Academy in the News

Archive

• Telegraph: Volcanic ash cloud
  www.telegraph.co.uk: 20 April 2010
  On Sunday, British Airways was very brave and sensible when it flew through the various layers to properly test the air conditions brought about by the Iceland volcano. This is a next step maybe the government should be seriously considering doing.

• Guardian online: UK relies on 'virtual' water from drought-prone countries, says report
  www.guardian.co.uk: 19 April 2010
  Britain and other rich countries depend heavily on importing hidden "virtual" water from places that regularly experience droughts and shortages, according a report published today by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

• Mail online. Global water shortage 'could cause food prices to skyrocket and damage the economy'
  www.dailymail.co.uk: 119 April 2010
  A potential global water crisis in coming decades could cause UK food prices to 'skyrocket' and damage the economy, experts warned today.

• BBC online: Global Water Security
  news.bbc.co.uk: 119 April 2010
  The Engineering the Future alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

• BBC: Academy Fellow on Iceland's volcanic ash cloud
  news.bbc.co.uk: 15 April 2010
  Stewart John, a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and former president of the Royal Aeronautical Society, explained that the ash can cause severe damage. "This dust really is nasty stuff," he told BBC News. "It's extremely fine and if it gets into a jet engine, it blocks up all of the ventilation holes that bleed in cooling air.

• Academy Global Research Awardee in Australia
  www.theaustralian.com: 12 April 2010
  Professor Simons is a specialist in the chemical engineering at the University College London and director of its Centre for CO2 Technology. He is currently on a global research fellowship with the Royal Academy of Engineering that includes time at Australia's Co-operative Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies, which is leading research into CCS.

• Qatar one step closer to becoming global leader in robotic surgery
  www.gulf-times.com: 9 April 2010
  Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) held a pre-launch ceremony for Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre (QRSC) at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London yesterday.

• Academy Vice President interview in The Engineer
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 7 April 2010
  Turmoil in the economy and environmental upheaval: it’s an interesting time to head up an engineering institute. Christopher Snowden, taking on the presidency of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) this year, takes the view that it’s an opportunity for engineers, both for technology and industry to take over from finance as the powerhouse of the economy, and to find solutions to energy conservation and climate change.

• Generation gap for emissions targets?
  www.theengineer.co.uk: 22 March 2010
  The experts warned that the UK faces fundamental restructuring of its energy system if it is to meet future energy demand and achieve an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

• Science is the engine of future growth
  www.theguardian.co.uk: 22 March 2010
  I read with interest your leader about National Science and Engineering Week (Festivities and the aversion of famine, 15 March). Support for scientific and medical research has never been higher, according to a report issued last week by the Wellcome Trust. Virtually all (95%) of respondents to the survey thought that medical research should be supported and encouraged, even if a lot of public money would need to be invested. The report also challenges the myth that young people in particular are turned off by science, with 81% expressing an interest and 44% considering science as a career.

• Energy policy ‘nowhere near’ ready
  www.ft.co.uk: 18 March 2010
  Energy policy is “nowhere near” having the right framework in place to deliver the investment and job creation that will be needed to hit government targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, a group of leading academics backed by the Royal Academy of Engineering warns. The academy on Thursday publishes the group’s report on the prospects for the energy system to 2050, saying “fundamental restructuring” will be needed to prevent blackouts while delivering the government’s objective of an 80 per cent reduction in emissions.

• Electric cars and 40 new nuclear power stations to meet climate change targets
  www.thetelegraph.co.uk: 18 March 2010
  The Royal Academy of Engineering set out how the UK will meet its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Even if demand for electricity is reduced from current levels, the Government will still have to engage in "the biggest programme of investment and social change the UK has ever seen" over the next four decades.

• UK must transform to meet future energy needs, warn top engineers
  www.theguardian.co.uk: 18 March 2010
  The UK's most eminent engineers have warned that the biggest set of investments and social changes ever seen in peacetime are needed to meet the country's energy needs in the coming decades, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

• Research Beyond Borders
  www.timesonline.co.uk: 11 March 2010
  Luckily, Britain’s leading academies turned out to be recruiting young researchers from around the globe. In 2008, the British Academy, The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society launched the Newton International Fellowship funding scheme. The idea was (and still is) to attract the best foreign researchers to work at British Universities.

• UK Focuses on GPS Jamming and Interference
  www.insidegnss.com: 11 March 2010
  The Royal Academy of Engineering has launched a study into “GNSS Reliance and Vulnerabilities, and last week the Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network (DSKTN) in partnership with the Royal Institute of Navigation organized a symposium on the subject, “GPS Jamming & Interference — A Clear and Present Danger.”

• Timesonline: Change the world, be an engineer
  www.timesonline.co.uk: 10 March 2010
  At the Royal Academy of Engineering we have embarked on a process — we have called it Engineering the Future — to bring engineering institutions closer together in order to articulate a coherent vision for engineering in society. That is a start. But we are clear that changing the role of engineering in society requires a different outlook on how best to educate and train a new generation of engineers.

• Raising the profile of engineering
  www.telegraph.co.uk: 8 March 2010
  The Royal Academy of Engineering (founder and senior fellow Prince Philip) wants to attract more young people 'from a diverse range of backgrounds' as part of a programme to raise the profile of the profession, increase the output from universities and make a bigger contribution to Britain's economic recovery.

• Times online: Engineers can make things better
  timesonline.typepad.com: 5 March 2010
  The Royal Academy of Engineering’s making things better campaign will look to increase the relationship between engineering and our society. The campaign aims to raise £16.5 million for the Academy’s education and engagement work and to create a national Forum for Engineering. The campaign launches at a time when recent figures show the UK will need to recruit an estimated 325,000 new engineers and technicians into manufacturing by 2017, according to the latest Engineering UK statistical forecasts.

• Industrialists and academics have teamed up to teach workers the skills they need
  www.independent.co.uk: 25 February 2010
  The initiative has been welcomed at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), the umbrella body for engineers of all disciplines. "This is a great example of forward thinking, and companies working together with academia to produce a bespoke course," says Ian Bowbrick, head of professional formation at the RAEng.

• Newton International Fellowships
  www.financialexpress.com: 5 February 2010
  The fellowships programme is run by the British Academy, Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. The scheme covers the broad range of natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities.