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Five times winner of the Publisher Podcast Awards, including Best Technology Podcast, Engineering Matters celebrates the work of engineers who use ingenuity, practicality, science, theory and determination to build a better world. In the UK alone 5.7million people work in engineering related enterprises from manufacturing and agriculture to construction and transportation. Their work ensures that the country has sustainable power supplies, better connectivity between cities, increasing efficiency in production processes; advanced manufacturing methods; and is embracing the digital transformations that include virtual modelling of our environment, and development of intelligent machines. Our episodes will examine the vital work of engineers using a mix of interviews, analysis and site visits.
- 342 - #301 Electrifying Sydney: Transformational Energy Systems
In the early 1900s Sydney was transformed by its first electric lighting system, which was so bright compared to gas lamps it was hailed as “turning night into day”. The network did much more than just light up the streets. It democratised power, electrifying communities, homes and businesses for the first time. The system, designed by...
Thu, 07 Nov 2024 - 36min - 341 - #300 Bonus: Powering Net Zero
Governments and businesses around the world have made commitments to achieve Net Zero by the middle of the century. This will require engineering innovation, and changes to practices, standards and regulations, across the generation, transmission, storage and transport segments. In this episode we explore these challenges and how they intersect. The IET’s Powering Net Zero...
Tue, 05 Nov 2024 - 37min - 340 - #299e Highways UK Live – A Legacy of Excellence
The Thames had been for thousands of years London’s main route to the sea. But it is also an obstacle. The last crossing east of London is the bridge and tunnel at Dartford, and this is often congested. But a new crossing has been proposed further down the river. Throughout its planning, the focus has...
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 - 42min - 339 - #299d Highways UK Live – The Journey to Net Zero and Resilience
National Highways has adopted clear net zero targets: its own operations will be carbon free by 2030; those of contractors on its roads by 2040; and of road users by 2050. The challenge will be meeting those goals, while also fulfilling its mission of getting drivers where they need to go, safely and efficiently. The...
Thu, 31 Oct 2024 - 52min - 338 - #299c Highways UK Live – Next Generation Asset Management
In 2024, National Highways completely closed parts of the M25, London’s orbital motorway. This blockage in the arterial system of the UK economy wasn’t a mistake. Instead, it was an example of meticulously planned surgery, performed by experts. In the previous episode of this mini-series, recorded live at Highways UK, we saw how data is...
Wed, 30 Oct 2024 - 45min - 337 - #299b Highways UK Live – Roads Reimagined
As an engineer, it is easy to think of roads as a challenge to be solved. Many of the innovations we will discuss in this mini-series will have a real impact on the safety, efficiency, and environmental impact of roads. But roads should be thought of as a service, not as an end in themselves....
Tue, 29 Oct 2024 - 55min - 336 - #299a Highways UK Live – The Future of Highways – Mini-series Preview
Why should we be thinking about roads as a service, not just an engineering challenge? What does it mean for a road to be a computer wrapped in asphalt? How can we use data from cars, highway assets, and even the road itself, to plan maintenance with minimal disruption to road users? How can roads...
Mon, 28 Oct 2024 - 15min - 335 - #298 Making Everyone Welcome in Construction
We should all want to build workplaces where everyone feels safe and included. But how can we do that when we don’t know what everyone needs? How can we make sure that we understand our colleagues and potential recruits, and provide them with the tools they need to be welcomed, and to be successful? Engineering...
Thu, 24 Oct 2024 - 32min - 334 - #297 Revisited: A Deep Dive Into the Past
In 1985 diver Henri Cosquer discovered a submerged cave entrance in the Mediterranean near Marseilles. Exploring over the next six years he discovered a chamber filled with prehistoric art. Conditions in the caves and the submerged passages leading to it are extremely dangerous: three divers lost their lives exploring the caves. Efforts to map the...
Thu, 17 Oct 2024 - 31min - 333 - #296 A Safer, Faster, Way to Build Offshore Wind
The North Sea’s natural conditions, with shallow waters and strong winds, make it ideal for wind farms. But, these same factors pose challenges for construction. To meet ambitious Net Zero targets, improving the speed and efficiency of installing wind farm foundations is critical. At the same time, these works must be carried out safely, without...
