The Engineer Uk

First for technology & innovation|www.theengineer.co.
uk AUGUST 2013
Eyes on the road
Head-up display for
in-car infotainment
without the
distraction 32
Lessons learned
Terry Hill, former
Arup chairman,
explains what HS1
can teach us 34
The rail
thing
Our panel of
experts answer
readers questions
on controversial
HS2 project 28
For more news, jobs and products visit www.theengineer.co.uk
A mind
of its own
Autonomous
cars take drivers
out of the loop
24
contents
AUGUST 2013 | theEnGineeR | 3
Your number one website for engineering news,
views, jobs and products www.theengineer.co.uk
07
24
16
News
07 Technology Space technology
could help detect sight loss
08 Technology Low-cost
diagnostic device can return
results in 30min
09 Technology Brainwave
monitoring could aid drivers
Features
24 Cover feature The process of
developing self-driving cars is one
of evolution, not revolution
28 Q&A feature Our panel of
experts answer your questions on
the engineering challenges of
building HS2
32 Feature Innovations to tackle the
problem of driver distraction
Opinion
05 Comment If you cant
concentrate on driving, let your
car drive itself
16 Mailbox Your letters to the
editor and views from
theengineer.co.uk
18 Talking Point Is fracking our
best hope for cheap energy, or a
dangerous fantasy?
10 Design Relieving stress in large
ALM components
12 Business BMWs lease and
range-extending options for
the i3
14 Digest The Engineer crossword
and an early aeroplanist
34 Interview Former chairman of
Arup, Terry Hill, on what we can
learn from the HS1 project
36 Electronics feature Flexible
batteries for the new generation
of gadgets

38 Sensors feature New
techniques and technologies for
continuous monitoring of
medical conditions
20 Iain Gray Making the UK a
centre for automotive innovation
21 David Willetts Why the UK is
changing tack and investing in
space propulsion systems
22 Viewpoint The importance of
protecting intellectual property
in China
comment
The only time Ive crashed my car was down to being
distracted by the infotainment system; I took my eyes
off the road in what I thought was a safe, quiet area to
select a new album from my MP3 player, which was
plugged in and displayed its tracks on a LCD display on
the dashboard. Fortunately, I wasnt hurt and no-one
else was involved, although theres a bollard near my
parents house with some blue paint on it.
I can console myself with the thought that its easily
done. If even Michael Schumacher can fall foul of lapses
of attention while driving off-duty, then us lesser mortals are bound to slip
up. But the problems getting worse and it seems that its mostly down to
drivers demands.
Manufacturers of in-car infotainment systems say that theyre responding
to the perception that people want to be able to access all the functionality
theyve got used to on their mobile phones all the time. They want to make
calls, they want to select music, they want to be able to access trafc and
weather updates, they even want to be able to
check email, Twitter and Facebook. Moreover,
they dont just want to do it, they actually do
it: weve all seen people driving with mobile
phones clamped to their ears, and horror
stories about accidents caused by texting-
while-driving are becoming increasingly
common.
So its hardly surprising that infotainment companies are trying to devise
ways for drivers to access the functionality they crave without taking their
attention away from driving. As we detail in this issue, there are many
techniques and approaches to the problem, from touch-screens to head-up
displays and gesture control of in-car electronics.
Is this a solution? It may be, but possibly more radical answers are
needed. Our cover feature in this issue details the development of
autonomous cars. People dont like relinquishing control, but it might just be
the answer to the problem of distraction. You want to check Twitter? You
want to talk on the phone? Fine. You do that. But if youre going to, let the
car do the driving. It doesnt have a mind to be distracted, and you and,
for that matter, everybody else on the road stand a better chance of still
being able to breathe once youve put the smartphone down.
Ditch the distractions
while at the wheel
If you want to check
Twitter, let the car do
the driving. It cant be
distracted
Join the debate at

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or nd us on:
inouropinion
Stuart Nathan Features editor
stuart.nathan@centaur.co.uk
Hard hats
The issue is that the
media is hardly if ever
reporting about
engineering and what
engineers do. In the
absence of this, hard hats
get my approval every
time.
Alek Wantrowski
Engineers should be seen
as thinkers, rather than
doers. That might
enhance their prole.
Peter Bessey
Join the debate here
Design and tech teaching
Without teachers who
have recent experience
working in industry it will
never work.
Anonymous
Unless the schools are
properly equiped and use
qualied engineers to
teach, pupils will leave
with the wrong
impression of
manufacturing
Mick Jones
Engineering has always
been the poor relation in
the UK
Brian Wood
Join the debate here
inyouropinion
Comment & reaction from
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Find the latest news, jobs & products at www.theengineer.co.uk news:technology
BY STEPHEN HARRIS
Doctors could become better
at spotting early-stage sight
loss thanks to new technology
adapted from cameras used
in astronomy.
UK scientists and engineers
have developed a prototype
device for detecting age-
related macular degeneration
(AMD), which usually isnt
diagnosed until vision has
already begun to degrade.
The technology, produced by
Cardiff University and the UK
Astronomy Technology Centre
(ATC), uses very sensitive
cameras designed for deep-
space telescopes to assess
whether the retina is
functioning as it should and
could open up study of the eye
to nd new treatments.
This could revolutionise the
detection not just of macular
disease but of a whole range of
conditions, said research
leader Dr Tom Margrain from
Cardiffs School of Optometry
and Vision Sciences.
Margrain compared the
development to that of
functional MRI scanning, which
measures changing brain
activity. We can actually see
in images whats happening at
a functional level in the retina,
so its quite a step forward.
There is no known treatment
for AMD but spotting it earlier
could allow patients to make
lifestyle changes such as
quitting smoking and altering
their diets to try and halt it.
Being able to study the
progress of the disease in
greater detail could also pave
the way for the development
of treatment.
Its a circular argument,
he said. One of the reasons
theres no treatment is theres
no way of picking up or
monitoring it.
The device a retinal
densitometer works by
illuminating the retina with
light of different wavelengths
and capturing the resulting
images over time. This reveals
the colour changes in the retina
as it adjusts to decreasing
objective measure that can
more accurately detect AMD.
The difculty in measuring
dark adaptation in the past
has been the need to limit the
amount of light that illuminates
the eye but capture enough
reected light to create an
image a problem that was
solved by using very sensitive
astronomy cameras.
Engineers at the UK ATC,
part of the Science and
Technology Facilities Council
(STFC), adapted the camera by
creating a control system to
manage the way it captured a
series of images illuminated by
different wavelengths of light.
One thing we realised early
on was we needed very good
timing control, said Dr Dave
Melotte, innovation manager at
the ATC. The signal from the
camera links through a series of
bespoke control boards to set
the measurement sequence off,
so you take each frame with the
light of the right wavelength.
The engineers also had to
model the way the light moved
through the device into the eye
and back again to nd the best
conguration for capturing the
maximum amount of light.
Aerospace
Drone helicopters
join to form multi-
rotor UAV
Automotive
Bentleys rst SUV
set to create 1,000
UK jobs
Civil and structural
FCC wins contract
to build Mersey
Gateway Bridge
Electronics
Chip-compatible
polymer could be key
to cheap photonics
Energy and environment
Scientists test
solution to nuclear
plant explosions
Medical and healthcare
Tattoo sensor warns
extreme athletes of
exhaustion
Military and defence
Unmanned combat
aircraft makes rst
landing at sea
Rail and marine
Osborne pledges
funding for UK
infrastructure
Aerospace
Government invests
60m in rocket engine
development
Automotive
Model signals boost
for intelligent
transportation
For news and jobs visit
us at theengineer.co.uk
readmore
online
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Space technology could
help identify sight loss
Device could be used to detect age-related macular degeneration
MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE
amounts of light (dark
adaptation), the speed of which
can indicate early-stage AMD.
When the amount of light
entering the eye increases, a
chemical reaction turns the
purple pigment in the retinas
photoreceptors clear, limiting
their signals to the brain. When
the amount of light decreases,
the pigment is regenerated,
increasing the eyes ability to
absorb light again. Studying
the retinas response to
decreasing levels of light can
reveal the presence of AMD.
AMD affects the part of the
retina where dark adaptation
takes place, known as the
macular, and so measuring the
rate of pigment regeneration
can reveal the presence of
the disease.
Existing technologies can
also measure dark adaptation,
but these are either invasive or
rely on the patients subjective
view of the changing light. The
new technology, Margrain
explained, provides an
Click here to comment
on this story
Spotting AMD
earlier could allow
patients to make
lifestyle changes
The technology uses very sensitive cameras designed for deep-space

