Bloodhound off the leash and mystery space plane touches down: 10 top stories of the week

Bombardier sells Belfast factory

The Engineer

Bombardier has sold its Belfast factory and two other international facilities as part of a $1bn+ deal with Spirit AeroSystems. The deal maintains the 3,500 jobs at the Northern Ireland wing factory after previous cuts and uncertainty.

Bloodhound roars across the desert

Professional Engineering

The Bloodhound LSR car has roared across the South African desert for the first time, reaching 100mph (160km/h) on its Hakskeenpan track almost 11 years to the day after first being announced. Tests have continued in the following week, with the vehicle hitting its fastest ever speed of 461mph (742km/h).

Mysterious space plane touches down

Space.com

The unmanned US space plane X-37B has returned to Earth after an endurance record-breaking 780 days in orbit. The exact purpose of the vehicle is unclear, but an air force statement said one onboard experiment was designed to “test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipe technologies in the long-duration space environment”. The autonomous machine uses solar panels for electrical power in flight.

Cars could ‘look’ around corners

E&T

A new system developed by researchers at MIT could let autonomous cars ‘look’ around corners, giving vital extra time to react and prevent accidents if other vehicles or objects are turning the corner out of sight. The ShadowCam system, which has so far been tested in the lab, analyses images of the ground to detect changes in light intensity that could indicate moving objects nearby.

Missing the ‘multi-billion pound composite material opportunity’

Professional Engineering

“Disparate and frequently unclear” regulations are slowing and preventing the uptake of composite materials, restricting a potential multi-billion pound benefit to the UK economy. That is one of the findings of a new report from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Increasing UK competitiveness by enhancing the composite materials regulatory infrastructure. The document found the country’s high standing in the development and use of composites contrasts with a patchy regulatory framework.

Firms ‘missing £10bn R&D funding annually’

Process Engineering

Opportunities with composite materials are not the only thing that British engineering firms are missing – research from MPA showed that more than one in five innovating companies do not take advantage of the government’s R&D tax credits. The missed credits reportedly amount to £10.2bn per year.

Golden scans

Professional Engineering

Mobile scanners from Artec 3D are helping modernise a hydroelectric power station in a quicker and easier way than ever before. The devices, used by company Central Scanning, created a highly accurate scan of the buildings including pipe runs, floor levels and other critical infrastructure.

Sustainable building material grows on trees

Professional Engineering

The Centre for Natural Material Innovation (CNMI) at the University of Cambridge thinks the answer to unsustainable building materials could grow on trees. Timber from managed forests sequesters huge amounts of CO2, and the CNMI believes it holds promise for building massive skyscrapers to tackle the global housing shortage while fighting climate change. The centre gave the public a glimpse of the future by exhibiting a mock-up ‘timber tower’ apartment from the proposed Oakwood building in the Barbican, London.

The wooden car

New Atlas

Not only could timber-based materials be used for skyscrapers, a material mainly made of wood could be a promising choice for car manufacturing. Plant-based cellulose nanofibre is much lighter than steel but five times stronger, and the Japanese Ministry of the Environment thinks it could help carmakers reduce weight and emissions.

The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’

Professional Engineering

One of the people behind the striking Airbus Bird of Prey concept has spoken to Professional Engineering about the inspiration and reasoning behind the bird-like concept. The design includes feathery wingtips, a blended-wing-to-fuselage joint and a split tail for fine control.