Thu, 10 Oct 2024 - 26min - 332 - #295 Decision Time for the Hydrogen Economy
The first stable atom to form after the Big Bang was hydrogen. Transformed into other atoms through stellar nuclear fusion, it is the foundation of all matter. Bound with other elements in water and hydrocarbons, it is the basis for all life, and the fuel of the industrial revolution. But can it also be the...
Thu, 03 Oct 2024 - 47min - 331 - #294 A View of the Future from Coire Glas
On Coire Glas, in the remote Scottish Highlands, geologists and engineers are developing a vision of Scotland’s energy future. SSE Renewables plans the first pumped hydro storage facility in the UK for decades here, taking advantage of the unique and awe inspiring landscape. But first, they need to understand conditions on and in the ground....
Thu, 26 Sep 2024 - 31min - 330 - #293 Engineering Matters Awards: Community Champion, The Washing Machine Project
For 70% of the world’s population, doing the laundry means hours of difficult manual washing. It was this fact that led Nav Sawhney to leave his job as a design engineer at Dyson and try to come up with a way to fix this problem. After six different design iterations, Nav and his team at...
Thu, 19 Sep 2024 - 21min - 329 - #292 Place is the Space for Growth
How should local and regional leaders encourage investment in their communities? Around the world, cities struggle with a legacy of industrial decline. In England, devolution of planning policy to mayoral combined authorities has allowed for regions like Greater Manchester to outpace national growth. But within regions, local areas can themselves fall behind, and require a...
Thu, 12 Sep 2024 - 33min - 328 - #291 Making the Case for Cutting Carbon
Project managers have traditionally measured the viability of a project design or materials choice as a triangle, balancing cost, scope and performance. With the addition of carbon, this triangle becomes a three-sided pyramid, with four considerations each interacting with the others. Materials suppliers and project designers now have a wealth of carbon cutting innovations available...
Thu, 05 Sep 2024 - 28min - 327 - #290 Racing for Innovation: Inside Formula Student
Formula Student is Europe’s top educational motorsport competition, with students and teams from all over the world coming to compete. The competition is integrated into engineering degree courses, allowing students to take what they are learning in the classroom and lab, into the real world. It tests both engineering skills, and the project management that...
Thu, 29 Aug 2024 - 31min - 326 - #289 Engineering Matters Awards: Sustainability Champions, Intelligent Growth Solutions
Lean production techniques have become common across heavy industry. They cut resource use, and promote quality assurance. They were inspired by shelf stocking techniques used in US grocery stores. But can they now be turned to the start of the grocery supply chain, farming itself? That is the goal of Engineering Matters Awards Sustainability Gold...
Thu, 22 Aug 2024 - 22min - 325 - #288 Engineering Matters Awards: Net Zero Champion – Whole Life Carbon Assessment, 2nd edition
We can only efficiently reduce those things that we can measure. The Whole Life Carbon Assessment standard, produced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), established a method for assessing the carbon impact of buildings. Its updated version, which came into effect in July, expanded its scope to include infrastructure, and was designed to...
Thu, 15 Aug 2024 - 20min - 324 - #287 Engineers Without Borders: The Design Challenge
The Engineers Without Borders UK People Design Challenge is a year long challenge that is part of many UK engineering students’ degrees. For this episode we went to Stoller Hall in Manchester to cover the Design Challenge final. The design challenge each year focuses on a new community, and puts them at the centre of...
Thu, 08 Aug 2024 - 28min - 323 - #286 AI In the Real World
With the launch of robot taxis, we are already seeing autonomously controlled devices operating alongside humans in the public realm. As AI improves it will become embedded in our physical environment, in factories and construction sites, and in our streets and homes. In episode 267, we talked to Darren Martin about the importance of considering...
Thu, 01 Aug 2024 - 27min - 322 - Bonus: Engineering a Low Carbon Paris Olympics
What does it take to win at the Olympics? For Pierre Engel, chief engineer at ArcelorMittal, victory took years of experience, precision, and collaboration. He was aided by kit made entirely of a novel material—low carbon recycled steel. Pierre’s challenge shared much with those faced by Olympians. But he wasn’t skipping rope to keep himself...
Fri, 26 Jul 2024 - 17min - 321 - #285 Delivering the Floating Offshore Wind Revolution
The UK is a global leader when it comes to the development of offshore wind energy. Despite past government bans on onshore wind development, the UK was able to continue developing its wind energy portfolio by going out to sea. The UK now generates over a quarter of its electricity from wind, with a significant...
