Materials
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- Materials
- Innovation Watch
- Issue 67
The bioplastic that is easily moulded for repairs
Launched on Kickstarter in November 2015, British designer Peter Marigold’s FORMcard innovation successfully raised the money needed to go into production on its first day. The malleable plastic has since been used to fix thousands of everyday items around the world.
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- Design & manufacturing
- Materials
- How does that work?
- Issue 98
How does steelmaking work?
Today, about 1.9 billion metric tonnes of steel are made every year, with China, India and Japan leading the world’s production. Leonie Mercedes examines how we get from iron ore to the steel that makes up our world.
- Materials
- Environment & sustainability
- Issue 98
Mining volcanoes for metals
Green technologies depend on a range of metals and minerals. With concerns about environmental damage from conventional mining, scientists and engineers are seeking alternative sources. Could metal-rich magmatic brines underneath volcanoes have the answer?
- Design & manufacturing
- Materials
- Issue 98
Greening the UK’s steel industry
Steel has made modern life as we know it possible, but it needs to clean up its act. Leonie Mercedes investigates how engineers are working to decarbonise this important global industry.
- Design & manufacturing
- Chemical
- Environment & sustainability
- Materials
- Innovation Watch
Kicking single-use plastics to the curb
This spider-silk inspired plastic alternative produces no plastic alternatives – unlike existing "compostable" plastics.
- Electricals & electronics
- Environment & sustainability
- Materials
- Issue 94
Powering the pursuit of net zero
It's electrifying: what’s needed before emerging battery technologies are fully charged for a clean green future?
- Materials
- Design & manufacturing
- Issue 92
From tree to toilet: engineering loo roll
It takes complex technology to turn trees into toilet rolls. Dr Anna Ploszajski unravels the engineering behind and production of one of life’s essentials.
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- Environment & sustainability
- Materials
- Innovation Watch
- Issue 92
Imaging the plastic recycling process
Chemical engineer Dr Kit Windows-Yule is using an innovative imaging technique to improve the chemical process of breaking plastics down into oil.
- Materials
- Issue 90
Averting hidden corrosion
Q: What links leftover lasagne, the Statue of Liberty, and an Alaskan tundra - and causes environmental catastrophe if left unchecked?
- Aerospace
- Materials
- Issue 80
Composites take off
The wing of the Airbus A220 won the Bombardier the 50th anniversary MacRobert Award for engineering innovation. It was the first certified aircraft wing made using resin transfer infusion, resulting in a smaller environmental impact from its lighter weight and reduced manufacturing energy.
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- Electricals & electronics
- Materials
- How I got here
- Issue 79
Q&A: Zoe Dobell
Zoe Dobell is a systems engineer at Transport for London (TfL). She’s currently working on the Central Line Improvement Programme (CLIP), where she is integrating new systems that are being retrofitted onto the trains.
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- Energy
- Materials
- How I got here
- Issue 77
Q&A: Rahul Mandal
Dr Rahul Mandal is a Research Associate in the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) at the University of Sheffield, and winner of The Great British Bake Off 2018.
- Materials
- Issue 75
Graphene's material promise
Just one atom thick but stronger than diamond, graphene’s mix of mechanical and electrical properties have proposed it as the answer to many questions. Where do graphene's strengths lie in industry and where does it fall down?
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- Materials
- How I got here
- Issue 73
Q&A: Anna Ploszajski
Anna Ploszajski is a materials engineer and science communicator who wants to bring materials engineering to the wider public. She completed an engineering doctorate in hydrogen storage materials at UCL.
- Materials
- Innovation Watch
- Issue 70
Thin and flexible but tough protection
Armourgel, an energy-absorbing material that can be incorporated into clothing, is being adapted from its origins in sportswear into a protective device for the hip that aims to protect the weak and fragile hip bones of osteoporosis patients and frequent fallers.
- Materials
- Environment & sustainability
- Profiles
- Issue 70
Forging links between academia and industry
For Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng, materials science has been a common theme in a career that has taken in the academic world at all levels, to becoming a vice-chancellor, along with time in the higher echelons of corporate engineering at Rolls-Roce.
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- Materials
- How does that work?
- Issue 68
Toughened glass
A stronger version of standard glass, toughened glass is ideal for use where greater strength or safety is needed. Learn how thermal and chemical treatments enhance strength, safety and durability for various applications.
- Materials
- Mechanical
- Issue 66
A lot more than lubrication
The control of friction and wear in mechanical systems by lubrication and surface engineering has led to safer, faster transport as well as medical innovations. Ian Hutchings FREng, GKN Professor of Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Cambridge, highlights the progress and some failures of the important discipline of tribology.
- Materials
- Issue 63
Diamond technology: beyond hardness
Diamond is being used in an increasing variety of industrial and technological applications, due to other properties in addition to its hardness. The UK is home to a wide range of diamond research, development and synthetic diamond production activities.
- Materials
- Environment & sustainability
- Issue 62
Recycling household waste
The percentage of waste recycled in the UK has risen rapidly over the past 20 years, thanks to breakthroughs in the way waste is processed. Find out about what happens to household waste and recent technological developments in the UK.
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- Materials
- How does that work?
- Issue 61
Aerogels
Among some of the lightest known solid materials, aerogels, formed by removing liquid from gels, have many uses ranging from catalysts and sensors, to being used on NASA missions.