect is used across a range of devices, from thermoelectric heaters and coolers to sensors and spacecraft. Find out how the use of semiconductor materials can act to manage heat transfer.

Two engineer colleagues speaking to each other on top of a building with solar panels, with a skyline in the background.
  • Civil & structural
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Opinion
  • Issue 65

Upgrade existing buildings to reduce emissions

Much of the UK’s existing buildings predate modern energy standards. Patrick Bellew of Atelier Ten, a company that pioneered environmental innovations, suggests that a National Infrastructure Project is needed to tackle waste and inefficiency.
A headshot of Professor Paul Newman FREng.
  • Technology & robotics
  • Profiles
  • Issue 65

Instilling robots with lifelong learning

In the basement of an ageing red-brick Oxford college, a team of engineers is changing the shape of robot autonomy. Professor Paul Newman FREng explained to Michael Kenward how he came to lead the Oxford Mobile Robotics Group and why the time is right for a revolution in autonomous technologies.
An artistic interpretation of a propeller underwater creating a vortex cavitation.
  • Maritime & naval
  • Issue 65

Quieter, more efficient propellers

Göran Grunditz, Manager of the Rolls-Royce Hydrodynamics Research Centre, explains the challenges when reducing noise from marine propellers for passengers onboard ships and for military vessels that seek to avoid detection, while maintaining a high thrust per input power and maximising efficiency.

An illustration of a tumour attached to blood vessels.
  • Health & medical
  • Issue 65

Targeting cancers with magnetism

Cambridge-based Endomag has helped treat more than 6,000 breast cancer patients across 20 countries. The MacRobert finalist uses magnetic fields to power diagnostic and therapeutic devices. Find about the challenges that surround the development and acceptance of medical innovations.