Thu, 25 Jul 2024 - 41min - 320 - #284 Queensway Tunnel: The Miracle Under the Mersey
When the Queensway Tunnel opened on 18th July 1934 King George V declared it a miracle. At 3.4km long and with a 13.4m internal diameter it was the world’s longest subaqueous tunnel and the largest municipal engineering project that had ever been undertaken in the UK. The project pushed the boundaries of engineering design and...
Thu, 18 Jul 2024 - 36min - 319 - #283 Engineering Matters Awards: Net Zero champion AmberSemi
In every home, ancient technologies lurk, threatening fire and ruin. While many devices—lights, TVs, and hard drives, for example—have adopted solid state technologies, power bricks still use ageing electromechanical systems. AmberSemi’s AC Direct DC Enabler is a fabless semiconductor system that replaces these bricks. At home, that means smaller, safer ways of connecting DC devices...
Thu, 11 Jul 2024 - 24min - 318 - #282 Engineering Matters Awards: Dumarey
Can an ancient technology help spin up the renewables revolution? Dumarey—formerly Punch—Flybrid is doing just that, with its flywheel-based technology. In this episode, one of a series this summer, we look at their winning entries to the Engineering Matters Awards. On construction sites, power supply must be shaped around the peak demands of heavy equipment....
Thu, 04 Jul 2024 - 27min - 317 - #281 Engineering Matters Awards: Inclusion champion—Space for Everyone
The adventures of astronauts have inspired the dreams of many young people. But once those dreams collide with the reality of years of demanding training and study, they often fade. Today, space is about much more than high profile crewed missions. In the UK alone, tens of thousands of workers will be needed by the...
Thu, 27 Jun 2024 - 30min - 316 - #280 Engineering Matters Awards: Net Zero Champion BCIS Built Environment Carbon Database
We delve into the critical role of the built environment in addressing the climate emergency, and how our Engineering Matters Awards Net Zero champion the Built Environment Carbon Database (BECD) is helping decarbonise the industry. Created by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS), the BECD is a...
Thu, 20 Jun 2024 - 28min - 315 - #279 Intersection, Identity, and Engineering
The concept of intersection has given society a new way to understand identity. It has profound implications for how we understand ourselves and others in our workplaces. For engineers, it can inform how projects are designed, and how they meet the needs of diverse users. The concept was developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and draws on...
Thu, 13 Jun 2024 - 44min - 314 - #278 Engineering Matters Awards: Innovation Gold Champion Seratech’s Carbon Capture Concrete
Around the world, 8% of CO2 emissions come from the production of concrete, and 90% of those emissions come from the production of cement. This episode highlights the groundbreaking work of Engineering Matters Awards Gold Champion Seratech, a company pioneering the use of carbon capture technology in concrete production. Their innovative process uses the abundant...
Thu, 06 Jun 2024 - 26min - 313 - #277 The Race to Net Zero – Innovation at Pace
The race to hit Net Zero targets will require an unprecedented surge in innovation. As Dame Laura Sandys, CBE, explains, energy systems will be reshaped, with a few hundred players in the market replaced by millions of actions and assets in a distributed system. These will necessitate not just physical changes to how we generate,...
Thu, 30 May 2024 - 312 - #276 A Deep Understanding of the Ground Beneath Our Feet
Cone Penetration Testing is a conceptually simple technology first developed in the Netherlands almost a century ago, but is still a critical component in the geotechnical toolkit. Now far more accurate and capable than early cones, modern equivalents are being deployed to solve some of the most pressing challenges, within the Dutch lowlands and far...
Thu, 23 May 2024 - 28min - 311 - #275 Serving Countries to Serving Communities
For any military operation the objectives of the mission are absolutely paramount. Failure is not an option. The team is motivated to achieve a common goal, often working under extreme pressure, pulling together to overcome challenges, paying attention to detail and always prioritising the objectives of the mission. In this way veterans have a lot...
Thu, 16 May 2024 - 29min - 310 - #274 Seeing the Future of a City
Dar es Salaam is one of the world’s fastest growing cities. In the 1970s, it was home to less than one million people. Today, it has a population of more than five million people, and by 2035 it is projected to have more than 13 million residents. The city sits on a natural harbour, the...
