Great road cars, sports cars and racing cars all have one important thing in common – total design and engineering! These are not just sports cars; they’re automotive engineering genius. With such striking features, phenomenal power to weight ratio, intelligent design and mind-blowing top speeds, who wouldn’t want to get behind the wheel?
McLaren has announced that it is to construct the new McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) in Sheffield. The facility is the result of a £50m joint investment with Sheffield City Council and the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).
The facility, which will create 200 jobs will be the first purpose built facility outside of the existing McLaren site in Woking, Surrey. The centre will be responsible for the research and manufacture of carbon fibre chassis for current McLaren automotive cars and also for future models. With work on the new centre due to start shortly, it is anticipated that there will be 2 years of research and development before advanced carbon fibre chassis will be manufactured from 2020. This will mean that at this point in time almost 60% of all McLarens will be UK sourced.
After a year of various design stages the SpaceX Hyperloop competition weekend took place at the end of January.
Hyperloop, the project to revolutionise the future of travel is some way off but the involvement of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk continues to fuel the excitement around the project, keeping it very clearly on the agenda of engineers worldwide. Pods gliding through low pressure tubes delivering people and cargo from A to B at speed and with no turbulence, may seem like something from a sci-fi movie, but with some systems tested last year and more scheduled for this year, that future could become a reality in the next 5 years.
As we approach the year end we thought we’d take a look back at some of the new and innovative engineering stories and reports that came out this year.
There were some astounding breakthroughs in the medical and healthcare sectors as well as enhancements in the more run of the mill procedures.
Osseo integration (the practice of using pins to implant directly into the bone) has been in the news throughout the year. Despite many successful surgeries overseas, growth in the use of the procedure has been relatively slow. A UK pilot of the procedure for military personnel who have lost limbs launched in September this year. If successful it is hoped the use of the procedure can be adopted more widely.
Earlier this year we reported on the great news that Aston Martin had decided that St Athan in Glamorgan was to be the site for their new facility in South Wales. There were more than 20 sites worldwide under consideration but a host of positive factors meant that St Athan was the ideal choice. This week the sale of the land was finalised and the official green light on the development given.
Work has already begun on the first phase of the development which includes building reception areas, offices and a staff restaurant. Phase 2 which includes access to the super hangars that will house the manufacturing arm of the site is planned for April 2017. Local welsh firm TRJ Contracting has been awarded the contract for the works.
Hyperloop One has agreed a deal with the Dubai Road Transport Authority to assess the delivery of a hyperloop system that will reduce the time taken to travel from Dubai to Abu Dhabi.
The system which works using a vacuum-sealed pod transport system could potentially reduce the time taken to travel the 90 miles from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in as little as 12 minutes. Whilst initially the aim is to concentrate on what a hyperloop system can achieve across the United Arab Emirates (UAE), there is speculation that it could be expanded at a later date to build links with neighbouring Gulf countries. The current travel time by plane between Dubai and Saudi Arabia is 2 hours; with Hyperloop that travel time could be halved.
Back in March this year London was set to see the introduction of 5 all electric double decker buses capable of driving up to 190 miles in day on one 4 hour overnight charge. The 5 buses joined a fleet of single deck electric, hydrogen and hybrid buses as part of the effort to reduce emissions in the city centre.
At the other end of the country Stagecoach are operating all electric bus services in Inverness and having worked with manufacturer Optare have managed to extend the range of miles the vehicles can do. In addition to running on electricity, these buses also feature electric heating systems rather than the standard diesel ones. This makes them the UKs’ most efficient electric buses in terms of kWh per mile and they fist of their kind.
When we think of the technical developments in F1 and motorsport generally, we can all probably think of an area in the automotive industry where those developments have had an impact. But do you ever think about what or who else benefits of those developments?
If I was to say that the care of premature babies has been impacted by motorsport technical developments you’d probably wonder how. What about supermarkets? How could they possibly benefit from the motorsport industry?
These are only a couple of examples of where motorsport innovation is being used to solve challenges in other industrial sectors.
One month on from our last post about Bloodhound, the date for the first record attempt has been set. October 2017 will see the first land speed record attempt for 20 years.
The signing of a major deal means that the project has now secured funding to complete the car and start preparing for their testing in South Africa next year.
When Bloodhound went on display in 2015 it was as a trial build and without fluids. This was done to make sure that the 35,000 individual and bespoke parts actually fitted together. Brackets were checked to see if they were in the right places leaving enough room for service and maintenance activity as well as checking the tolerance of manufactured parts.
At the end of April the Bloodhound Education team, combined with the BBC micro:bit project launched a huge competition for secondary school children; The Model Rocket Car Challenge.
Supported by the army and Microsoft among others, and forming part of the Guinness World record rocket car challenge, school teams are challenged to make foam rocket cars and race them through approved tracks; the aim of course, to be the fastest!
The races are being organised through the network of Bloodhound hubs and will see a series of regional heats that will lead up to a final at the end of June at the Santa Pod Raceway in Northamptonshire. The winners will spend a day watching Bloodhound test runs as well as securing a financial prize for their school.
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