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Issues

Issue 73

December 2017

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A patient lying under a radiotherapy machine that is being used with the AlignRT system.
  • Health & medical
  • Issue 73

Accurate targeting of tumours

Radiotherapy allows doctors to shrink tumours that cannot be surgically removed but there is a risk of damage to healthy tissue if the patient moves. Vision RT accurately tracks a patient’s position before and during treatment.

A boat driving under the Inner Harbour Bridge in Copenhagen. People are walking across the bridge.
  • Civil & structural
  • Issue 73

Copenhagen's 'kissing' bridge

An innovative sliding bridge opened to the public in Copenhagen in the summer of 2016. Although the project faced various challenges and delays, the Inner Harbour Bridge (Inderhavnsbroen) has reduced commuting time for thousands of pedestrians and cyclists in the Danish capital each day.

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A drone flying in the sky.
  • Technology & robotics
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 73

Drones

Unmanned aerial vehicles have been in operation for many years, particularly for military purposes. However, recent advances in technology have increased the potential uses of drones, such as for aerial photography, agriculture, and search and rescue.

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  • Materials
  • How I got here
  • Issue 73

Q&A: Anna Ploszajski

Anna Ploszajski is a materials engineer and science communicator who wants to bring materials engineering to the wider public. She completed an engineering doctorate in hydrogen storage materials at UCL.

Michael Thompsett, Eric Fossum and Nobukazu Teranishi standing together.
  • Electricals & electronics
  • Issue 73

Image revolutionaries

In February 2017, the four engineers responsible for the creation of digital imaging sensors were awarded the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Find out about the development of the technology and how their contributions have revolutionised the way that visual information is captured and analysed.

The gravimeter placed next to a ruler for scale. The device includes an LED light source, micro-electromechanical systems and a photodiode (i.e. a shadow sensor).
  • Electricals & electronics
  • Technology & robotics
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 73

The world's smallest gravimeter

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have adapted smartphone accelerometer technology to make the first small and affordable gravimeter, the Wee-g, able to detect tiny changes in gravity.

A headshot of Professor Timothy Leighton FREng FRS.
  • Health & medical
  • Profiles
  • Issue 73

A talent for bursting bubbles

Creatures of all sizes, from bacteria to whales, have shaped Professor Timothy Leighton FREng FRS FMedSci' career. It started where he began to research the physics of sound in water and then an invention to clean medical devices brought him into antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance.

The bloodhound supersonic car on the Cornwall Airport Newquay runway.
  • Mechanical
  • Aerospace
  • Issue 73

Ready to break records

In October 2017, almost a decade of engineering development finally came to fruition when the Bloodhound Supersonic Car embarked upon its first tests at Newquay Airport. Mark Chapman, Bloodhound’s Engineering Director, spoke about how it will attempt to break the world land speed record in South Africa.

432 Park Avenue skyscraper towering above New York city's skyline.
  • Civil & structural
  • Issue 73

The sky's the limit

Tall buildings are rising in cities all over the world, at a rate and with a variety never seen before. Skyscraper designer and London-based structural engineer Kamran Moazami, talks about one of New York’s most recent skyscrapers – 432 Park Avenue – and the engineering challenges of designing tall buildings.