Episodes

For more than a century, the UK’s Rolls-Royce have designed power systems for cars and planes, ships and submarines. Today, they are developing a novel form of nuclear reactor, which will bring reliable power to the Moon, and green energy to some of the world’s furthest frontiers. The microreactors they are developing are tiny: terrestrial versions will be the size of a shipping container, and the first, lunar, models aim to be the size of a small car. They require no external cooling, and use ...

The Dawlish sea wall, a historic and iconic structure, has long served as a critical link connecting South Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the UK. Its rich history and importance in facilitating transportation have made it a symbol of resilience. However, after a storm in 2014 the wall collapsed and left the train line dangling over the water. A team of 300 engineers were sent to repair the train line and after just a couple of months the line was back up and running. Once the line was repair...

Many organisations undervalue the role young employees can play, one in five UK employers outright refuse to hire from the 22-25 age group. However young employees can offer a different way of looking at problems and with an emerging skill gap across STEM industries, employing and training young people gives companies a chance to mould the next generation. Despite studies showing the next generation’s fear over AI and technology making their jobs obsolete, many entering engineering are excited ...

Governments and businesses around the world have made commitments to achieve Net Zero by the middle of the century. This will require engineering innovation, and changes to practices, standards and regulations, across the generation, transmission, storage and transport segments. In this episode we explore the challenges and how they intersect. The IET’s Powering Net Zero week takes place 14 – 17 November 2023, Crowne Plaza, Glasgow, with three conferences, five content streams, an exhibition an...

In our increasingly complex and interconnected world, wars are fought not only on the battlefield, but within the infrastructure that supports our society. To address these challenges, engineers must adopt a ‘secure by design’ approach that identifies risks from the outset. Just as cyberattacks extend threats to a new digital domain, so too is climate change reshaping the physical landscape. Militaries must seek to eliminate their own carbon emissions—often the most significant of any governmen...

Ever since the first computer chip was created the size of transistors on chips has been getting smaller and smaller. Gordon Moore, who went on to co-found Intel, predicted the doubling of number of transistors on a chip would double every two years, over the last 60 years this has been true but only thanks to some incredible technological breakthroughs. In 2018 the most advanced chip making machine was made available for mass production by Dutch company ASML. The machine uses EUV (extreme ultr...

For consumers, and for many businesses, the road to Net Zero is simple: replace fossil fuels with electricity, source the electricity from renewable sources, and use it as efficiently as possible, But this isn’t a road every business can follow. Some have energy requirements so intense, that they cannot be easily powered from the grid. Others produce significant amounts of carbon, not through their fuel use, but through the process itself. That’s the challenge faced by the minerals processing ...

The De Havilland Beaver is a single pilot, seven passenger piston airplane that’s an icon of Canadian aviation. It has been out of production for over 50 years but is still a popular plane for short flights to Canada’s most remote areas. The De Havilland Beaver now finds itself on the cutting edge of aviation. Harbour Air, a trailblazing regional airline from Canada is on a mission to become the world’s first carbon-zero airline by retrofitting their iconic de Havilland Beavers with MagniX’s cu...

What can an engineer or town planner learn from a computer game Viking? In this episode, we look at how one design team is using real time simulations, or gaming engines, to develop accessible ways of communicating engineering proposal to the public. Games such as Valheim challenge players to survive in a world of richly detailed physics; others, such as Red Dead Redemption 2 present realistic natural environments. Engineers can use these tools to show how flood prevention measures might work, ...

Saudi Arabia has set out on a journey. This historic land is today home to a young country: a quarter of the population are under 15; more than 40% are younger than 25; and 90% are under 55 years old. The country aims to build a diversified economy that will provide new opportunities for this young population. To achieve this goal, Saudi Arabia is looking to the past, as well as the future. Called Saudi Vision 2030, the plan draws on the country’s position at the heart of the Arab and Islamic w...

Power companies like National Grid Electricity Distribution, have used helicopters to monitor power lines for decades. Once, an inspector would check each component visually from the helicopter. Today, they are backed up by a data specialist, who manages the acquisition of LIDAR and other data. The ability of these companies to acquire detailed data over their network poses a new challenge: how can it be processed and analysed, to guide efficient maintenance programmes and vegetation management...