Thu, 09 May 2024 - 28min - 309 - #273 The Core Technologies of a New Power System
In this episode, we delve into the dynamic world of Power Electronics, Machines, and Drives (PEMD), exploring its pivotal role in shaping the future of energy systems and sustainability efforts. PEMD technology plays a critical role in advancing electrification and decarbonisation efforts worldwide. With PEMD technology enabling the integration of renewable energy sources, improving energy...
Thu, 02 May 2024 - 31min - 308 - #272 Designing Dinorwig: Inside Electric Mountain
In late 1973 the UK’s Central Electricity Generating Board gained parliamentary approval to build the largest and most difficult pumped storage hydroelectric power station in its history. It was the largest civil engineering contract ever awarded by the government and became the biggest construction project in Europe. Engineering teams had to burrow 750m deep into...
Thu, 25 Apr 2024 - 41min - 307 - #271 Pumped Storage: Australia tackles Intermittency
On the receiving end of among of the worst natural disasters in modern history, while being blessed with some of the most abundant natural resource reserves, and a developed economy, Australia sits in a unique position with regards to climate change. Many eyes are on the country as it looks to maintain the grid resilience...
Thu, 18 Apr 2024 - 20min - 306 - #270 A Blueprint for Low Carbon Roads
In the UK, over a quarter of a million kilometers of road have been laid. From motorways and A-roads to small country lanes, every kilometer of construction comes with a big carbon cost, emitting up to 2,600 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per kilometer. Over the last decade investment into new material technology and machinery has...
Thu, 11 Apr 2024 - 29min - 305 - #269 The Pipeline to Net Zero
It will be just as important to upgrade pipeline networks for the energy transition, as it is the electric grid. These will carry carbon dioxide and hydrogen, along with ammonia and biogas. They will enable carbon capture, local hydrogen for fuel intensive industry and transport, and for export. Governments around the world have struggled to...
Thu, 04 Apr 2024 - 41min - 304 - Learning Legacy Podcast – Episode 5: How to Swim in a Sea of Data
HS2 is one of the most complex and challenging railway scheme the UK has ever undertaken. As such, it has been generating vast amounts of data across the board. Every geological survey, every design, every site, every environmental survey, all generating more and more data. So with all this data, what do you do with...
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 28min - 303 - Learning Legacy Podcast – Episode 4: Being Safe and Inclusive Every Step of the Way
HS2 is focused not only on safety, but on overall health and wellbeing on all employees and contractors. Identifying long term risks to wellbeing is a challenge within any industry. It’s a particular problem on construction sites, where people often move between projects and sites. Episode 4 dives into some of the innovations and technology...
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 28min - 302 - Learning Legacy Podcast – Episode 3: Reducing and Reusing
HS2’s place within the current climate and environment has always been its top priority. Once operational, the British-built bullet trains will provide zero-carbon journeys between the UK’s two largest cities, Birmingham and London. Episode 3 explores how HS2’s railway assets have been designed from the start with climate change resilience in mind, as well as...
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 30min - 301 - Learning Legacy Podcast – Episode 2: The Blueprint and the Real Thing
Design not only encapsulates the creativity and innovation of new products, but is the main source of information for construction to take place. Episode 2 of the Learning Legacy Podcast takes a look at the design stages of stations and tunnel portals and encapsulating the importance of finding new methods of work and finding the...
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 28min - 300 - Learning Legacy Podcast – Episode 1: Building a Learning Legacy
The concept of the Learning Legacy programme has been around for longer than you might think. Starting at London 2012, collating and sharing knowledge, innovation, good practice and lessons learned from major projects has developed in a number of ways to get to where we currently reside. In this first episode we’ll take a look...
Thu, 28 Mar 2024 - 29min - 299 - #268 Mastering Time: The Challenge of Time Synchronisation
Timekeeping has been a pursuit fraught with challenges throughout history. From ancient sundials to mechanical clocks, humanity has continuously sought methods to measure time with greater accuracy. Technology has given us new ways to measure time, but also demands more accurate synchronisation. Time synchronisation stands as a linchpin in modern technology, ensuring coherence and accuracy...
Thu, 21 Mar 2024 - 39min - 298 - #267 AI and Humanity, with Darren Martin
With the launch of ChatGPT, the power of generative AI has captured public attention. Systems like this can not only work through millions of options, like earlier chess-playing supercomputers, but develop original ideas that might not occur to humans, used to working within proven traditional approaches. New techniques of advanced information processing like this, promise...
