2013 has been an eventful year for the engineering industry. As we emerged from a crippling global recession and started to build towards a brighter future there have been a number of landmarks along the way. Here are just a few of the highlights of the year.
January
The year started with a bang, almost, when Boeing was forced to ground its new Dreamliner after a number of battery-related errors – including a fire. The entire fleet was grounded, but it didn’t take long for Boeing’s engineers to get on top of the situation and the Dreamliner is now the King of the skies.
February
The Institute of Photonic Science made equally big strides, on a much smaller scale, when it revealed that Graphene can be used to create electricity from photons in February. This ability to convert light into electricity has been hailed as a major scientific breakthrough and could eventually spell the end for semiconductors, as well as producing much more efficient solar cells.
March
The Confederation of British Industry confirmed that British engineering was on the rise. There were still peaks and troughs in the industry, but the CBI reported a feeling of optimism. Most companies expected a boost in business for the remainder of the year and the engineering recruitment industry looked forward to a glut of new engineering jobs.
April
Science fiction became reality in April when a team of engineers working for satellite firm Astrium proposed sending an oversized whaling ship into space to harpoon large chunks of debris to protect satellites in orbit. As well as the entertaining theory, the team revealed more frightening news.
According to NASA’s own figures there are 10 to 15 objects weighing more than a tonne floating round up there that could cause collisions, along with a huge numbers of smaller fragments and 22,000 trackable objects larger than 10cm in orbit right now.
May
From debris floating aimlessly to a plane flying deliberately, but without a pilot…
In May a team of British engineers flew an unmanned plane 500 miles through British airspace. Drones are nothing new, of course, but this adapted passenger plane caused quite a stir after the first unmanned flight.
June
BAE Systems decided to take a fond look back at the Tomorrow’s World of the 1960s and finish off the designs that were flights of mere fancy back then. A hypersonic plane that could fly at five times the speed of sound and even go into space was the highlight, although a military jeep that could jump over obstacles with vertical lift-off fans was another favourite.
July
3D printing of aircraft wings sounds like a long shot even now, but the technology is coming on in leaps and bounds with additive manufacturing, which uses ultrasonic stress, modern day peening, during the printing process. That started to pay off with materials strong enough to use in aviation.
August
The late Summer confirmed the feel-good factor reported earlier in the year, with a rise in the number of engineering jobs on the market thanks to increased production levels across the board. A CBI survey revealed that 400 manufacturers had the biggest order books since 2011 and most expected the upward trend to continue on its path.
September
September brought an unusual advance, a clear ceramic skull implant through which doctors could carry out prolonged treatment for brain cancer and other disorders. Engineers found a way to use the same material that features in hip implants and dental crowns in transparent form and, as the body did not reject the yttra-stabilised zirconia, it could be used as a permanent window in the skull to assist with ongoing laser treatment and prevent constant surgery.
October
The electronics industry came in for a revolution in October when Imec announced plans to abandon the traditional flat electronics circuit boards and adopt random shapes. The boards could pave the way for intelligent car components, 2.5D lighting and free-form man-machine interface devices.
November
It was back to the world of big machines in November, as Lockheed Martin announced plans to build a successor to the Blackbird spy plane. The unmanned plane, called the SR-72, should be able to reach speeds of Mach 6 thanks to a combined turbine jet engine and supersonic ramjet. Don’t expect to hear the hypersonic roar any time soon, though, the company has targeted 2030 for the official launch.
December
The year ended on a happy note, with order books and output ending on an 18-year high. Output growth was at its highest since 1995 according to the CBI and there were more engineering jobs to be filled and the real danger of a skills shortage. The engineering recruitment industry was in hot demand as companies scoured the country for the best new recruits to plug the gap and keep the recovery on track.