Elizabeth’s Jump Jets get green light for sea trials Finally, after eight years, fighter jets have been launched and deployed from a British aircraft carrier. Trials of the F-35 Lightning IIs from HMS Queen Elizabeth have begun, and will be conducted over the next 11 weeks, with plans to make more than 500 takeoff and landings over that period. Flight trials on the vessel will also involve a number of rotary wing aircraft, of which, the Wildcat HMA2 helicopters began tests last month. The Wildcat HMA2 is the replacement of the Super Lynx attack helicopter, which was retired from service after nearly forty years. The introduction of the F-35s hit...

House of Lords report calls for overhaul of the construction industry It is a common headline, based around reports that the housing and infrastructure needs of the UK cannot be met efficiently by the construction industry as it stands. Now there is also an evidence led report published by the House of Lords concerning the off-site manufacture in the construction sector calling for a ‘radical overhaul’ of the industry to make it more collaborative. The report praises the new ICE ‘Project 13’, an ICE business and working model offering a new way of thinking to reduce costs to the public over the lifecycle of assets, less disruption during construction and...

A shift towards predictive maintenance minimises downtime in manufacturing The move from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance is happening throughout many areas of industry. Construction uses sensors to monitor the structural health of buildings or how they react to certain conditions, in new constructions, but also with retrofitted sensors in historic buildings. The same is happening in other sectors such as monitors in utility networks (new and retrofitted), the automotive sector, the chemical industry and life sciences to name but a few. One of the biggest benefits of a shift from reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance can be seen in the manufacturing industry which often uses complex machinery. A fault...

A new window on household electricity supplies Building trends that that are environmentally friendly have been boosted through the popularity of specially coated windows which are able to keep the heat in and the cold out. This technology has in turn inspired scientists and engineers to create thin, translucent solar cells that can turn windows into small electricity generators. Chinese researchers have since combined these two systems into one and produced a window that has the facility not just to be energy efficient but to provide a house with enough energy on a daily basis. Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Hin-Lap Yip based at the South China University of...

Large 3D objects are being constructed in Cellulose Cellulose, is an abundant organic compound and can be used for a fascinating number of applications. The first 3D object to be completed using Cellulose is a turbine blade that measures 1.2m and has a weight of 5.2kg. Cellulose combined with a material called Chitosan was used to fabricate this. There are several variables that have stopped Cellulose being used in this manner previously, due to the difficulty in scaling down Cellulose, and the high cost to produce it are two of the main issues related to this as a 3D material. Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), think that they...

UK researchers literally squeeze more power from solar cells Researchers led by Professor Marin Alexe at Warwick University, have demonstrated a way to produce more energy using Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Panels. The short explanation is that by deforming the crystals in the semiconductor materials by pressing on them – a process that utilises the PV’s anisotrophic properties –  the efficiency of the PV panel can be increased. In traditional solar cells, that use the p and n  junction system, light is absorbed by the cell and the charge carriers are sent off in different directions along the semiconductors producing a current and a voltage. The new solar cells, using something...

Propping up the wind turbine industry 17th March, 2018 was an important day for renewable energy resources in the UK. It was on this day that the National Grid reported that more than a third of the energy generation for domestic use in the UK was generated by wind power, a record amount to date. As the UK seeks to lower pollution and raise the use of renewable resources this is very positive news. How can the amount of wind power generated be increased further? The use of inshore and offshore wind farms is difficult when land fit for this particular purpose in the UK is sparse and large areas...

‘Beast from the East’ causes rail chaos Many faced huge delays due to cancelled services during the recent extreme weather (labelled in the UK papers as ‘The Beast from the East’). As temperatures plummeted and snow was predicted, many train services were cancelled even though early on – there was no snow apparent. “Why did this happen?” asked many stranded passengers and many are still asking as they try to chase up refunds on their tickets. There are varied reasons given and as the weather systems are changing, those reasons need to be addressed (or in some cases alternatives to the current solutions found). Network Rail themselves work on advice...