telescopes to assess whether the retina is functioning as it should
news: technology
8 | theEnGineeR | AUGUST 2013
Find the latest news, jobs & products at www.theengineer.co.uk
instrumentation and its
actually quite a large chip
as well.
By contrast, Saw Dx is a
shoebox-sized, single-step
device powered by a
rechargeable mobile-phone
battery that contains an
actuation mechanism that
creates ultrasound. This,
according to Reboud, is done
by applying a voltage through
a piezoelectric material.
He said: These sound
waves are the same
frequencies as the ones used in
medical imaging for pregnancy,
for example, but they actually
travel at the surface so they
are a bit like earthquakes
Mechanical deformations [are
made] at the surfaces.
What we do is put the
disposable piece, the low-cost
microchip, in contact with that
surface, which carries the
wave so the waves actually
refract a bit like an optical
set-up or prism into this
microchip and then continue
propagating in the microchip at
the surface where the sample
is going to be and so the
sample gets actuated.
The clever bit is in
using what we call acoustic
holograms, continued Reboud.
These are microstructures
[photonic lattices] printed or
etched on the surface of the
disposable chip that actually
do the shaping of the waves.
When the wave attracts with
this to these structures
it can change shape and we
can control this shape by
controlling the design of
the structures as well as
the frequency of the wave.
So by simply switching
the frequency, we can switch
between different functions
without requiring different
actuators. It means the
footprint of the chip becomes
a lot smaller.
Reboud explained that a
Saw DX prototype is capable
of a whole assay but only for
one pathogen.
This has impressed
clinicians, who are pushing for
Saw DX to detect three to ve
pathogens, and part of a recent
20,000 ERA Foundation
Entrepreneurs Award will
be put toward this, as well
as the development of a
multiplex assay.
BY JASON FORD
A low-cost medical diagnostic
device for conditions including
Chlamydia and gonorrhoea is
hoped to break the cycle of
infection by returning results
in 30 minutes.
The automated device,
developed by Dr Julien
Reboud, a research fellow at
Glasgow Universitys Division
of Biomedical Engineering, can
make a diagnosis with a small
sample such a nger prick
of blood and can be utilised
by anyone without any
specialist training.
The device dubbed Saw
Dx requires a low-cost,
disposable microchip
containing a sample to be
placed into its reader, which
would propagate ultrasonic
waves across the chip.
The ultrasound agitates
the sample in a very specic
way, depending what function
is needed, such as temperature
cycling of the sample or
opening cells, to release
the DNA.
In doing so, it removes the
processing required in larger,
laboratory-based diagnostic
machines that can have a
footprint of up to 1m
2
.
Such machines process
a large number of samples
simultaneously but take a
number of hours to return
results. Similarly, nding the
DNA of a pathogen requires a
number of steps to identify,
amplify and detect the anomaly.
According to Reboud, a
degree of expertise is required
to use the machines and
a number of companies
have tried to simplify and
miniaturise the process with
microuidic systems.
He said: The difculty with
lab-on-chip [LOC] trying
to make all of these functions
into a microchip is
difcult because most of the
actuation requires different
mechanisms In one test,
youve got three different
actuation mechanisms that are
put together.
Usually, it means this LOC
is not LOC; its more like a
chip surrounded by lots of
Finding the DNA of a pathogen
requires many steps to identify,
amplify and detect the anomaly
on this story
Speedy diagnostics
Low-cost device for conditions such as Chlamydia returns results in just 30 minutes
MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE
The automated
diagnostic device
can be utilised by
anyone without
specialist training
BY STEPHEN HARRIS
New technology for reading brainwaves while
monitoring eye movement could lead to improved
systems for preventing drivers from falling asleep
at the wheel.
Researchers from Leicester University have
developed signal-processing algorithms to
compensate for the electrical activity created by
the eye muscles as they move, which can interfere
with the brain signals captured through
electroencephalograph (EEG) systems.
This means the subject doesnt need to keep his
or her eyes still for the EEG to work and the brain
signals and eye movement can be tracked at the
same time, opening up the possibility of adding an
extra element to eye-tracking systems to make
them more reliable or improving future brain-
computer interfaces. Eye monitoring on its own
doesnt work for everyone, said project leader Dr
Matias Ison. But if youre driving on a long, boring
road you can be starting at one point but your
mind can be wandering and about to fall asleep.
This could be picked up by an EEG system and not
an eye tracker.
Current EEG systems that require electrodes to
be placed on the scalp would be impractical for
use while driving. But Ison said the new system
would enable the next stage of research into brain
activity that occurs when the eyes are moving. In
particular, researchers will need to conduct
experiments to collect data from the brain about
what happens a subject makes different saccades
(fast eye movements), in order to improve the
system further.
The issue is that we need to have a certain
number of saccades of different types and sizes so
we can teach the algorithm what particular types
of [movement] look like, said Ison. We move our
eyes about four times a second and in such a small
period of time we are acquiring information and
deciding where to move our eyes next. Given the
limited speed at which neurons can transmit
information, this is a challenging task.
If the technology were to improve enough, it
could also be applied to computer interfaces,
allowing gamers to move characters around more
naturally or enabling completely paralysed people
to control a wheelchair by moving their eyes. An
earlier application could be in diagnosing dyslexia
by monitoring subjects in a more realistic way
than the current method of checking their brain
activity as they read a succession of single words.
The project was carried out in collaboration
with the University of Buenos Aires and funded by
the EPSRC.
APC advantage
An extra 1bn of investment
to help the UK build the cars of
the future has been
announced as part of the
governments automotive
strategy. The government and
industry will each invest
500m over the next 10 years
in a new Advanced Propulsion
Centre (APC) to help develop
the technologies and supply
chains needed to manufacture
the next generation of
low-carbon vehicles in the UK.
Small rm wins big
The UKs biggest national
engineering prize has been
awarded to a small Cambridge
company whose software is
now used by the worlds
largest technology companies.
RealVNC, co-founded by
Cambridge computing
luminary Andy Hopper,
received the Royal Academy
of Engineerings top accolade,
the MacRobert Award, for its
software that enables remote
access to any computerised
device with a screen from
anywhere in the world.
Worlds largest wind farm
Plans for an offshore wind
farm twice the size of the
worlds current largest have
received approval. The energy
secretary has granted Triton
Knoll Offshore Wind Farm
permission to construct a
1,200MW facility with up to
288 turbines off the East
Anglian coast. RWE npower
has scheduled 2017 as the
construction start date.
Industry investment
The European Commission,
EU member states and
European industry will invest
22bn over the next seven
years in sectors that create
high-quality jobs. Most of the
investment will go to ve
public-private partnerships in
medicines, aeronautics,
bio-based industries, fuel cells
and hydrogen, and electronics.
These research partnerships
are expected to boost the
competitiveness of EU
industry in sectors that
already provide more than four
million jobs.
inbrief
More news daily at
theengineer.co.uk
Algorithm could be applied in driver monitoring systems
ELECTRONICS
Researchers have a brainwave
Intelligent knife could improve hospital patient survival rates
MEDICAL
iKnife cuts cancer detection time
BY JASON FORD
Scientists at Imperial College
London have designed a
surgical instrument that
detects cancerous tissue in
seconds.
The development, led by
Dr Zoltan Takats, has the
potential to improve patient
survival rates and save money
for health authorities by
reducing the need for
secondary operations.
The intelligent knife, or
iKnife, has been adapted from
a suite of chemical-proling
technologies built by Waters
Corporation and is in use at
St Marys, Hammersmith and
Charring Cross hospitals.
It is based on electrosurgical
knives that are commonly used
in operating theatres.
Originally developed in the
1920s, electrosurgical knives
use an electrical current to heat
tissue, allowing surgeons to
cut through it while minimising
blood loss. The heated tissue
vaporises and gives off an
aerosol that is normally
extracted from the operating
theatre.
Takats has adapted the
electrosurgical knife so that it
extracts the aerosol and feeds
it via a tube to a mass
spectrometer in the operating
theatre, which lets the surgeon
know via a display if the tissue
being operated on contains
cancerous cells.
Surgeons currently remove
tumours with a margin of
healthy tissue but it is often
difcult to tell by sight which
tissue is cancerous. According
to Imperial College, one in ve
breast cancer patients who
have surgery require a second
operation to fully remove the
cancer. In cases of uncertainty,
the removed tissue is sent to a
lab for examination while the
patient remains under general
anaesthetic.
Current EEG systems require electrodes to be placed
on the scalp impractical for use while driving
on this story
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Click here to comment on this story
news: design
Find the latest news, jobs & products at www.theengineer.co.uk
Stress free ghters
Process eliminates stresses in printed parts
New legislation has potential to cause chaos
LEGISLATION
IP law must not
stie designers
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
With BAEs new technique,
a layer of material is laid
down, melted into shape
using a laser and left to cool
before being cold worked
using the ultrasonic impact
treatment (UIT). The next
layer is then deposited,
heated and the process
repeats.
Jagjit Sidu, ATCs technical
leader for additive
manufacturing said the
combination of cold working
and heat treatment becomes
part of the deposition
process.
UIT is typically used to
treat welded areas in metallic
structures in the rail and oil
and gas industries to increase
their fatigue life.
An ultrasonic transducer
causes the tool head to
vibrate at a very controllable
rate and impart powerful
compression forces while only
placing a small load on the
tool itself, allowing it to be
handheld or tted to a robot.
The BAE team, which also
included Stephen Morgan,
developed a feedback system
that uses load cells in the
base plate, onto which the
structure is printed, to
measure the strains as they
form and adjust the UIT to
correct them in real time.
The company has
demonstrated the technique
by producing 3D printed
structures up to 1m in length
and has applied for patents on
the UIT process and the
feedback system.
BY STEPHEN HARRIS
Aircraft wings built with 3D
printers could be a step closer
thanks to a technique
developed by BAE Systems.
The company has
developed a process to
prevent large metallic
structures made using
additive manufacturing from
distorting or building up
internal stress during
printing.
The technique involves an
established way of making
metal parts stronger by
rapidly and repeatedly
striking them using an
ultrasonic tool as each layer of
the component is laid down
by the 3D printer.
Aircraft manufacturers are
already using 3D printing to
produce hinges. Scaling up
the process to large and
complex metallic parts could
enable the creation of more
complex shapes such as
hollow, lighter wings and
make production of a small
number of these components
more cost effective.
But increasing the size of
3D printed parts raises the
chance that the internal
stresses that build up as the
material cools will lead to
problems, said Andy Wescott,
a senior research scientist at
BAEs Advanced Technology
Centre (ATC).
agree that current legislation
adequately protects against
infringements and warn that
that the wording of the bill has
the potential to create numerous
infringement claims.
Whitehead said, If the
government is determined to
tighten up the legal
consequencesthen it needs to
be done in a way that does not
clog-up the legal system with
hundreds of cases against
designers and retailers who
have followed fashion trends but
have not deliberately copied
registered designs. Nor must it
stie innovation because of fear
of prosecution for presumed
copying. It is for these reasons
that the language of the
Intellectual Property Bill needs
amending.
The governments Intellectual
Property Ofce says the
proposed law is focused on
wrongful business behaviour
and not inadvertant
infringement of a design.
BY JASON FORD
Experts have warned that the
wording of the proposed
Intellectual Property Bill should
change to prevent unnecessary
litigation and protect the rights
of designers.
The bill passed through the
House of Lords on Tuesday July
30, 2013 with an amendment to
improve defences for defendants
who could face 10 year jail terms
if found guilty of infringing
registered designs.
The proposed amendment
includes a clause allowing those
accused of infringement to
defend their themselves on the
grounds that they reasonably
believed that they had not done
so. Patent attorneys Withers &
Rogers said this will extend
protection to defendants who
believe that their own design is
sufciently different to escape
infringement.
The draft legislation is
expected to be debated in the
House of Commons later this
year. Tony Whitehead, IET
policy director and Roger Burt,
president of the Chartered
Institute of Patent Attorneys
A new method of creating an extremely strong bond between
lightweight aluminium and ultra-high-strength steel could help car
manufacturers optimise vehicle design.
The new method from Brigham Young University (BYU) may help
vehicle manufacturers in achieving the 54.5mpg average the US
Environmental Protection Agency is mandating for US eets by 2025.
The technique - friction bit joining - uses a small, consumable bit
to create a solid-state joint between metals. The method was
invented by Prof Michael Miles and retired BYU professor Kent
Kohkonen, in collaboration with Orem, Utah-based company
MegaStir Technologies and Oak Ridge National Lab.
Its all about making vehicles lighter and our process can help to
combine steels and light metals in the same vehicle frame, which
gives engineers more exibility in designing an optimal structure,
Miles said.
The latest development in the process successfully bonds
lightweight aluminium with cast iron by inserting a thin layer of steel
between the two metals, which facilitates the bonding process. JF
Metal bonding process could lighten cars
AUTOMOTIVE
Joined up thinking
BAE Systems has applied for a patent on its new processes
on this story
on this story
3D printed
structures up to 1m
in length have been
fabricated already
news: business
All aboard the e-train
Transport secretary Patrick
McLoughlin has conrmed a
1.2bn order for trains that
will operate on the East Coast
Main Line. The 30 nine-car
electric trains will be
manufactured by Hitachi Rail
Europe at its new factory in
Newton Aycliffe, County
Durham, as part of the
governments 5.8bn Intercity
Express Programme. Hitachi
believes the deal will reinforce
UK train manufacturing
export capability.
Bentley jobs boost
Around 1,000 jobs are to be
created in the UK following
Bentleys decision to develop
its rst sports utility vehicle at
its base in Crewe. The luxury
car-maker, which employs
4,000 staff in Cheshire, plans
to invest more than 800m
during the next three years in
its headquarters and in the
development of new models.
Structural study
Frazer-Nash has secured a
contract with Culham Centre
for Fusion Energy to provide a
thermal and structural
analysis package in support of
ITERs planned nuclear fusion
reactor. The consultancy will
undertake a structural
analysis study on ICRH
antenna components, which
are comprised of complex,
internally water-cooled,
stainless steel and titanium
components. The antenna is
part of a large system
delivering RF power to the
plasma within the reactor.
Airline order
Boeing and Turkish Airlines
have announced an order for
ve 777-300ER aircraft valued
at $1.6bn at list prices. The
Turkish ag-carrier has
exercised options on ve
777-300ERs that were rst
announced in December 2012
as part of a previous rm order
for 15 777-300ERs. Turkish
Airlines now has 20 777-
300ERs on order from Boeing.
Turkish Airlines eet
currently includes 12
inbrief
More business
news daily at
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policy-and-business
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Lease is more
BMW offers i3 range-extending options and hire arrangements
BY STEPHEN HARRIS
BMW has launched an attempt
to win over drivers worried
about electric vehicles (EV)
limited range with its rst
production-ready battery-
powered car.
The BMW i3 includes several
options also being
tried by competitors
including leasing models and
a range-extending petrol motor
that allow drivers to try out
the cars electric capabilities
without spending tens of
thousands of pounds in order to
rely entirely on battery power.
The move comes as EV
sales remain relatively low
and manufacturers look for
ways to push the cars into the
mainstream, despite the
insistence of companies such
as BMW that a more
environmentally sustainable
business model is vital for the
future of long-term protability.
One of the key barriers to
public acceptance of EVs is
range anxiety, despite research
suggesting 95 per cent of trips
are less than 30 miles, well
within the range of most EVs.
The i3 was designed from
scratch with an electric
powertrain in mind, featuring
a low centre of gravity due to
the low, central placing of the
battery, and a lightweight
carbon-bre-reinforced plastic
(CFRP) body to cancel out the
extra mass this adds.
But the vehicles stated
range of 8199 miles
(130160km) in everyday
conditions is still comparable
with those of other models
already on the market, which
have so far only sold several
thousand units in the UK.
To counter the anxiety issue,
BMW is making the i3 available
with a petrol-driven motor that
doubles the cars range
compared with battery power
alone, and offering three-year
leases and options to borrow
other vehicles for longer
journeys.
Although the company has
not released sales or
production targets for the car,
BMW spokesperson Krystyna
Kozlowska said: We are
envisaging that in the rst
instance the range extender
will be a slightly higher
proportion [of sales] than
electric only. But I think over
time that might change as
people come to understand
how they use their vehicle.
The leasing model is already
being trialled by Nissan with
its all-electric Leaf and was
tested by BMW when it ran an
international study of EV usage
with its Mini E, which has yet
to enter mass production.
Research that weve done
has shown that people tend to
prefer to lease this type of
vehicle, said Kozlowska.
There is some element of the
unknown with it and so leasing
rates have been popular.
UK electric car sales are
increasing and at a rapid pace
(although from relatively low
numbers), according to the
Society of Motor Manufacturers
and Traders (SMMT). In 2011
we saw just over 1,000 cars
registered, said SMMT
spokesperson Jonathan
Visscher. By 2012 that had
more than doubled. This year
were already past the 1,500
mark half-way through the year
85 per cent up on where we
were a year before.
Visscher said several factors
were driving the increase in
sales, including falling prices
the cost of buying a Leaf has
dropped from 25,000
(including the 5,000
government grant for EVs) to
15,000 for a basic model.
A big part of that will be the
development of the model,
renement of the technology
and the new model is being
built in the UK, he said. Were
seeing more vehicles come
onto the market and as a result
more competition, better
prices, and different ways of
owning them.
The BMW i3 electric car has the
option of a petrol motor
Price drops
are helping to drive
the increase in UK
electric car sales

