Issues

Issue 72

September 2017

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A child holding a book and typing on a keyboard, with a Raspberry Pi connected to the computer in front of them.
  • Software & computer science
  • Issue 72

Chips that changed the classroom

The team behind the Raspberry Pi computer had big ambitions when it developed and launched an inexpensive device the size of a credit card. The computer won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s MacRobert Award and sparked a revolution in low-cost computing that has spread far beyond the classroom.

A crowd at Glastonbury festival watching the Arcadia Spider shoot out flames at night.
  • Arts & culture
  • Issue 72

From junk to spectacle

Synonymous with Glastonbury Festival, where it attracts thousands of partygoers each evening, the 15-metre-high Arcadia ‘Spider’ is an impressive, if unusual, example of engineering. Find out how the Spider was created.

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A structure of wooden blocks placed on top of each other.
  • Software & computer science
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 72

Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology records secure online transactions through a shared and continually reconciled database. Originally created in 2009 to manage the digital currency bitcoin, it is now being considered for applications as diverse as online voting and cloud storage.

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  • Aerospace
  • How I got here
  • Issue 72

Q&A: Lucy Harden

Lucy Harden is a mechanical engineer on BAE Systems’ Digital Light Engine Head-Up Display development programme. She devises innovative solutions for pilots to display essential flight information that sits directly in their line of sight and is overlaid onto the real world.

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A handheld case containing Arclight.
  • Health & medical
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 72

The affordable diagnostic tool saving sight in low-income countries

Arclight, a low-cost, solar-powered diagnostic eye-care tool, is being used by thousands of health workers in low-income countries to identify preventable sight loss conditions.
A band performing in a studio.
  • Arts & culture
  • Issue 72

Music for the masses

Abbey Road Studios is one of the world’s most famous recording studios, linked with some of history’s greatest musicians and classic albums. Learn how the studios’ acoustic engineering expertise and classic equipment are being adapted to help today’s DIY musicians.
A crop tractor loading elephant grass in a field.
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Food & agriculture
  • Opinion
  • Issue 72

What role for biofuels in low-carbon UK transport?

Biofuels have a role to play in meeting the UK’s climate change commitments. Sustainable Chemical Engineering Professor Adisa Azapagic FREng sets out why biofuels made from wastes and by-products in different sectors are particularly important to these efforts.
A headshot of Suranga Chandratillake.
  • Software & computer science
  • Profiles
  • Issue 72

Natural born code writer

A childhood introduction to writing software for a BBC Micro set Suranga Chandratillake FREng on a path that led to Silicon Valley, and a hugely successful software startup before he returned to the UK and began backing the next generation of young entrepreneurs.

The WASUB 6 submarine in an underwater pool.
  • Maritime & naval
  • Issue 72

Racing human-powered submarines

In 2012, a group of British engineers brought to the UK a competition that sees university students design, build and power their own submarines to race against each other. Discover the engineering behind the submarine that won the 2016 competition.
Three farmer's cows eating hay through bars.
  • Food & agriculture
  • Issue 72

The automation of dairy farms

Robotic milking is not a new innovation, but the systems are increasingly being adopted by UK dairy farms. Science writer and broadcaster Geoff Watts learned from John Baines, Technical Director at Fullwood, how these systems are being engineered to do more than just milk cows.