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Andy Green’s Bloodhound Project diary |
23/01/2012
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| An ambitious start to the New Year. I spent last summer running air operations over Libya, so missed out on our long-planned summer sailing holiday. As a result, our holiday crew decided to rent a boat and head out over the New Year instead – which was great fun (even in the rain) until the last
... Read more |
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Seeing past the gloom |
17/01/2012
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| It has become something of a media tradition that the New Year is a time for journalists, pundits and 'experts' make predictions about the year to come. |
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Richard Noble's Bloodhound Project diary |
13/12/2011
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| Late again! Very late again! Apologies! I last updated in August and Nick Chapman has just sent me a third email prod. Tonight (December 5th) is a very good night – first of all I am up to date with work (it doesn't happen very often) and second, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy appear to be
... Read more |
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Does engineering need more sex appeal? |
22/11/2011
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| A recent report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering suggests that graduates with a first degree in science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects earn, on average, 4.47% more than those with first degrees in other subjects. |
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Mixed messages for manufacturing |
13/10/2011
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| Anyone who has followed the news lately could easily be forgiven for a degree of scepticism as regards this Government's commitment to manufacturing industry. It is, after all, difficult to take seriously assertions about 'rebalancing the economy' in the light of large-scale job losses at BAE
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Are we avoiding the graduate issue? |
07/10/2011
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| At World Skills this week, much of the conversation revolved around the need to inspire the younger generation, make them believe that they can and will succeed, and give them ambition. There was also a great deal of talk about 'practical learning', and the connection between these two themes. |
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Is it time to slow down the design process? |
28/09/2011
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| I've been struck recently by programmes like Radio 4's 'In Business' questioning the benefits of rapid growth and the mess that often results from it. David Cameron's 'happiness index' was also aimed at looking at the wider issues in life, and not just the rapid acquisition of cash. |
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The case for PLM |
09/09/2011
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| Modern manufacturing has succeeded in delivering levels of quality, safety and sheer variety that would have been inconceivable to the enterprise owner of even 20 years ago. |
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Will electric cars ever be the future? |
08/09/2011
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| As I walked up to the entrance of the Low Carbon Vehicle Show yesterday, I was passed by an electric Smart car. It made me smile. It was cute. And novel.
'While they may have a place in niche applications, they are often just as much as about branding and image as they are about reducing
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Drawings or data? |
02/09/2011
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| We've all given up on the idea of the 'paperless office', and grudgingly accepted that new technology often creates more, not less waste, but is this as true for engineering data as it is for office paperwork? |
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Is this the end of the factory? |
17/08/2011
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| The Economist carried a leader earlier this year entitled 'Print me a Stradivarius – how a new manufacturing technology will change the world'. The violin in question is indeed impressive – and made using Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) by German company EOS – one of the leaders in the field of
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Cutting through the red tape |
11/08/2011
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| In the wake of some disappointing growth figures, it is hardly surprising that government should be seeking to stimulate the manufacturing sector in any way it can. |
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Overcoming the 'boffin' cliché |
13/07/2011
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| Lord Sugar's recent assertion that he had never come across an engineer able to turn their hand to business has been so thoroughly and deservedly debunked by so many different and illustrious bodies that it is superfluous for me to add my voice to the chorus of disapproval. |
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Time for IP reforms to be implemented |
07/07/2011
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| Intellectual Property (IP) is one of those areas which the legal system has, to an extent, contrived to ignore; some of the legislation which is applied can be traced back more than 300 years. The result is a bit of a mess, particularly if you're an IP developer. |
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Can an engineer turn his hand to business? |
20/06/2011
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| The latest eviction from The Apprentice was Glenn Ward, dismissed from the programme by Lord Sugar with the parting words: "I've never come across an engineer who can turn his hands to business. You're fired." |
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Helping you to do things better |
14/06/2011
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| This month's cover story concerning the soon-to-be-opened National Composites Centre is to some extent designed to pique the curiosity of those who may have considered using composite materials in their designs, but have been hampered by a lack of information or advice to help them do so. |
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BEEAs entries now accepted |
02/06/2011
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| Entries are now being accepted for the 2011 British Engineering Excellence Awards; the celebration of all that is good about UK engineering. |
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Financing Innovation |
05/05/2011
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| A common complaint from manufacturers relates to the difficulty in obtaining finance to fund innovation, research and development. The complaint alleges that - even prior to the financial crisis - banks were simply not interested in lending to manufacturers, preferring to lend to more glamorous,
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A concrete commitment |
14/04/2011
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| At the risk of hyperbole, it is probably fair to say that the recent Budget was possibly the most positive for manufacturing that most of those reading this can remember. |
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