Thu, 14 Mar 2024 - 47min - 297 - #266 Building Communities Together
Cities around the world face a housing crisis. In countries like the UK, local authorities struggle to finance projects and to find space for development. In faster growing and younger cities, it can be a challenge to ensure services and infrastructure are developed at the same pace as new housing. Urban development requires a clear...
Tue, 12 Mar 2024 - 48min - 296 - #265 Tunnelling Innovation: Inventing the Bentonite Shield
Sixty years ago a civil engineer called John Bartlett of Mott, Hay & Anderson had a revolutionary idea. He noticed that bentonite clay could be used in a slurry to stabilise the face of tunnels during excavation. This could prevent non-cohesive, water bearing soils from collapsing inwards making excavation safer and cheaper. The first...
Thu, 07 Mar 2024 - 36min - 295 - #264 Finding Career Pathways into Social Value
Social Value is a term that has been used to mean the additional benefits a company can provide to wider society beyond their business as usual. In the built environment, where infrastructure projects can already lead to negative consequences for local communities, considering how a company or project can provide real opportunities and benefits to...
Thu, 29 Feb 2024 - 31min - 294 - #263 The Tipping Point
Digitalisation is changing every part of the economy. Modern mobile cranes have been developed based on some of the most fundamental concepts in engineering, many of which were first described by Archimedes. But here too, advances in sensors, computing power, and data transfer have been transformational. What can this meeting of modern and ancient tell...
Thu, 22 Feb 2024 - 32min - 293 - #262 The Engineering Matters Awards – Net Zero, part 3
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Sat, 17 Feb 2024 - 31min - 292 - #261 The Engineering Matters Awards – Net Zero, part 2
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Fri, 16 Feb 2024 - 27min - 291 - #260 The Engineering Matters Awards – Net Zero, part 1
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Thu, 15 Feb 2024 - 26min - 290 - #259 The Engineering Matters Awards – Innovation, part 3
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Wed, 14 Feb 2024 - 31min - 289 - #258 The Engineering Matters Awards – Innovation, part 2
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Tue, 13 Feb 2024 - 21min - 288 - #257 The Engineering Matters Awards – Innovation, part 1
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Mon, 12 Feb 2024 - 18min - 287 - #256 The Engineering Matters Awards – Environment
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Sat, 10 Feb 2024 - 21min - 286 - #255 The Engineering Matters Awards – Sustainability, part 2
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over two weeks of episodes, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Fri, 09 Feb 2024 - 24min - 285 - #254 The Engineering Matters Awards – Sustainability
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Thu, 08 Feb 2024 - 21min - 284 - #253 The Engineering Matters Awards – Community
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Wed, 07 Feb 2024 - 20min - 283 - #252 The Engineering Matters Awards – Health and Safety
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Tue, 06 Feb 2024 - 17min - 282 - #251 The Engineering Matters Awards – Diversity and Inclusion
This March, the industry will gather at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, London, for the inaugural Engineering Matters Awards. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be introducing all of the shortlisted entries. The Awards will demonstrate why engineering matters. We’ll be sharing some exciting innovations. And we will be looking at a range of ways...
Mon, 05 Feb 2024 - 25min - 281 - #250 The Observational Method – Engineering’s Best Kept Secret
The use of “The Observational Method” could be one of the best kept secrets of the engineering world. Time and time again it has been used to deliver world leading projects safely and cost effectively. In some cases it has been the only way forward when other methods have failed. The powerful methodology has been...
Thu, 01 Feb 2024 - 35min - 280 - #249 The Cables That Bind Our World Together
The modern world is bound together with cables. As our economy moves to the cloud, the vast majority of data traffic passes through subsea cables. As we transition to renewable energy, hundreds of kilometres of cabling are needed within each wind farm, and to connect wind farms to the shore. When the first cables were...
Thu, 25 Jan 2024 - 279 - #248 Revisited: Secrets of the Hoover Dam
Are there really bodies buried in the Hoover Dam? Was the hard hat really invented here in 1931? And why was it originally called Boulder Dam? In this episode, first aired in 2019, we explore and uncover the secrets of one of the greatest engineering projects ever built. The unique and formidable Hoover Dam. Learn...
Thu, 18 Jan 2024 - 278 - #247 Saving Structures with Cathodic Protection
In this podcast we go back in time to the invention of cathodic protection 200 years ago by President of the Royal Society Sir Humphry Davy. Initially applied to ships and pipelines, Mott MacDonald has spent decades pioneering its use on civil infrastructure designing systems for bridges and buildings around the world. This innovative thinking...
Thu, 11 Jan 2024 - 277 - #246 Tiny Robots, Big Moves: The Basics of Microrobot Actuation
From tireless assembly lines in bustling factories to the delicate precision of diamond cutting, robots are transforming industries by becoming superhuman coworkers. But what if we shrunk these tireless partners down to the size of a grain of rice? Enter the realm of microrobots, where the boundaries of automation shrink to the scale of a...
Thu, 04 Jan 2024 - 276 - #245 Transparent Concrete
What would it mean to be able to look at a bag of concrete, and see its embodied carbon? That’s the goal of the new benchmark rating scheme for concrete, developed by the UK Low Carbon Concrete Group. It will allow suppliers, contractors and developers to consider the carbon footprint of projects, alongside cost and...
Thu, 21 Dec 2023 - 275 - #244 Water Quality: Navigating Challenges in UK’s Wild Waters
Post the industrial revolution the UK’s waterways became very polluted, but the last 30 years have seen a massive turnaround in the UK’s water quality. Since the pandemic wild swimming has had a boom in popularity, with the UK’s beaches, lakes and rivers becoming popular destinations for being in nature and going for a dip....
Thu, 14 Dec 2023 - 274 - #243 Virtual Reality: A New Vision for Construction
Virtual Reality has been steadily growing in the gaming market over the past few years, but now it could be about to change not how people play but how they work. From the imaginative realms of science fiction to the cutting-edge developments of the 21st century, we explore the roots of VR, paying homage to...
Thu, 07 Dec 2023 - 273 - SHORT: Recycling, Without Waste
It can seem, at times, as if we are drowning in a sea of waste, a great ocean of paper and tin, glass and plastic, all mixed together, and resistant to recycling and re-use. AMP Robotics build systems that cut through this complexity. Trained using millions upon millions of images, their robots can identify, pick,...
Tue, 05 Dec 2023 - 272 - #242 Partnerships and Resilience
It is vital that we limit the impact of climate change, through decarbonisation. But communities around the world are already experiencing harm, through floods, wildfires, and other climate-related catastrophes. We must also address these harms, mitigating them through increased resilience. Building better resilience cannot be left just to the state, or private sector industries like...
Thu, 30 Nov 2023 - 35min - 271 - #241 Wind, Waves and Wildlife: Navigating Biodiversity in Offshore Wind
Across the ocean there is an intricate relationship between human activity and marine biodiversity. The energy transition means a huge increase in the number of offshore wind turbines. As our oceans become increasingly intertwined with human activities, marine life faces an evolving challenge. Extensive monitoring of biodiversity takes place during the pre-construction and construction phase,...
Thu, 23 Nov 2023 - 30min - 270 - #240 Saving Homes, Saving the Planet
The West Kentish Town Estate provides more than 300 flats to social housing tenants. Built in the 1960s, using a panel building system, it has provided generations of Londoners an affordable home, close to the heart of one of the world’s biggest cities. But today, it is not meeting the needs of local families. Homes...
Thu, 16 Nov 2023 - 33min - 269 - #239 The resilience mindset, on Planet Beyond
This week, we’re bringing you a guest episode from the Planet Beyond podcast. In this episode, Planet Beyond host Jon Baston-Pitt talks to Resilience Association vice chair Peter Power, about how organisations in the public and private sectors can develop a ‘resilience mindset’. We live in a world of unparalleled complexity and risk. The structure...
Thu, 09 Nov 2023 - 44min - 268 - #238 A Greener More Pleasant Land
For the last three summers, shire horses have been at work each Lammas Day, mowing the new wildflower meadow on the former lawn of King’s College, Cambridge. The meadow isn’t just a quaint call back to East Anglia’s past, but gives a glimpse of the future, as new regulations come into force that require measurable...
