Academy in the News

Archive

• Low carbon research post created
  www.birminghampost.net: 12 August 2011
  Tata Steel and the Royal Academy of Engineering will jointly fund the chair for research into low carbon materials technology, in a move which is tipped to benefit manufacturers large and small in both the automotive sector and manufacturing generally.

• FT online: UK demand grows for technical staff
  www.ft.com: 7 August 2011

• Telegraph online: Choosing a university course
  www.telegraph.co.uk: 2 August 2011
  Prof Matthew Harrison, director of education at the Royal Academy of Engineering, makes the case: “Engineering is a global business dealing with all of today’s big issues: energy, climate, water, transport, health and international security. As a result, it rewards those individuals who make a global contribution — engineering graduates feature strongly in the annual tables on graduate salaries.

• FT online: Government sets out cap on immigrant engineers
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 22 July 2011
  The number of top-level, non-European engineers allowed to work in Britain will effectively be limited to 200 under rules announced yesterday.

• FT online: Sir John Parker calls for more engineers to help boost economy
  www.ft.com: 21 July 2011

• Guardian online: Four bodies allowed to choose 'exceptional talent' for UK
  www.guardian.co.uk: 21 July 2011
  The immigration minister, Damian Green, has named the four science, engineering and arts bodies that will be able to nominate 1,000 leading individuals in their fields to live and work in Britain under a new "exceptional talent" immigration route.

• The Engineer online: Engineering entrepreneurs explain their success
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 18 July 2011
  The RAE’s Silver Medal winners say communication is vital in turning raw ideas into commercial success. Engineers are not good communicators, according to popular opinion in the business community. They often lack the ability to express their ideas, express passion about their projects and market their research to the right people.

• The Engineer online: Creators of cost-saving radio tagging system pick up award
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 24 June 2011
  Dr Sithamparanathan Sabesan and Dr Michael Crisp scooped the Royal Academy of Engineering ERA Foundation Entrepreneurship Award earlier this month for their research into a low-cost location-sensing system. The Real Time Location System (RTLS) will allow businesses such as high-street retailers and airlines that use tagging on high-end goods and passengers’ luggage to cheaply and effectively monitor the location of these items to less than 1m.

• Cambridge engineers net £40,000 in national entrepreneurship prize
  www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk: 23 June 2011
  Dr Sithamparanathan Sabesan, who has just completed a PhD in Engineering at Cambridge University's Corpus Christi College, and Dr Michael Crisp, who is a research associate in the Cambridge University Engineering Department, scooped the Royal Academy of Engineering ERA Foundation Entrepreneurship Award for their research into a low-cost location sensing system, which could have major benefits for a wide range of businesses.

• Nuclear Island programme for students
  www.themanufacturer.com: 23 June 2011
  Cogent, the Sector Skills Council for the Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Nuclear, Oil and Gas, Petroleum and Polymer Industries reports on a unique new project. A partnership of Imperial College London, Constructionarium, Cogent Sector Skills Council, Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and Construction Skills, received funding from the National HE STEM Programme and the Royal Academy of Engineering to develop the Nuclear Island programme.

• The Engineer online: Report calls for clear supply chain for offshore wind
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 17 June 2011
  A report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and OrbisEnergy outlines ways in which the government can support the industry in four key areas: infrastructure, skills, investment and health and safety.

• UK needs supply chain to reap benefits of wind energy
  www.offshorewind.biz: 16 June 2011
  The UK needs to create a supply chain in order to reap the economic benefits of the wind energy revolution, according to a report published today. Making green growth real: UK offshore wind supply chain outlines the conclusions of a meeting of the offshore wind industry convened by the Royal Academy of Engineering and OrbisEnergy, the East of England technology, innovation and incubation hub for offshore renewables.

• The Telegraph online: Alex Salmond's green energy policy 'will double power bills'
  www.telegraph.co.uk: 16 June 2011
  The emeritus professor of energy conversion at Newcastle University and founding chairman of the New and Renewable Energy Centre, said the benefits of green energy have been “over-hyped”. Citing a series of recent expert reports, including one by the Royal Academy of Engineering, he said: “Nuclear-generated electricity is the cheapest generated electricity.

