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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Best of British EngineeringWe asked 21 experts to nominate their favourite pieces of British engineering from the

21st century. Here's what they came up with...

The Best of British Engineering - British Airways Business Life. Business advice and inspiration... http://businesslife.ba.com/Ideas/Features/The-Best-of-British-Engineering.html

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CROSSRAIL (pictured above)

Ann Watson CEO of Semta, the not-for-profit organisation responsible for skilling British

engineering

Adrian Allen Commercial director of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing

Research Centre with Boeing

Two of our experts plumped for the ambitious project to link areas to the west and east of

London via a 73-mile railway line, 26 miles of it in new tunnels beneath the capital. "Great

British engineers have always made their mark on the world by thinking big, and Crossrail is a

classic 'Great British' engineering project," says Ann Watson. Adrian Allen agrees: "It ticks all

Crossrail Ltd


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the boxes for me. It's a shining example of how British engineering in all its forms - from

mechanical to electronic to civil - can be applied to benefit the community, country and the

economy." Work was begun on the central section of the line in 2009 and the new service is

expected to enter full operation in 2019. A total of seven million tonnes of material will be

excavated during the project, and almost all of it will be reused. Around half will go to create a

wetland nature reserve twice the size of the City of London in Essex.

DIAMOND LIGHT

SOURCE

Lord Broers

Nanotechnology

pioneer

One of the

country's better

kept engineering

secrets, the

Diamond Light

Source, opened in

2007 in

Oxfordshire,

produces bright

light that scientists can use for studying a wide variety of subjects, from jet engines to viruses.

"Built and maintained by a UK lead engineering team, Diamond has the same footprint as

Wembley stadium," says Lord Broers, "and its pioneering and world-leading capabilities are

keeping the UK at the forefront of scientific research."

RASPBERRY PI

Abbie Hutty

Senior Spacecraft

Structures

Engineer, Exo


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Mars Rover

Project

"Bringing

engagement with

computers and

programming to a

whole new

generation in a

cheap and accessible way, the Raspberry Pi has been a global success," says Hutty. And

how. The idea of a tiny and affordable computer for kids was first dreamt up in 2006 at

Cambridge University's Computer Laboratory. More than five million of the resulting credit

card-sized, single-board devices have now been sold, making the Raspberry Pi Foundation

the biggest-selling computer manufacturer in the UK of all time.

RED BULL RB6

F1 RACING CAR

Andy Palmer

CEO, Aston

Martin

Launched in

February 2010,

Red Bull Racing's

RB6 would claim

that year's

constructors'

championship, as

well as a first

drivers'

championship for Sebastian Vettel. Andy Palmer compares the car's significance with that of

the mapping of the human genome: "Each represents an extreme of technology and the

pivotal global role the UK plays in pushing the boundaries of innovation," he says. "Nurturing


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scientific diversity is critical to driving the evolution and growth of the British economy."

SELECT

AUTOMATED

CELL CULTURE

SYSTEM

Dr Ranna

Eardley-Patel

Senior bioprocess

consultant,

Exmoor Pharma

Concepts, and

STEM

ambassador for

STEMNET

Developed by TAP

Biosystems, a company based in Royston, near Cambridge, this impressive piece of

technology revolutionises laboratory cell culture. "It harnesses new science by using

engineering, robotics and automation to help discover and develop new medicines that will

one day be used to treat malaria, AIDS, cancers and rare diseases," says Eardley-Patel.

ROLLS-ROYCE

TRENT ENGINE

Yewande Akinola

Environmental

design engineer,

Arup, and IET UK

Young Woman

Engineer of the

Year


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Professor Dame

Ann Dowling

President of the

Royal Academy of

Engineering

"My favourite piece of 21st-century British engineering is the A380 because of its relevance to

my life at the moment," says Akimola. "Granted, this amazing aircraft is the result of the hard

work of engineers from the UK, France and other European countries, but I am particularly

grateful for the engine - it's always such a pleasure to travel in an aircraft with considerably

less engine noise." Dowling is also a fan. "With Rolls-Royce you have a company that just

excels at what it does and has a really good way of pulling innovation through into its

products," she says.

MARTIN-BAKER

MK16E

EJECTION SEAT

Nick English

Co-founder,

Bremont Watch

Company

"Designed for the

F-35 Joint Strike

Fighter, this is just

an incredible

piece of

engineering, and

is really the

culmination of over 70 years of continuous design and development of these lifesaving

escape systems by a family-run British company," English enthuses. Martin-Baker, based in

Denham, Middlesex, is the world's leading ejection seat manufacturer, with more than 16,000

seats currently in service, and its products have saved nearly 7,500 lives to date. "The


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phenomenal Mk16E can cope with differing pilot weights, aircraft heights and speeds and is

the only seat that meets the US Government defined Neck Injury Criteria," continues English.

"Quite amazing."

SWANSEA BAY

TIDAL LAGOON

PROJECT

Peter Brewin

Founder of

engineering

company,

Concrete Canvas

Granted planning

permission in

June this year, this

project in south

Wales will be the

world's first tidal

lagoon power plant. "Although it's still pre-construction, I'm very excited by the ambition and

scope," says Brewin. "By harnessing the exceptional and predictable tidal range in the Bristol

channel, the lagoon could significantly contribute to the UK's sustainable energy generation. It

represents a significant step forward, given the underexploited potential for renewable energy

generation in the UK."