Thu, 02 Nov 2023 - 48min - 267 - #237 Climbing the Ladder to Gender Equality
Katie Kelleher, is a trailblazer in the construction industry. Her incredible story, from a career in recruitment to becoming a crane operator, defies gender stereotypes and highlights the importance of determination in breaking new ground. In this episode we hear Katie’s experiences working on high-risk construction projects, including the Thames Tideway and Crossail. She shares...
Thu, 26 Oct 2023 - 24min - 266 - SHORT: Junade Ali – The Youngest Fellow at the IET
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is a renowned professional organization at the forefront of advancing engineering and technology. The IET plays a pivotal role in fostering innovation, knowledge sharing, and networking within the engineering community, making it a cornerstone institution for professionals dedicated to shaping the future of technology. Becoming an IET fellow...
Tue, 24 Oct 2023 - 13min - 265 - #236 RAAC: The Misunderstood Material?
RAAC, or reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, enabled a boom in public building in post-war Britain. It allowed schools, hospitals and other services to be built safely and efficiently, giving working Britons services they had long been excluded from. It, and other manufactured building materials, formed the basis of what are now known as Modern Methods...
Thu, 19 Oct 2023 - 24min - 264 - #235 Ffestiniog: 60 Years of Pioneering Storage
Hidden in the mountainous peaks of Snowdonia’s National Park is a clean source of energy storage that has been supporting the UK’s electricity grid since it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963. Ffestiniog was the UK’s first ever pumped storage hydropower project and it remains a critical part of today’s energy system....
Thu, 12 Oct 2023 - 36min - 263 - Introducing: Connected Places
Around the world, engineers, project owners, and policymakers must make hard choices as they work to ensure our infrastructure is fit for the future. They must consider how climate change will impact those assets, and how those assets will help or hinder the energy transition. This week, with the UK’s political conference season in full...
Tue, 10 Oct 2023 - 39min - 262 - #234 Microreactors: From the Moon, to the ends of the Earth
For more than a century, the UK’s Rolls-Royce have designed power systems for cars and planes, ships and submarines. Today, they are developing a novel form of nuclear reactor, which will bring reliable power to the Moon, and green energy to some of the world’s furthest frontiers. The microreactors they are developing are tiny: terrestrial...
Thu, 05 Oct 2023 - 34min - 261 - #233 Rebuilding the Dawlish Sea Wall
The Dawlish sea wall, a historic and iconic structure, has long served as a critical link connecting South Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the UK. Its rich history and importance in facilitating transportation have made it a symbol of resilience. However, after a storm in 2014 the wall collapsed and left the train...
Thu, 28 Sep 2023 - 35min - 260 - #232 Future of Technology and Engineering
Many organisations undervalue the role young employees can play, one in five UK employers outright refuse to hire from the 22-25 age group. However young employees can offer a different way of looking at problems and with an emerging skill gap across STEM industries, employing and training young people gives companies a chance to mould...
Thu, 21 Sep 2023 - 25min - 259 - #231 Powering Net Zero
Governments and businesses around the world have made commitments to achieve Net Zero by the middle of the century. This will require engineering innovation, and changes to practices, standards and regulations, across the generation, transmission, storage and transport segments. In this episode we explore the challenges and how they intersect. The IET’s Powering Net Zero...
Thu, 14 Sep 2023 - 36min - 258 - #230 National Security’s New Frontlines
In our increasingly complex and interconnected world, wars are fought not only on the battlefield, but within the infrastructure that supports our society. To address these challenges, engineers must adopt a ‘secure by design’ approach that identifies risks from the outset. Just as cyberattacks extend threats to a new digital domain, so too is climate...
Thu, 07 Sep 2023 - 42min - 257 - #229 Chip Manufacturing and the World’s Most Complex Machine
Ever since the first computer chip was created the size of transistors on chips has been getting smaller and smaller. Gordon Moore, who went on to co-found Intel, predicted the doubling of number of transistors on a chip would double every two years, over the last 60 years this has been true but only thanks...
Thu, 31 Aug 2023 - 31min - 256 - #228 Hydrogen, and the road to Net Zero building materials
For consumers, and for many businesses, the road to Net Zero is simple: replace fossil fuels with electricity, source the electricity from renewable sources, and use it as efficiently as possible, But this isn’t a road every business can follow. Some have energy requirements so intense, that they cannot be easily powered from the grid....
