Engineering Eye - March 2015

Ethereal engineering, MacGyver, and postage stamps

Eye has heard some woolly ideas in its time but has to doff its thinking cap to Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, who is taking the concept of ethereal engineering – virtual reality, if you will – to an entirely new level. In Bristol, Pero’s Bridge on the city’s Harbourside disappeared behind an artificial veil of fog “sculpted” by Nakaya for a week and a half recently. Her clouds are created by water pumped at high pressure through many micro-fine nozzles to create “immersive and contemplative experiences for audiences”. The bridge, completed in 1999, is 3m wide and forms a key route for pedestrians. The design, managed by Arup, and the choice of materials, were developed to fit the context of the structure at the heart of the harbour. The bridge incorporates two huge, horn-shaped counterweights on the central lifting span, fabricated by local boatbuilder David Abels. Nakaya has carried out other misty projects in Tokyo, San Francisco and New York City. The aim of her latest installation was to help visitors consider how a changing climate could affect us. It’s geo-engineering, micro scale, Eye thinks. When it has its hat on.

MacGyver, a TV hero who could be said to live the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention, would approve of an attempt by the entertainment industry to lionise engineering. MacGyver creator Lee Zlotoff is sponsoring a plan to create a TV show starring a female engineering hero, by launching a crowdsourcing competition to develop ideas. Five winners will get $5,000 and will each be paired up with a Hollywood producer to develop their own pilot script. In the original series, Macgyver uses his ingenuity to get out of dangerous situations. Eye supposes the one regarding the paucity of female engineers in the industry is similarly perilous and will require dedication and innovative thinking to solve. It tentatively nominates Dr Helen Meese, head of engineering in society, and Philippa Oldham, head of transport and manufacturing at the IMechE, as stellar potential candidates for the new show. It’s time for the issue to supernova.

Eye approves that British inventions ranging from stainless steel to the World Wide Web are featured on new stamps. The stamps depict, among other innovations, the Colossus computer – designed by none other than former General Post Office employee Tommy Flowers. Good to see Flowers’ innovation given the ultimate seal of approval. Ahem.

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