Articles
Protecting the title of engineer
B J Haworth bemoans the lack of protection of the title of engineer (Your Voice, Professional Engineering No 4, 2021).
To a retired physician, it seems that in this regard engineering is where medicine was before the Medical Act of 1858. There are other similarities – no common pattern of basic training or of mandatory basic qualifications, no registration, and no overall authority, but rather a number of often competing institutions.
Protection of title would require a number of these elements, and also defining what roles should be restricted to people with the protected title. This would require action by the government, which would be expected to want a measure of control. After the disasters of the 1990s the government took increased control of the General Medical Council, which ceased to include members elected by the profession, and self-regulation ceased.
Be careful what you wish for!
Edmund Dunstan
How the media get us wrong
Further to B J Haworth’s letter concerning the public’s and media’s ignorant laziness with the term engineer, I wondered if the IMechE might challenge the BBC on their handling of the topic (Your Voice, Professional Engineering No 4, 2021).
We witness excited reporters clambering up inside mighty wind turbines, stunned at the vault-like testing capabilities of an irradiation laboratory, then Gregg Wallace’s incredible insights around food factories… while the skilled creatives behind all these great achievements get scant mention. Often it is “they have built” or “scientists have devised” or, worse still, “boffins” slips in. All completely abstract and inaccurate – no wonder the nation is so desperately short of its future engineers when they remain hidden oddities.
Our profession continues to lie invisible and misunderstood by the media, so is it not time for them to be educated and fed exciting insights into our world so that reporters can feel more comfortable in delving into their taboo topic? We should be known as engineers, the magicians who turn science into reality!
Adrian Tucker-Peake
Motoring milestone
Bob Adams wrote about the ECV3 prototype car (Your Voice, Professional Engineering No 3, 2021). He referenced an earlier letter from Bob Johnson regarding the need for a car capable of 100mph and 100mpg.
Such a car was produced from 1986 – the Austin Rover Montego with the Perkins T4.20 Prima engine. I was involved in the development of the fuel system and turbocharger for the engine.
I recall sitting in the back seat watching turbocharger temperatures as we lapped the MIRA banked circuit at 100-plus mph. We would suddenly pull in, shut down and watch the turbocharger centre housing temperatures climb. We stayed within the limit to prevent coking of the oil passages. Good memories.
The AA carried out the fuel economy run at 31mph, achieving 110mpg. Perkins received the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement for the engine.
Paul Smith, Peterborough
No need to swap car batteries
Clive Renton advocates battery swapping to increase the speed of electric vehicle charging (Your Voice, Professional Engineering No 4, 2021). I read his letter with some concern. This approach failed spectacularly in Israel in 2013, where Better Place folded with reported losses of $500m.
As an owner of two EVs, I understand why... battery capacities mean that I need to charge once a week. In fact my Kia e-Niro has a greater range than my line manager’s supercharged Land Rover.
So why should I bother driving out of my way to fill my car up at a filling station (such an out-of-date concept) when I can charge in my garage at home? Indeed, I waste less time ‘filling up’ my EVs than I ever used to with my internal combustion engine cars.
Dr Mark Flower
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