The UK’s new Engineering Diploma for 14-19-year-olds is being taught from this September. Rupal Mehta explores its development, and what it means for education in the country and a sector dominated by an ageing workforce.
Comparing the performance of magnesium to other metals in car components. The Jaguar XF's instrument panel and its associated components are carried by a magnesium cross car beam. Without this beam the instrument panel would not be possible in its current form.
The European Aluminium Awards 2008 were given out during the Aluminium 2008 conference, at Messe Essen in Germany on 23 September. Lotus Engineering UK took the overall Jury Prize for the Evora aluminium sports car chassis.
ExtreMat partners are working to generate new commercial materials, multi-material components and crosscutting processing technologies for use in fields such as nuclear fusion, space and aerospace.
The European automobile industry is facing legislation to achieve significant reductions in CO2 levels for new vehicles by 2012. In the meantime, the industry is introducing new technologies to offer lower CO2 products. There are three fundamental ways to improve economy and emissions. In order of effectiveness, these are to improve powertrain efficiency, reduce weight and increase aerodynamic efficiency.
Many motorsport innovations rely on carbon fibre composites (CFCs) to provide specific properties that are unobtainable with traditional metallic materials and manufacturing techniques. But it is not enough to take an existing metallic component and simply change it to a CFC.
A new polymer could lead to cheaper fuel cells. ElectroPhen is a thermoset polymer, whose polymerisation generates nanostructures of conductive pathways. For bipolar plate applications, graphite is used as the filler.
The EU aims to meet 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020. Organic photovoltaics — solar cells made from plastics — could be one promising avenue. They take the form of a flexible, light film that can be easily attached to other materials and adapted to different colours and designs. This has led to potential commercial applications in the construction industry, where plastic cells could be used as a thin film on roofs, windows and facades. Moreover, they could feature in foldable chargers for mobile phones and other gadgets on car roofs, or in clothes.
