Blog

29 Mar 2012

While the world continues to struggle with thin future employment prospects, the world of power generation in the UK is looking brighter every day (pun definitely intended).

Here’s a piece from The Telegraph detailing bleak job prospects for 2012, especially for young people, as corporations refuse to hire new staff.

There are many changes through regulations, requirements, and demand that are lining up to transcend the potential of energy production that had been imagined only a few short years ago. Countless people from around the country and around the world had been demanding that society take a closer look at the way it produces energy and find alternative solutions that could be more cost effective and, perhaps more importantly, safer for the environment and the consumer public at large.

The Catalyst That Changes Everything

Yet few individuals are truly willing to make changes when it comes to energy production until there is a breaking point. What has been good enough for a while will continue to be good enough. Then, suddenly, the global economy takes a hit, falters, and reels into a recession that it continues to struggle to climb out from under to this day. Energy, more specifically electricity, is one of those ‘luxuries’ that most of us have taken for granted for far too long.

Now we have to take a long, hard look at how we produce the electricity, how to transmit it effectively to a growing population, and how to do so with an ever-increasing demand for that energy.

Have a read of this article, also from The Telegraph, detailing how energy from swimming fish could be captured and fed into the national grid in order to power homes in the UK.

Welcome to the World of Engineering

This becomes the pivotal moment where engineering becomes crucial. For far too long the general public has either been taught that engineers are a luxury or individuals who are not worth nearly as much as they claim to be. Yet now society is beginning to realize the importance of engineers to make preparations, design plans for the future of energy production and transmission, and do so with that growing demand for power.

The energy production industry is seeking engineering minds that have the desire to work hard, be innovative, to think outside the box, and are willing to dive into the world of energy production. The industry leaders are not as concerned with experience within the field as they are with the transferable skills that each engineer would possess. The growing field of nuclear generation is merely one example of where these vital engineering minds are required.

Here’s a piece in The Engineer that discusses the bright future of Careers in the Energy Industry in more detail.

Wind turbines, most of which are housed offshore, are another example. Solar energy is yet another example of the sectors within energy production where the right engineers can put their experience and desire to make a difference to work in the world of energy for millions of consumers. With a wide open future, anything is possible.

22 Mar 2012

Thanks to the massive advances in modern computer technology, more consumers are hitting the road, or their commute, with mobile apps, phones, and tablets. The revolution in internet technology and capability means that while websites have become an integral part of modern business success, more and more people are connecting to the internet through their mobile devices. This also means that the full size and fully functioning websites that are designed and built with the regular computer in mind (all that RAM and working memory), need to be streamlined to operate effectively on these mobile devices.

15 Mar 2012

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9 Mar 2012

During recent years, there have been calls for the UK to do more to promote apprenticeships for those young students and ambitious young adults who desire the opportunities that apprenticeships offer. As a result, a push was made to increase apprenticeships throughout the country and recently there has been a fair amount of coverage lauding the progress of these programs. Here’s a recent article on how Tesco is to create 20,000 new jobs, and open apprenticeships to external candidates.

This all may sound like great news for young, eager engineers in the making, interested in snagging an apprenticeship, but upon closer inspection, the numbers are a bit deceptive.

6 Mar 2012

As the economy throughout the world, and in Great Britain began to sink at the latter part of the last decade, copper thefts were on the rise. There is a direct and measurable correlation between a poor economy and copper thefts, which is tied together through a complex equation of supply and demand. While homeowners and businesses have faced the prospect of having pipes and electrical wiring stolen from their vacant properties, it has moved into more occupied space, as well as other industries.

16 Feb 2012

During a time when there seems to be a war waged against engineers through the United Kingdom, there are signs of good tidings coming in the future. While the requirements and opportunities for engineering certifications and programs are changing and being severely limited, the National Apprenticeship Service has announced that it will be working with the Baker Dearing Educational Trust to help bring apprenticeships in University Technical Colleges.

With more potential opportunities for young people to explore and learn about engineering, this will open a wealth of possibilities for not only these young, ambitious students, but also for the industries that rely on their experience, education, and creative energies. Aston University Engineering Academy will become the test pilot for this program and their focus on 14 to 19 year old students.

What This May Mean for the Future During Uncertain Times

The engineering profession that has been under assault lately due to a gross undervaluation of not only its service provided to many industries but also due to a misconception of the qualities that apprentices have as well as the education efficiency of these programs. The recent moves to limit the educational classification of these programs turned a bright light on an industry that has flown considerably beneath the radar of society.

With so many innovative engineers filing through the ranks over the years in programs that helped them capitalize on their strengths rather than attempting to highlight their weaknesses, these recent changes have left numerous students in a world of limbo, feeling abandoned by the officials who are entrusted with securing them the rights and opportunities to pursue their dreams.

With this announcement, more light is being filtered back into the industry’s future. A program such as this will be not simply an educational process for students but also a form of employment and training. This is where engineers-in-the-making gain the greatest value from their education and the experience that separates the world of engineering from many other industries.

As the world embraces the future of technology and the ever-growing demands to become innovative with technology, not only to meet the needs of society and the environmental causes, it is critical that we not turn a naïve mind to those who will become the engineering leaders of tomorrow. It is crucial that we place the proper value on the field of engineering so that we can produce the innovation designs and revolutions that help shape a brighter and stronger future for the world.

9 Feb 2012

Last week, Education Secretary Michael Grove confirmed that the engineering diploma rating would be downgraded from 5 GCSEs to one. This will have far reaching ramifications for not only the students who have sought a career in engineering, but also the firms, like PRV, that seek out the most qualified engineers from the graduating classes. The reported move was precipitated by the belief that since not all vocational qualifications are equal, it is unfair to offer them the same inherent value.

1 Feb 2012

No doubt you will have seen that the High Speed Two (HS2) rail system project has recently been given the go-ahead by the British government.

This new rail line is intended to revolutionise high-speed transport in Britain, reducing travel times between our major cities of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.  View a map of the rail system here.  Millions of journeys normally taken by road and air could be taken instead by high-speed rail, benefiting the environment as well as the British traveller.

New general secretary Steve Murphy said: “The development of high speed rail will provide a vital shot in the arm to the whole country especially regions which have suffered from under investment for decades.

“The project will create thousands of construction jobs initially while the line is being built and in the long term as these vital improvements in infrastructure will encourage future investment opportunities.”

In this post we’d like to begin exploring the implications of HS2 on the UK Engineering industry.  No doubt this will be a topic we continue to explore as the project develops.

23 Jan 2012
5 Jan 2012

“Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce thousands and thus undermines economies of scale.  It may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did.” – The Economist, February 10, 2011

With advancements in printing technology, specifically 3D printing, creating three dimensional objects has become easier than ever before. 3D printing works by creating successive layers of material from a digital file and printing and compiling them with a materials printer.  The technology has also made it possible to print different parts and assemblies of an element and add them together in a single build process.

In this post we look at the current state and potential uses of 3D printing.

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