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Issues

Issue 94

March 2023

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  • Civil & structural
  • Technology & robotics
  • Software & computer science
  • Issue 94

3D printing a bridge with a twin

Virtual models of structures could help engineers use less material and save CO2 emissions in future construction projects – like with this 3D-printed bridge in Amsterdam.

A woman wearing a white shirt, standing in front of a white wall.
  • Software & computer science
  • Transport
  • Profiles
  • Issue 94

The entrepreneur solving engineering problems with data

Elspeth Finch MBE FREng started her first company in her 20s and is now heading up her second, which is using data to transform supply chain relationships.

A BMW i4 crashing into a pole on its right hand side. The glass in the windows is shattering and the airbags have inflated.
  • Design & manufacturing
  • Mechanical
  • Transport
  • Issue 94

How crashing cars can help us make them safer

When your day job sometimes involves totalling a £100k car in the name of keeping passengers safe.

A row of three cube-shaped blocks for artificial reef structures on a beach. They have patterned sides and a hollow passage to help marine life flourish.
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Maritime & naval
  • Issue 94

How artificial reefs boost biodiversity

Coral reefs and coastlines face growing challenges from climate change. Two UK startups are developing artificial reefs that protect and renew marine ecosystems.

A syringe with the needle sticking into a purple sphere with long pins sticking out of it, which is a model of a covid virus particle
  • Design & manufacturing
  • Opinion
  • Issue 94

How lessons from COVID-19 could speed up UK tech development

Ian Quest and Dick Elsy CBE FREng reflect on how we can take the learnings from the Ventilator Challenge UK to wider technology development in the UK.

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A scanning electron microscopy image of a spider mite crawling on a microelectromechanical system.
  • Electricals & electronics
  • Technology & robotics
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 94

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) help to make many of our everyday items work, from Air Pods to airbags.

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A woman standing in front of a sign for COP27 that says "Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt 2022"
  • Chemical
  • Environment & sustainability
  • How I got here
  • Issue 94

Q&A: Isabelle Pickett, chemical engineering student

A chemical engineering degree set Isabelle Pickett on a path to advocating for girls in STEM and net zero careers – and setting up her own tutoring business along the way.

Quick read

A computer display, whose interface can guide a robotic arm with a magnetic appendage above a model of the colon.
  • Health & medical
  • Technology & robotics
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 94

Perfecting pain-free colonoscopies

Researchers are developing magnetically guided robotic instruments to make colonoscopies less painful for patients.

  • Electricals & electronics
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Materials
  • Issue 94

Powering the pursuit of net zero

It's electrifying: what’s needed before emerging battery technologies are fully charged for a clean green future?