Engineering appeal soars01 January 2010

Anyone who has spent any time in plant engineering cannot fail to have been struck by its accelerating rate of change, not just in terms of the technologies - drawing on developments from across the engineering disciplines - but also, increasingly, the techniques available for harnessing them.

In the last (November/December 2009) issue, we revealed a breakthrough approach to managing steam-raising plant that could save sites millions of pounds in fuel consumption, maintenance and boiler repair. This month, we report on innovative technology behind last year's record-breaking British steam car (page 28).
And those are just on steam - a technology thought by many to have been at or near the pinnacle of its achievements fully a century ago. Turn these pages and you'll find that CHP (combined heat and power) has also been marching on, with developments transforming its applicability not only for district heating projects, but also buildings - right down to micro-turbines, fuel cells and small reciprocating engines likely to replace domestic boilers (pages 8 and 32).
There are similar stories in: plant condition monitoring, with techniques harnessing digital cameras and lasers (pages 18 and 21); large volume metrology (page 14); and compressors, now with 100% energy recovery (page 22). The list goes on.
But there's another equally important movement that may yet affect us all, and that has to do with government's - and thus indirectly the establishment's and society's - changing attitude to engineering. Barely a speech goes by now without reference to some new initiative and even funding, aimed at rebuilding the UK's skills base.
Just a few short weeks ago, Secretary of State for Business Skills and Innovation Lord Mandelson spoke again of the importance of supporting manufacturing and, this time, his department's determination to build "a new class of modern technicians through a big expansion of advanced apprenticeship numbers" to deliver that goal.
Paul Jackson, chief executive of renamed EngineeringUK (formerly the Engineering and Technology Board), believes there is now a realisation across the party divides that, if the UK is to come out of recession, it needs engineering talent, engineers able to train new talent, and funding and infrastructure to sustain the 'new' growth engine.
He singles out renewables, for example, and talks of the widely acknowledged risk of skills shortages, particularly at Eng Tech where SOE has been so successful.
It may have taken a financial storm to trigger such a sea change, but maybe, just maybe, industry is finally being seen as a vote winner. Let's hope so.

Brian Tinham BSc CEng MInstMC FSOE FIPlantE, Editor

Brian Tinham

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