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Tunnel, was chosen as
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The Engineer. At a
quarter to seven, having
made all the necessary
preparations, Mr Latham
ascended in his
machine, and after
executing a wide circle round Sangatte, headed for Dover.
After travelling around eight miles, the article reports that
the machine was seen to be gradually descending in a long
straight line to the surface of the water where it eventually
landed and was rescued by a torpedo boat that was following
Lathams progress.
Although ultimately unsuccessful, The Engineer wrote that
sufcient was done to demonstrate the possibility of success
and the suitability of Mr Lathams type of machine for this
particular purpose. Whats more, Latham did at least earn the
distinction of becoming the rst person to land a plane on a
body of water.
Describing the technical challenges of ying overseas
there are, more or less always, over any large stretch of
water vertical currents of air which must naturally render the
condition of the problem of ight somewhat more complicated
than in their absence. As for the cause of the accident, Latham
put it down to the effect of salt in the air on the carburettor.
Latham made a second unsuccessful attempt a few days
later, but had by then been pipped to the post by Louis Bleriot,
who made the rst successful crossing of the Channel just days
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thehottopic
Portrayal of engineering: feeling hard done-by?
Classact?
The need for school design and
technology workshops to be
well-equipped triggered some
comment and reminiscences.

Our school metalwork shop
in the late 1980s was equipped
with a brazing hearth, welding
equipment, milling machines,
lathes and a good stock of
metal. Were we allowed
anywhere near this kit? Hardly.
Our teacher was more
concerned about us designing
on paper than building in 3D!
Anonymous

