These are unprecedented times in the business world, with lockdowns in place and many people from engineering businesses spending the majority of their time working from home, many for the first time in their careers. There are no overseas trips, exhibitions, or department meetings; no water-cooler conversations, lunchtimes with colleagues, or after-work drinks. With such Read more...
How do you learn engineering – traditionally a hands-on subject with a strong element of lab-based content – in a socially-distanced world which is discouraging physical interaction? That is the problematic question being faced by universities all over the world, as they grapple with having to manage profound change resulting from the impact of the Read more...
In the race against climate change, we should welcome the era of the ‘virtual engineer’ Immersive technology for product design means engineers will fly less and create more Top-level social and political issues filter down and impact the minutiae of business operations in a multitude of different and often imperceptible ways. New ways of Read more...
The automotive sector is betting big on driverless cars. Billions of dollars are being spent globally as companies battle to secure a slice of the so-called ‘passenger economy’, where people swap driving for riding. But the route to full autonomy is proving difficult to navigate. The major players face a range of technological, financial Read more...
There’s a contradiction at the heart of manufacturing. On the one hand we are told that increasing automation will lead to higher production rates and improved efficiencies. And yet, at the same time, there’s supposed to be a trend towards mass personalisation, with consumers expecting greater variety of products without a corresponding increase in cost. Read more...
There is little doubt that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has moved from the margins to the mainstream. At this month’s Maintec asset management show in Birmingham, there were numerous examples of how digitalisation is now being applied across a wide range of sectors, and in ever-more imaginative ways. Visitors heard how the use Read more...