Engineering news
Car production grinds to a halt
Automotive World
Just 197 cars left UK factory gates in April, the lowest level of production since the Second World War. The huge year-on-year drop of 99.7% was caused by the coronavirus pandemic closing factories. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders released the figures, and highlighted manufacturers’ positive contribution to building medical PPE and ventilators.
’Reshore and reinvent’
Professional Engineering
Brexit disruption and the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the fragility of outsourcing to offshore locations. Companies should take the opportunity to 'reshore' and reinvent themselves post-Covid, says Paul Haimes from PTC.
SpaceX launch delayed
E&T
An historic first attempt to launch Nasa astronauts aboard a private rocket was delayed this week due to stormy weather. The SpaceX rocket is now expected to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) tomorrow (30 May).
UK’s largest solar farm gets go-ahead
Business Green
The government has approved the UK’s largest ever solar farm, despite concerns about a potential negative impact on the local environment. The 350MW Cleve Hill project in north Kent could power roughly 91,000 homes.
Terry Spall appointed IMechE president
IMechE
Long-term IMechE member, volunteer, trustee and Formula Student chief judge Terry Spall has been appointed president of the institution. He said: “It’s an exciting and challenging moment to take over the presidency. This last year we have been working on the governance and finance reviews and how they will be implemented, which has been a massive task.
“The results of these reviews will be rolled out over the next year and we will be consulting members on how they would like the institution to evolve. It is time for change and I’m looking forward to playing a very active role to make that happen.”
Nuclear power station application submitted
The Engineer
An application to build the Sizewell C nuclear power plant has been submitted by EDF. The station, on the north-east coast of Suffolk, could generate 7% of the UK’s electricity with its two reactors.
’Invincibility cloak’ could protect buildings and vehicles
Professional Engineering
A new metamaterial inspired by military radar ‘cloaks’ could protect buildings and vehicles from dangerous vibrations. A team of engineers at the University of Missouri created the new flexible ‘polar’ material, which is composed of a functionally graded lattice and embedded in an isotropic continuum background. The layers were 3D-printed and manually assembled.
Largest electric aircraft takes flight
New Atlas
The world’s largest electric aircraft has successfully completed its first flight. The electric nine-seater Cessna from Aerotec uses a 560kW electric propulsion system from Magnix.
£1m fund to tackle space debris
Professional Engineering
The government has announced a new £1m fund for projects to tackle the growing problem of hazardous space debris. The UK Space Agency will give organisations grants of up to £250,000 to come up with ‘smart’ solutions to the problem, by using cost-effective ways to monitor objects in low Earth orbit or applying artificial intelligence (AI) to make better use of existing orbital data.
3D-printed telescope used on ISS
Aerospace Manufacturing
The entire mechanical structure of an ultra-violet telescope was built using a 3D printer, Stratasys has revealed. The instrument is already in use aboard the ISS.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.