Unless the schools are
properly equiped and use
qualied engineers to teach
the pupils they will leave with
the wrong impression of
Manufacturing. We need to
ensure its in their blood and
keep them interested
throughout the entire training
process.
Mick Jones

Without teachers who have
recent experience working in
industry it will never work.
Most teachers have very little
understanding of the real
engineering world, those that
do need encouraging and
rewarding as they probably
hold our destiny in their hands.
Im a professional engineer
married to a secondary school
teacher. Many of my wifes
colleagues have no idea how
industry works and see little
reason for it to exist.
Anonynmous

In my school the Careers
Master was the only member
of staff who had absolutely no
experience of anything outside
teaching the classics or being
a novice monk! If you wanted
to study ancient Greek he was
your man; Engineering?
Whats that! I had an
interesting conversation with
my Son a few weeks ago on
more or less this subject. My
theses was that we never had
a proper revolution in this
country, we never rid ourselves
of the pointless useless
aristocracy so that, when so
many of our successful
engineering pioneers handed
the family fortune to their heirs
they chose to ape the useless.
My Sons opinion was that
The Germans produce
Engineers, the French produce
Mathematicians and the
English produce Clergy. The
reason is that, because we
have an Established Church,
so much of our education
system was dominated by the
clergy, in one form or another.
So, I say to the guillotine with
all toffs and priests. (Only
Joking, honest).
Anonynmous

I am now fully retired but a
few years ago I spent 3 years
part time with a local
engineering business making
wearing parts for suger beet
Our editorial and poll about the
Sainburys Management Fellowship
calling for an end to the portrayal of
engineers as wearing hard-hats triggered
a debate on how modern engineering
should best be illustrated.
This is a difcult one. How do you portrait
an engineer accurately? Taking a picture of
engineers sitting in front of their screens in
a big ofce could easily be confused with a
call centre. I am not alone in thinking
(many of my colleagues agree) that the
hard hat image is not the issue at all. The
issue is that the media is hardly if ever
reporting about engineering and what
engineers do. In the absence of this, hard
hats get my approval every time
Alek Wanstrowski

What is the alternative to hard hats? People
love stereotyping and this one ts the bill
every time.
Mark Wayne-Thomas
Clothes do not make the engineer! We are
fed continual streams of jounalistic
hyperbole by journalists that can talk about
engineering, but are also not engineers (in
many but not all cases) and editors who
choose the pictures. Not only do the media
people like to see men in hard hats looking
studiously at large blueprints, but they also
seem to like angle grinders creating
showers of sparks in the background!!
We are a profession of thinkers, problem
solvers and appliers of logic based on
careful analysis and understanding.
To the media I can see the photos being
created of the slightly greying but good
looking early 40s intelligent guy with a
good hair cut and frameless spectacles
(holding a slide rule - no maybe thats a
step too far!!) But as Engineers we arent
really interested - we have more engaging
things to deal with - our jobs and the
current project we need to get results on.
How to make it better cheaper faster etc.
And ..........we are everywhere and impact
on everything. Long live Engineers - normal
people from everyday life with a practical
logical view. Im proud to be one!
Anonymous
You might just as well show them in
oil-stained boiler suits. That gives the same
impression and serves to support and
maintain the public belief that any
mechanic, tter, machine operator, fax
repairer or pretty well anyone that touches
an engineered object, is an engineer.
While hard hats may be an on-site
requirement in civil and marine
engineering situations, they are not
synonymous with engineering as a whole.
Engineers should be seen as thinkers,
rather than doers. That might enhance
their prole.
Peter Bessey
At my work site, the only time anyone
wears a hard hat is when a unit is being
lifted by a small crane to shoulder height in
order to transport it from a test rig to a
trolley and vise versa. I wouldnt class that
bit of skill as Engineering. Normally
everyone wears comfortable clothes or
suits if dealing with customers. To me, a
hard hat signies a building site and
builders.
Anonymous
Pictures of engineers wearing hard hats,
safety glasses, etc, etc, are now the norm
when depicting virtually any level of work
within an industrial environment. A few
years ago we published a photo in a house
journal of foreign engineers working at an
overseas location wearing hard hats but no
safety glassses -- the local H&S
requirerments did not demand glasses. We
immediately received complaints from
UK-based H&S inspectors saying that we
were not portraying engineers working
safely within an industrial environment,
regardless of local requirements.
inyouropinion
Click here to join the debate
thesecretengineer
harvesters. One of our team
was a young chap in his nal
year of an Engineering degree
course at Leeds. This was his
only access to practical hands
on experience, the College had
closed the workshop for Health
and Safety reasons. It was not
his fault, but he didnt even
know which way round a blade
was normally tted into a
hacksaw, such was the level of
College training that existed.
After qualication he would be
expected to run engineering
projects; his lack of experience
would quickly let him down
and maybe dangerously so.
I was deeply saddened by the
whole attitude that prevailed
then and still does today.
Engineering has always been
the poor relation in the UK, not
so in other countries with
whom we try to compete.
Brian Wood
Sailingships?
A story on the Royal Academy
of Engineerings call for
development of low-carbon
ship propulsion led to a few
suggestions from readers.

Why do we need to make
expensive and complicated
changes to a propulsion
method that is extremely
efcient and uses only a tiny
proportion of the worlds oil? If
we do need a new propulsion
method, nuclear is the obvious
option. There are large
numbers of nuclear
submarines and many nuclear
icebreakers none of which had
caused any serious problems
The big problem is the public
perception that small amounts
of nuclear radiation are
dangerous when, in fact, many
studies have demonstrated
that this is not the case. (e.g.
UNSCEAR)
Bryan Leyland

An installation of computer
controlled large rigid aerofoils
to bulk carriers would greatly
improve fuel efciency
allowing reduced engine
power to be used whenever
the wind is blowing. This was
trialled, I believe very
successfully some years ago,
but seemed to fade away,
possibly because of oil
industry lobbying, who knows.
Perhaps the time is now right
for this option to be
re-investigated.
JohnK