Thu, 24 Aug 2023 - 41min - 255 - #227 Electrifying the Skies: Harbour Air’s Green Revolution
The De Havilland Beaver is a single pilot, seven passenger piston airplane that’s an icon of Canadian aviation. It has been out of production for over 50 years but is still a popular plane for short flights to Canada’s most remote areas. The De Havilland Beaver now finds itself on the cutting edge of aviation....
Thu, 17 Aug 2023 - 30min - 254 - #226 Gaming: A New Engine for Engagement
What can an engineer or town planner learn from a computer game Viking? In this episode, we look at how one design team is using real time simulations, or gaming engines, to develop accessible ways of communicating engineering proposal to the public. Games such as Valheim challenge players to survive in a world of richly...
Thu, 10 Aug 2023 - 36min - 253 - #225 Saudi Arabia: Preserving the past, building the future
Saudi Arabia has set out on a journey. This historic land is today home to a young country: a quarter of the population are under 15; more than 40% are younger than 25; and 90% are under 55 years old. The country aims to build a diversified economy that will provide new opportunities for this...
Thu, 03 Aug 2023 - 36min - 252 - #224 Power lines, helicopters, and data analysis
Power companies like National Grid Electricity Distribution, have used helicopters to monitor power lines for decades. Once, an inspector would check each component visually from the helicopter. Today, they are backed up by a data specialist, who manages the acquisition of LIDAR and other data. The ability of these companies to acquire detailed data over...
Thu, 27 Jul 2023 - 33min - 251 - #223 Data and collaboration, operations and maintenance
The operations and maintenance (O&M) sector has changed significantly since the inception of the 3P, or public private partnership, model in the 1990s. Once, these contracts merely assigned O&M responsibilities. Today, clients want suppliers to help them implement specific social and environmental values. This is changing the way O&M contractors work. They must collaborate closely...
Thu, 20 Jul 2023 - 27min - 250 - #222 Revisited: The future of 3D printing
In episode #221, Engineering Matters looked at a new way of manufacturing feedstocks for plastics. This approach will eliminate the use for oil products, instead making use of plant-based materials, which will also help remove carbon from the atmosphere. But eliminating the use of finite oil resources is only one part of the circular economy....
Thu, 13 Jul 2023 - 27min - 249 - #221 Turning plants into plastics
The world consumes 4.25 billion tonnes of oil every year. Over half of the oil drilled out of the ground goes towards transport, but the entire sector is moving to decarbonise. However even if the transport sector no longer requires oil, many industries across the economy will still be reliant on extracting fossil fuels. In...
Thu, 06 Jul 2023 - 27min - 248 - #220 The End of the Diesel Generator?
Buildings and the construction industry account for 39% of global carbon emissions: 28% from materials and operational emissions, and 11% from construction operations. One of the main sources of those emissions during building works, is the use of diesel generators to power heavy equipment, such as tower cranes. But this equipment only needs high levels...
Thu, 29 Jun 2023 - 247 - #219 Syria: Rising from the rubble
Can engineers help to build peace? Can the solutions engineers develop in places of conflict, contribute to the development of low carbon? They can. And Engineering Matters listeners can help with this important work. Over the past decade, many of Syria’s urban areas have been ravaged by aerial bombardment and shelling by artillery. It is...
Thu, 22 Jun 2023 - 55min - 246 - Episode Twelve, How to build a Railway: Leaving a legacy
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. From jobs and skills to Learning Legacy case studies, the HS2 project continues to provide good practice, innovation and lessons learned. HS2 isn’t just about building a new piece of infrastructure,...
Thu, 15 Jun 2023 - 33min - 245 - Episode Eleven, How to build a Railway: Safe at Heart
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. With any project, health and safety plays an important role. From working at height to operating heavy machinery, there is always a risk towards the health and wellbeing of workers, and...
Thu, 15 Jun 2023 - 38min - 244 - Episode Ten, How to build a Railway: Keeping things clean – our journey to net zero
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. Climate change presents unprecedented challenges; the actions we take today will fundamentally affect our lives and the lives of future generations. How we travel – and how we build our infrastructure...
Thu, 15 Jun 2023 - 39min - 243 - Episode Nine, How to build a Railway: From Track to The Cloud – the Layers of Railway
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. In this episode, we explore how it all fits together – how we integrate our rail systems. Rail travel has come a long way over the years. Now, with advances in...
Thu, 15 Jun 2023 - 37min
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