The operations and maintenance (O&M) sector has changed significantly since the inception of the 3P, or public private partnership, model in the 1990s. Once, these contracts merely assigned O&M responsibilities. Today, clients want suppliers to help them implement specific social and environmental values. This is changing the way O&M contractors work. They must collaborate closely with clients, making sure they understand the client’s aims, and that they can fulfil these. To do that, they must ...

In episode #221, Engineering Matters looked at a new way of manufacturing feedstocks for plastics. This approach will eliminate the use for oil products, instead making use of plant-based materials, which will also help remove carbon from the atmosphere. But eliminating the use of finite oil resources is only one part of the circular economy. This week, we wanted to take a dip into the archive, to look at a technology that could help close the loop in the plastics supply chain: 3D printing. Ba...

The world consumes 4.25 billion tonnes of oil every year. Over half of the oil drilled out of the ground goes towards transport, but the entire sector is moving to decarbonise. However even if the transport sector no longer requires oil, many industries across the economy will still be reliant on extracting fossil fuels. In order for the world to stop drilling for oil we need to find replacements for all its uses, not just in transportation. The amount of oil used to produce materials is equiva...

Buildings and the construction industry account for 39% of global carbon emissions: 28% from materials and operational emissions, and 11% from construction operations. One of the main sources of those emissions during building works, is the use of diesel generators to power heavy equipment, such as tower cranes. But this equipment only needs high levels of power for a fraction of its working day. If equipment users can smooth these peaks of demand, they could work from much lower power electrica...

Can engineers help to build peace? Can the solutions engineers develop in places of conflict, contribute to the development of low carbon? They can. And Engineering Matters listeners can help with this important work. Over the past decade, many of Syria’s urban areas have been ravaged by aerial bombardment and shelling by artillery. It is a land of lives lost and cities destroyed. But in the country’s northwest, an engineer is working among the rubble to establish an independent university that...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. From jobs and skills to Learning Legacy case studies, the HS2 project continues to provide good practice, innovation and lessons learned. HS2 isn’t just about building a new piece of infrastructure, it’s an opportunity to connect communities, regenerate the economy and leave a lasting legacy of jobs and skills. This episode of How to build a railway, ‘Leavin...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. With any project, health and safety plays an important role. From working at height to operating heavy machinery, there is always a risk towards the health and wellbeing of workers, and possibly the public. How do workers identify and mitigate hazards? How do they make use of decades of progress in health and safety? And how do they build upon that knowledge ...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. Climate change presents unprecedented challenges; the actions we take today will fundamentally affect our lives and the lives of future generations. How we travel – and how we build our infrastructure – are critical to our response to this global emergency. It’s why we’re building HS2: to be both a catalyst for growth and the most sustainable railway of its t...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. In this episode, we explore how it all fits together – how we integrate our rail systems. Rail travel has come a long way over the years. Now, with advances in technology, demands of a growing population and faster, greener trains, we’re already underway with the complicated procedure of systems integration to ensure every aspect of the railway works together...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode of the HS2 podcast series is all about the journey, and the destination. Stations sit at the heart of any railway system. They receive passenger flows from the railway network and provide interchange for other forms of transport. Their design must enable this flow to be efficient and pleasant, along with connections to other modes of transport mu...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode of the HS2 podcast series goes back above ground to explore the design and construction of bridges, with a specific focus on HS2’s iconic Colne Valley Viaduct. Good infrastructure will impact minimally on the surrounding environment. For some stretches of the HS2 route, the diverse landscape and ground conditions are not suitable for tunnels. Whe...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. The latest instalment of HS2’s podcast delves into the fascinating world of tunnelling. As Phase One of the railway winds its way from Birmingham to London, it passes through an ever-changing landscape. Shaped by towns, cities and countryside, HS2 has been designed to minimise the impact on communities and the environment. This episode of How to build a railw...

How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. We are always looking towards new methods and technologies to help us work smarter, safer and more efficiently. Construction and engineering is no different. This episode of How to build a railway, ‘Opportunity for Innovation’, dives into some of the ways High Speed Two is working to create collaborative innovation partnerships using new technology and proces...