Not wanting to state the
obvious but hasn`t mankind
had a low carbon form of ship
propulsion for thousands of
years, one used by many ships
and boats all over the world.
Now many may say sails
would be a retrograde step but
with modern design and
material even the largest of
ships could save thousands of
gallons of oil by utilising the
power of the wind when
available.
Alex Wilks
75 years on from The Mallard Britain still
produces engineers who can, and do, take on
the world writes our anonymous blogger
I dare say that a large number of you reading this will be fully
aware that we recently marked the 75th anniversary of Mallard
(for those who dont know, she is an A4 steam locomotive built
for the LNER) getting the steam hauled rail speed record. A
record that still stands today.
The National Railway Museum at York have marked this
occasion by assembling all of the preserved A4s together for the
rst time since they were withdrawn from general service. They
also threw what was, I can tell you, a rather nice meal on the
evening of the actual anniversary on July 3rd.
The 20s and 30s were a time when achieving superlatives
was seen as a matter of national pride as well as being benecial
to industry and business. The Germans seemed to have Grand
Prix racing sewn up but we
did pretty well with
aeronautical feats, most
notably in the Schneider
Trophy as well as with
altitude and endurance
records.
These examples had a
large input from government
but we also dominated in the land speed record arena too,
always a more personal endeavour by those involved. It seems
that whether you were running the country, building something
in your shed or at any point between then if you wanted a crack
at making your place in history it could be done. In fact one could
go so far as to say that, if at all possible, it was your patriotic
duty to get out there and keep at it until you had gained a
glorious victory.
The reasons for such high octane proigacy may possibly be
found in international tensions. A number of countries were
jockeying for position on the world stage with little doubt as to
the danger of aggressive acts if someone thought they could get
away with it.
Under such circumstances the advantages of direct
technological advances were surely matched by a clear
message sent out regarding just what we could do if we put our
minds to it?
We need only look to a later age where America and the USSR
sought to match each other in the space race to see the pattern
once more repeated. However a different world along with the
sheer size of the task, and possibly the more focussed target,
meant that the 60s and early 70s saw this as a purely
government led competition.
So what of today? We have our threats and troubles, as with
any age, but they are not from rich and powerful countries. No
longer is there seen to be a need to break records for the sake
of our national standing. However our industry still benets
from the exposure gained by these single-minded dreamers.
Thankfully we still produce those who can and do - take on
the world.
Please join me in not only raising a glass to Mallard and Sir
Nigel Gresley but also to those who are breaking records and
ying the ag for British industry today.
Seventy-ve years on from the
Mallard, Britain still produces
engineers who take on the world
It was your duty
to keep at it until you
had achieved
glorious victory
Click here to comment on the secret engineer

inyouropinion
Image credit: independent.co.uk
talking point
For more news, views and information visit www.theengineer.co.uk
Perhaps its the sunshine, but
I desperately wanted to write
about a new sense of
optimism in UK industry this
morning. We may be a long
way from true recovery but
positive economic statistics,
billions of pounds of foreign
investment and a renewed
focus on industrial research give us real reasons
to be positive about the future.
The Olympics may or may not have created a
10bn boost to the economy but it appeared to
represent a mental turning point. As I was
reminded at this weeks Royal Academy of
Engineering Awards, British engineering has a lot
to be proud of and we are now far more condent
in showing it off to the world.
But my mood has been sadly disrupted by
news that George Osborne is ramping up his
dash for gas and plans to halve the tax bill for
fossil-fuel companies who
start fracking the English
countryside. The promise of a
glut of cheap gas that brings
down the heating bills of
hard-pressed families and
helps cut the UKs carbon
emissions by displacing coal and creates
thousands of jobs at the same time is an
attractive one. But extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence and, so far, evidence is
severely lacking. Yes, weve seen the reports that
Britain may be sitting on trillions of cubic metres
of shale gas, but how much of it we can viably
extract and what impact it will have on prices are
still big unknowns.
A recent inquiry by industry and academic
experts led by a former Tory energy minister and
a Labour peer was the latest to conclude that the
amount of economically recoverable shale gas in
the UK remained highly uncertain, the
environmental risks were poorly understood, and
the near-term impact of fracking would be to
diversify Britains energy exports rather than
signicantly lower prices.
The US may be reaping the benets of its own
shale-gas revolution but the UK is a very different
place. Instead of wide-open, sparsely populated
plains that can be industrialised with little
opposition, we have a crowded island where
countryside is preciously guarded and
environmental damage would be more keenly felt.
The 100,000 per well that Osborne is offering
to communities that host fracking sites wont go
far in an era of massive public spending cuts and
seems small fry compared with the tax cuts (from
62 per cent to 30 per cent) being offered to an
already wealthy industry that could make billions
more. How easily will fracking operations be set
up in the Tory shires that display such opposition
to windmills?
We also have tighter regulations making
operations more costly and an energy market that
is tied more closely with that of our neighbours.
As the Carbon Connect report put it: Our
liberalised and highly interconnected market
would prevent prices remaining articially low
compared with neighbouring markets.
With so many uncertainties, it would be foolish
to tie ourselves to a strategy of more gas-red
power stations when we have a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to move away from a
reliance on fossil fuels. If the shale-gas dreams
turn out to be nothing more than hallucinations,
well be left at the mercy of an international
market struggling with ever-increasing demand
from rapidly developing countries.
Fracking dream could be
a dangerous fantasy
We have a
crowded island
where countryside is
preciously guarded
inouropinion
Stephen Harris Senior Reporter
stephen.harris@centaur.co.uk
theengineerpoll
Last weeks poll: a new study
suggests that there might
be far more shale gas than
originally thought in
subsurface rocks in the north-
west of the UK. Should we be
pursuing this resource?
Our poll respondents gave an
enthusiastic endorsement for shale-
gas exploration last week, with almost
two-thirds saying that it should go
ahead because the UK would need
supplies of gas for many years to
come. A further 14 per cent supported
fracking because of the jobs and
exports it could guarantee. Of the
minority who were opposed to shale
exploration, 16 per cent were most
concerned about the possible direct
environmental damage that fracking
could cause, such as the potential
pollution of the water table; the
smallest group of respondents, seven
per cent, said that the risk of not
meeting the UKs carbon emission
targets was the most worrying.
Whats your opinion on this subject?
Let us know below.
yourcomments
What we do here in the UK will have little
effect on the worlds total CO
2
levels.
Developing countries hold the key to that.
They are in need of our help to develop more
earth-friendly supplies of energy, such as
geo-thermal and solar in the hotter climes.
Effectively, if we use the excess funds
created by using cheap supplies from
fracking for developing systems for use in
the developing countries, then that will
have a greater long-term benet for all
concerned. Although there could be
opponents to the altruistic move.
Jeremy
If there is anything to reassure the general
public, as a rst step and compulsorily
fracking companies should be required to
release information about the chemical
admixes they are using and injecting with
what their advocates cite as sand and
water. Try Google to uncover what is
actually used. Information appears veiled
and secretive; itself a worry. So for the
energy issue, like other fossil fuels, their
value as a feedstock into chemical
processes should outweigh any inclination
simply to burn them. Once gone they are
irreplaceable and we continue to cause
environmental harm in the burning
processes. Day-to-day energy needs should
steadily and increasingly be drawn from
renewable sources.
Anonymous
So you want the UK to pass over what looks
like 100 years of energy independence
because we may put out a bit more CO
2
than
the crazy target set by Tony Blair? Our
current annual output of CO
2
is less than the
Chinese annual increase. Get real. What we
do has no effect in real terms. The sooner we
repeal the disastrous Climate Change Act,
the better. Lets have a proper energy policy
and join the real world instead of this fantasy
world in which useless, highly subsidised
wind turbines are promoted as adding vast
sums to our energy bills.
Roger
I really feel that we, the UK, as one of the most
developed countries in the world, should
make an effort to reduce the amount of
greenhouse gas we release into the
atmosphere (lead by example?). Im not
saying we should all jump into a Prius but
should we not make more attempts to use
ssion and renewables in an energy mix? As a
planet we cannot keep releasing more CO
2

