UK offshore oil and gas safety record improving says report
The UK's offshore oil and gas industry has reported its lowest ever incidence of so-called 'dangerous occurrences' since safety records began. Sector trade body Oil & Gas UK unveiled the figures in its Health & Safety Report 2017. Dangerous occurrences are defined as those incidents which have the potential to cause serious incidents and include oil and gas releases, dropped objects and fires and explosions. Read more...
Skills pose major barrier to additive manufacturing adoption
Additive manufacturing is being heralded as a technology that is forecast to be worth £67bn globally by 2020. It has been predicted that the UK could win a £5.7bn share of the additive manufacturing market and produce 63,000 new jobs by 2020. To enable the UK to maximise these opportunities and benefits of additive manufacturing, we need to identify and address the barriers to its wider adoption. Read more...
#ISeeMore competition to Engineer the Chocolate Bar of the Future!
The IET has teamed up with Mondelēz International - confectionery giant and home to some of the nation’s favourite brands including Cadbury Dairy Milk and Maynards Bassetts - to launch an engineering-themed competition for children aged 8 to 16. The winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Bournville Factory in Birmingham to engineer their winning design. Read more...
Exports increase prompts growth in UK manufacturing
UK manufacturing was boosted last month thanks to improved export performance, according to the latest IHS Markit/CIPS Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index. The index, released monthly, reveals UK manufacturing output rose from 54.2 in June to 55.1 in July. Read more...
Defending Poole Harbour
Spanning Poole Bay from east to west is a 1.4km, two tracked rail causeway, formed from a two-metre-high embankment. In January 2014, Bridgezone (now Xeiad) carried out a cyclic detailed inspection of the causeway on behalf of Network Rail. Gavin Baecke, senior asset engineer (structures) for the Network Rail Wessex route, explained that a substantial number of defects were identified, including voids that were penetrating into the embankment by up to two metres. Read more...
Engineer behind geotechnical revolution receives Academy medal for sustained achievement
A Cambridge engineer responsible for transformational research in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering is to receive the Royal Academy of Engineering Sir Frank Whittle Medal in recognition of sustained achievement throughout his career. Professor Andrew Schofield FREng FRS, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cambridge, has been a leading voice in the field since the 1960s. As a civil engineer specialising in soil mechanics, Professor Schofield also pioneered the use of centrifuge modelling for geotechnical and civil engineering applications. Read more...