Articles
Big technology trends – such as 3D printing, the Internet of Things, autonomous cars, and the ever more fluid boundaries between hardware and software – are presenting both upheaval and opportunity. Our cover story this month is a prime example: the promise and the limitations of 3D printing in the tightly regulated aerospace industry.
Another feature is on the great opportunities that 5G will bring, and how it will transform our lives: from the obvious speed increase all the way to the promise of – one day – being able to transmit touch over the internet. If that happens, an engineer in the UK can give a colleague a hand hundreds of miles away, and a surgeon in New York can show a doctor in a developing country how to operate the latest robotic equipment – remotely.
All this is exciting, but the excitement has failed to spread beyond our profession. Our world is set to be transformed; every day brings new challenges, and yet our industry is facing a dramatic talent crisis; many leading economies are suffering shortages of graduates in Stem subjects.
Many of us followed closely the Chancellor’s budget statement in March; one key announcement directly affects our industry: the launch of the apprenticeship levy, linking skills and jobs, and aiming to support a further 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. The move has been widely welcomed as an opportunity to plug the engineering skills gap and increase workplace diversity – but are companies ready for the new regulations?
Robotics is another big topic – and we are exploring it much further away, in India, where we find out how companies are setting the pace – including one that wants to take a rover to the moon.
Finally, we go to the bottom of the ocean, as Canadian firm Nautilus Minerals uses UK technology to push ahead with the world’s first deep-sea mining project, off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Staying on top of all such changes is key for the professional success of engineers, but also for the companies that employ them.
You, as readers of Professional Engineering, come to us to read about the big trends, get insights, find out about engineering breakthroughs and unexpected applications of existing technologies. I look forward to showcasing the key stories and trends shaping our industry.
For more than 10 years now, I have had the opportunity to combine my love for engineering with my other passion – journalism, working as a science and technology journalist for BBC News, Nature and E&T Magazine, and contributing to publications such as The Economist, Science, New Scientist and Nautilus.
Professional Engineering will continue to track and report the changes in our industry, and help generate interest in the engineering profession – and I’ll be honoured to lead the magazine in this quest.
katia.moskvitch@caspianmedia.com
Twitter: @SciTech_Cat