into the atmosphere, fracking is not
renewable and the reserves cannot even be
used for carbon capture and storage. Most
denitely a dangerous mistake.
Adam Sutton
Fracking is necessary because neither this
government nor the previous one built any
new nuclear power stations. Therefore we
will have to rely on gas and if this is the
most accessible domestic reserve we need
to start work now. The Luddites dont
appear to appreciate the urgency.
Electricity rationing in 2016 will affect them
and their computers as it will everyone else.
Robert Freer
Shale gas is too valuable as a home cooking/
heating energy source with nearly 100 per
cent efcient energy use rather than being
used to generate electricity with at best 35
per cent efciency. The UK needs this gas as
an energy resource ASAP and George
Osbornes tax breaks are to encourage
investment now to create jobs and
infrastructure now I wish he didnt have
to do it but we need the gas to reduce the
inexorable growth in energy costs and we
need the economic growth now as well as
providing middle-term energy security until
we have replaced fossil-fuel-based
electricity generation by nuclear power like
France. Nuclear power will mean we will
have long-term price stability and can
become a hydrogen economy for heating,
cooking and use in internal combustion
engines, or replace internal combustion
engines with hydrogen fuel cells with
hydrogen generated on Economy 7
electricity at night.
Robin
We owe it to future generations to explore
and develop all options for the production of
gas and electricity. Fossil fuels will
eventually run out and future supplies will
come from nuclear, solar, wind and water
sources. Shale-gas production by fracking is
the here and now option for today.
John Smith
So, the engineering fraternity is quite happy
to see the north-west environmentally
violated for the third time, after King Coal
and Sellaeld have had their nasty way.
What happened to renewables, which were
supposed to benet future generations
cleanly? Admit it, the fracking is there so
the Yanks can rip off the Limeys as usual.
John Gately
After meeting our targets for carbon
emissions, there will still be a substantial
requirement for fossil fuels. It is better
that this requirement boosts the UK
economy rather than weakening it by
sucking in progressively more expensive
gas imports. Perhaps an all-party
agreement among politicians that a large
proportion of the extra tax revenue
generated be dedicated to addressing our
longer-term power needs would silence
the detractors. Tidal barrages across the
Severn Estuary and Morecambe Bay are
two possible uses for this windfall.
James Hopwood
14%
Yes: it would be a valuable boost for
jobs and exports
No: it would wreck the UKs efforts
to meet decarbonisation targets
No: the risk of damage to the
environment (e.g. water quality and
landscape) is too high
Yes: the UK will continue to need
gas for many years
63%
16%
7%
The Low Carbon Vehicles
show held at Millbrook in
Bedfordshire at the end of the
summer is a great opportunity
to see innovation in action.
Being able to look at prototypes
on the Technology Strategy
Board stand one year and then,
just 12 months later, drive a car
incorporating those advances,
demonstrates the rate at which
the automotive sector is working
towards a sustainable future.
The LCV show captures the very
essence of what we mean by the
journey from concept to
commercialisation.
The automotive sector
remains a vibrant and vital part of the UK economy,
and so the industrial strategy unveiled by
government and industry on 12 July has been a big
talking point. As a member of the Automotive
Council, Ive seen just how much work has gone
into identifying the priorities and the resources
needed to maintain our position among the leading
developers and producers of vehicles in the world.
Included in the strategy is 1 billion earmarked
for the creation of an Advanced Propulsion Centre
(APC). It will focus on scaling up innovative ideas
that are ready to be tested at a commercial scale
prior to market entry. The Centre will help develop
the systems and supply chains needed to
manufacture the next generation of low carbon
vehicles here in the UK.
To support that initiative, the Technology
Strategy Board announced a new 10 million
competition on the same day. The successful
entries will be collaborative R&D proposals that are
ready to take the next step towards
industrialisation.
The competition, Building an Automotive Supply
Chain of the Future, aims to integrate the low
carbon vehicle innovation chain, from the science
base, through collaborative R&D to demonstration.
It is the supply chain that allows everyone, from
the smallest suppliers to the biggest OEMs, to play
a part in our automotive success. The key word
here is integrated it involves not just the
industry but all parts of the innovation process.
Only by bringing research, business and
government together to drive innovation forward
can we get the best result for the UK.
And it is really gratifying to see how businesses
can grow through this kind of support. Just last
week, I was talking with Mark Roberts of
Ashwoods Automotive, a small rm that has
worked to develop technologies for hybrid vehicles.
In just a few years, they have gone from being
purely a components supplier to being the
countrys leading supplier of hybrid commercial
vehicles, supplying businesses as diverse as BT,
Royal Mail and the Environment Agency.
Battery manufacturer Axeon has experienced
success too through its involvement with the
Technology Strategy Board. It was involved in the
development of the Jaguar XJ_e and proved itself
such a vital part of the future supply chain that
Johnson Matthey decided to invest in the business
and integrate it into their own organisation.
Xtrac Ltd designed, developed, manufactured,
tested and rened the transmission system. It
provided an opportunity for Xtrac to develop a
dedicated EV gearbox that is suitable for multiple
vehicle applications with little or no modication.
This kind of growth through innovation is what
the Technology Strategy Board was set up to
encourage and enable. These examples (and there
are many others) show just what is possible when
imagination and opportunity come together.
the Iain Gray column
Bringing technologies from research to demonstration is
helping the UK be a leader in low-carbon vehicle development
Putting innovation on the road
Growth
through
innovation is
what the TSB was
set up to enable