• The Times online: Wind has the power to be North Sea oil Mark II
  www.thetimes.co.uk: 13 June 2011
   

• The Telegraph online: Boris Johnson writes about the use of canals
  www.telegraph.co.uk: 13 June 2011
  Prof Falconer and other engineering experts will be having a conference later this year, at the Royal Academy of Engineering, to discuss a water grid. Their ideas need careful thought, but I like what I hear.

• The Times online: Groundbreaking computer gaming system wins award
  www.thetimes.co.uk: 9 June 2011

• Engineer who lets ‘buildings breathe’ wins top industry award
  www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk: 7 June 2011
  Dr Shaun Fitzgerald has been awarded one of four 2011 Silver Medals by the Royal Academy of Engineering for his outstanding and demonstrated personal contribution to British Engineering, resulting in marketplace success.

• The Engineer online: Kinect developers win MacRobert Award
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 7 June 2011
  The five engineers from Microsoft Research Cambridge received the £50,000 MacRobert Award last night at the RAE’s annual awards dinner in London.

• Women of Outstanding Achievement Awards
  www.eurograduate.com: 11 May 2011
  Leading female engineers have been recognised for their achievements in industry and academia at a prestigious awards ceremony held at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London.

• Guardian online: Laurence Williams FREng takes part in a nuclear debate
  www.guardian.co.uk: 27 April 2011
  George Monbiot, Helen Caldicott and Laurence Williams join host James Randerson to debate the future of the UK's nuclear programme following Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.

• The Engineer online: Twenty Ingenious projects receive between £3,000 and £30,000
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 15 April 2011
  The X Factor, music festivals, knitting. Three things most people wouldn’t usually associate with engineering. Yet these are just some of the ideas behind the Royal Academy of Engineering’s latest round of public engagement events.

• Guardian online: How do synthetic biologists keep the support of the public?
  www.guardian.co.uk: 15 April 2011
  The science minister, David Willetts, gave an address this morning to an international gathering of researchers who are in London for a symposium on synthetic biology. The event is a UK-US-Chinese collaboration, bringing together the science and engineering academies from those three countries.

• Female engineer heads up Engineering Council
  www.womenintechnology.co.uk: 13 April 2011
  A female engineer has become the first woman to be appointed as president of the Engineering Professors' Council (EPC) in its 50-year history. In 2007, Professor Atkinson was elected as a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, one of just 29 women among more than 1,400 men.

• The Times online: New international engineering award
  www.thetimes.co.uk: 11 April 2011
  Lord Browne of Madingley, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “We warmly welcome the formation of a new international prize for engineering as a stimulus for ingenuity and endeavour.”

• The Engineering Engagement Project (free resources)
  www.stemnet.org.uk: 11 April 2011
  Inspiring future generations to follow careers in Engineering is vital to supporting the UK’s future economic and industrial success. This message, already championed by STEMNET and the Royal Academy of Engineering, was recently outlined in the HM treasury/ BIS plan for growth.

• The Times online: Sports conference held at the Academy
  www.thetimes.co.uk: 8 April 2011

• Researchers develop golden window electrodes for organic solar cells
  www2.warwick.ac.uk: 6 April 2011
  Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed a gold plated window as the transparent electrode for organic solar cells. Contrary to what one might expect, these electrodes have the potential to be relatively cheap since the thickness of gold used is only 8 billionths of a metre.

• BBC Online: Social mobility: Clegg to pledge 'fair chance' for all
  www.bbc.co.uk: 5 April 2011
  Various professional organisations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, Association of Chartered, Certified Accountants and Channel 4, have already signed up. The "compact" also calls on companies to take part in mentoring schemes, send staff into schools to talk about their careers and ensure they recruit "openly and fairly".

• The Engineer online: Government announces Nobel-style engineering prize
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 30 March 2011
  The Royal Academy of Engineering said it hoped that the prize would inspire a renaissance of engineering achievement that would be essential to create sustainable economic growth.

• FT online: Consequences of GPS failure
  www.ft.com: 22 March 2011