DYSON DUAL

CYCLONE

VACUUM

CLEANER

David Gow

Inventor of the

bionic hand


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No list of modern

British engineering

triumphs can be

complete without

the mention of Sir

James Dyson.

Although the Dual

Cyclone cleaner was first launched in the 1990s, Gow cites all of the refinements Dyson has

made to it since 2000 as "a fine example of a designer living his dream".

MICROSOFT

KINECT

Dr Andrew

Herbert Former

chairman,

Microsoft

Research EMEA

Dr Ian Shott CBE

FREng, managing

partner, Shott

Trinova, and chair

of the Enterprise

Committee at the

Royal Academy of

Engineering

A Microsoft product in a list of modern British engineering achievements? Oh yes. As Herbert

points out, "Kinect's software relies on a system developed by Microsoft's Cambridge, UK,

research laboratory that combined computer vision and machine learning technologies to

recognise how the human body moves and gestures." But there's far more to Kinect than

making video games more exciting. "The Kinect is centred on algorithms that have huge

potential for artificial intelligence, moving in the direction of DeepMind, which was recently


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acquired by Google," says Shott. "The potential here to combine exponentially increasing

self-learning computer power with genomic data and sensor technology will have a profound,

game-changing impact on human health and other major emerging societal issues."

TITANIC

BELFAST

BUILDING

Dr Nicola Irwin

School of

Pharmacy,

Queen's

University Belfast,

founder of

Uroglide

Constructed on

the site of the

former Harland &

Wolff shipyard

where the Titanic was built, Titanic Belfast is a hugely successful visitor attraction themed

around the ill-fated passenger liner. "The visually striking architecture, complete with cleverly

designed maritime metaphors, is surrounded by reflective pools of water to enhance the

external aluminium façade," says Irwin. "It's become a major attraction for both tourists and

locals alike!"

ST PANCRAS

INTERNATIONAL

Elspeth Finch

Director of

innovation, Atkins

Originally built in


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the Victorian era,

St Pancras Station

came close to

demolition in the

1960s and was

extensively

renovated and

remodelled in the early years of this century. "It's a perfect example of how our cities can

combine old and new to create inspiring places," says Finch. "From hand-made bricks to

high-tech materials, engineers created a destination, as well as a station, that's fit for the 21st

century and is a catalyst for the transformation of the surrounding area."

MILLAU

VIADUCT

Gerry McGovern

Director of design

for Land Rover

and chief creative

officer

Designed by Lord

Norman Foster

and completed in

2004 at a cost of

around €400m,

the Millau Viaduct

boasts the highest

road bridge deck in Europe and the highest pylons in the world. "It combines incredible, clean

design with mind-blowing scale to create a visually stunning structure," says McGovern. "It not

only fulfils its primary function of connecting two areas over the River Tarn, but offers a

compelling vision, successfully brought to reality by British architectural design."

BLOODHOUND


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PROJECT

Mike O'Driscoll

Group CEO,

Williams F1 Team

Bloodhound SSC

is a jet- and

rocket-powered

car designed to go

at 1,000mph. "I've

been a fan of the

Bloodhound

project since

Richard Noble and Andy Green began their quest to break the ultimate land speed record,"

says O'Driscoll. "It's generating unbelievable interest in engineering and science among the

young — and young at heart. It will leave a lasting legacy for sure."

INFINITY

BRIDGE

Giles Taylor

Design director,

Rolls-Royce motor

cars

"The Infinity

pedestrian

footbridge across

the river Tees was

completed in 2009

and joins the

Teesdale

Business Park


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with the Durham University Queens Campus for cyclists and pedestrians," says Taylor. "The

captivating artistic gesture and structural simplicity of the footbridge are two values I really

admire in engineered objects. As a base concept, bridges can be extremely functional, yet this

bridge is expressive, celebrates ingenuity and will be positively affecting people's lives 120

years from now. The elegant nighttime illumination reflected by the river completes the story."

ON-TRAIN WI-FI

Paul Jackson

Chief executive,

EngineeringUK

Ever wondered

how the WiFi

works when you're

on the train? You

probably have

Newcastle-based

company Nomad

Digital to thank -

it's the leading

global provider of

passenger and fleet-management solutions to the rail industry, with customers including

Heathrow Express. "This is a great example of where engineering helps improve and enhance

customer experience," says Jackson.

TOUCH BIONICS

PROSTHETIC

HAND

Dr Frances

Saunders

President of the

Institute of


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Physics

In 2007, this

Scottish company,

led by David Gow,

launched the

i-LIMB hand, the

first powered prosthetic hand to incorporate articulating fingers. Since then it has launched

even more sophisticated products and continues to lead the world in prosthetic engineering.

"Great engineering is much more than just advanced technology," says Saunders. "It is Touch

Bionics' whole approach to working with patients and health professionals to tailor the

prosthesis and its control to the individual that makes the real difference and improves lives."

LONDON EYE

Andy Kerswill

Director of

engineering,

British Airways

First opened in

March 2000,

Europe's biggest

Ferris wheel,

currently

sponsored by

Coca-Cola, is now

an integral part of

London's skyline.

"It doesn't serve any practical purpose other than making you feel good and it's an iconic

London landmark we didn't know we needed," says Kerswill. "The main reason I chose it? It

makes me feel happy!"

Thanks to the Royal Academy of Engineering


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