Electric: Battery maker Axeon helped develop the Jaguar XJ-e
Iain Gray is chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board
viewpoint:David Willetts
I
f there is one technology above all that
symbolises the revival of a strong British
space sector it is launchers. We opted
out of launchers in the early 1970s when we
instead provided the core technologies for
what has become the Arianne programme.
Arianne is a reliable and effective
conventional launch system. But the world
is changing and we want to see Britain
at the forefront of the next generation of
launch and propulsion technologies. We
can skip that generation of technologies
and lead the move to the next stage.
That is why the chancellor announced
last month that the government will invest
in the development of the Synergetic
Air-Breating Rocket Engine (SABRE) an
engine that could transform how we think
about both space and aviation. Some 60m
has been committed to begin building the
SABRE prototype, to make the technology
available to the market and, ultimately, to
ensure the future of the UK economy.
This is a unique invention. The SABRE
engine is the only one of its kind being
developed in the world at the present time.
What sets this engine apart is its game-
changing heat-exchange technology, which
cools air from 1,000C to -150C in one
hundredth of a second,
despite weighing little
more than a tonne. It
means that what once
seemed impossible an
affordable and reusable
service into orbit is
now within reach.
SABRE has the potential to create 20,000
high-value engineering and manufacturing
jobs. It will give the UK a leading position
in a launcher market that is estimated to be
worth 14bn over the next 30 years. And
it has the power to revolutionise our lives
in the 21st century in the way that the jet
engine did in the 20th century. That makes
Alan Bond a modern-day Frank Whittle, the
British inventor of the jet engine.
Whittle rst patented his design in 1930,
despite a resounding absence of enthusiasm
from the Royal Air Force. But his plane was
realising the full production engine design
at the end of the project:
The SABRE engine technical design work
Improving the heat-exchanger technology
and manufacturing capability
A ight test of the innovative rocket
nozzle design for SABRE
A ground demonstration of the engine
Reaction Engines has done a great deal
of planning to prepare for this next phase,
and we expect to see the completion of
prototype SABRE by 2017 and ight tests
around 2020. Our investment will help to
prime the pump for further commercial
investment to supply the remainder of the
capital needed for full engine development.
Our commitment to Reaction Engines is just
part of a new era for propulsion in Britain.
I recently visited Qinetiq in Farnborough
and saw its contribution to our mission to
Mercury, BepiColombo. The ion engines it
has designed will take that spacecraft to
the most difcult place to reach in our solar
system. So British technology could one
day take you from the surface of the Earth
to the far reaches of our solar system.
Companies such as Moog ISP have
been building space propulsion engines
in Britain for years. And now European
Space Propulsion has recently set up
in Northern Ireland as well. It makes
thrusters that position satellites.
The government must do its best to
keep pushing for new opportunities and
supporting new technologies in chemical
and electric propulsion. Other businesses,
organisations and universities are working
on innovative developments as well, and this
diversity can only strengthen Britains space
community. We are considering the case for
a national testing and research infrastructure
for propulsion technology to support this
growing element of the UK space sector.
Together we can put Britain at the forefront
of European space propulsion.
not ready for testing for more than a
decade, because the development tap was
perpetually being turned on and off by the
ministry and frightened bankers.
The most instructive chapter in Whittles
story for us today was the arrival of Henry
Hap Arnold, chief of staff of the US Army
Corps, in the UK on a fact-nding mission
in 1941. Bond heard that Whittles W1X
engine was about to y and duly whisked
it over to the US. Initially there was a strict
agreement that it would be used for war
purposes only. But after the war, in the
interests of smoothing friendships, the UK
government released
them of this undertaking
for $800,000 (600,000)
and sealed the USs
entry into the jet age.
This is where our new
story will be different.
While we let the turbojet
engine technology slip through our ngers,
this time the government is certainly not
prepared to lose the engine technology that
could revolutionise access to space. Our
60m support means that Bonds team will
now be able move to the next phase in the
development in the UK. I can announce
today that we are committing 35m in
201415 and 25m in 201516.
Over the next four years, the
governments money will be spent on
four major elements of the SABRE engine
development, each of which is critical to
The government has recently announced
a 60m investment in Reaction Engines
SABRE rocket engine project. Science
minister David Willetts explains why
Reaching
for the skies
David Willetts is the UK science minister
Willetts and Alan Bond discuss the
SABRE engine over a mock-up
British technology
could one day take
you to the far reaches
of our solar system

viewpoint: Paul Foot
B
ridgestones latest decision to take
action to enforce its intellectual
property rights in China sends
a clear message to domestic producers
that such rights must be taken seriously.
For other international corporates, it also
reinforces the point that such action can
and does pay off.
Rival tyre maker, Qingdao Genco
Industrial Group Co, which operates in
Chinas Shandong Province, was found
to have included a tyre featuring
Bridgestones registered truck and bus
tyre tread pattern in its catalogue.
Bridgestone led and won the design
rights infringement claim in Qingdao City
Intermediate Peoples Court.
This is a signicant win, given that
until recently intellectual property
rights owned by both domestic and
multinational companies have been
perceived as difcult to enforce in
China. However, it now seems that
the tide is turning.
Although intellectual property
rights have been acknowledged and
protected in China since 1979, there
has been a lack of knowledge
around how best to approach
enforcement and condence that
western companies are operating on
a level playing eld. And despite
there being a better regulated and
more robust domestic legal
framework in place to protect such
rights, there is still some room for
improvement. Increasing grass-roots
awareness, both of the need to avoid
infringement and the consequences of
infringing, is therefore vital.
As a result of facing legal action
following alleged infringements, a number
of Chinese companies have undoubtedly
had to learn from bitter experience.
Furthermore, the watchful eye of
intellectual property rights owners is
undoubtedly encouraging more Chinese
companies to toe the line. Bridgestones
vigilance in terms of spotting the design
rights infringement and taking action
against it sends a clear message to other
after by Chinese manufacturers, with 97.3
per cent of 2011 applications coming from
domestic applicants.
On enforcement, the statistics also bear
out the improving situation. As far back as
2004 there was more patent litigation in
China than anywhere else, with 98 per
cent of it being made up of Chinese
company against Chinese company.
Currently, when foreign companies do go
after infringements in China, they have a
90 per cent win rate far higher than in
the US and other western courts.
Bridgestones latest win, combined with
the fact that other leading corporates have
successfully enforced their intellectual
property design rights in China in recent
years, means there is no longer any
excuse not to take enforcement action.
Indeed, earlier this year, Bridgestone
Corporation successfully sued another
Chinese tyre manufacturer, Guanghou
Bolex Tyre Ltd, for trademark
infringement. For automotive and
automotive components
manufacturers, this is particularly
encouraging, given the critical nature
of such products within highly
competitive global supply chains.
The real message for western
innovators is you have to be in it to
win it. Often when the facts of the
apparently most egregious
infringements are looked at in more
detail, it turns out the company had
never obtained any protection in
China, so the Chinese company was
quite within its rights to use the
technology of a particular product.
So while in certain areas, issues with
intellectual property enforcement in China
may remain, if you come to the shoot-out
with a peashooter, youre going to come off
worst, whatever happens.
manufacturers in China that such copycat
engineering will not be tolerated by
leading corporates.
According to the latest WIPO statistics,
design rights registrations in China rose
by 23.8 per cent between 2010 and 2011
and patent applications by 34.6 per cent in
the same period, indicating the countrys
growing interest in and respect for
intellectual property. In particular, design
rights registrations are increasingly sought
Companies must ensure they protect their IP
rights in China, says Paul Foot
You must be
in it to win it
Paul Foot is a partner and patent attorney
at Withers & Rogers, one of the UKs leading
rms of patent and trade mark attorneys
If you come to the shoot-
out with a peashooter, you
are going to come off worst,
whatever happens

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feature: autonomous cars
F
rom Michael Knights KITT to the Batmobile, the car that
drives itself is a well-worn staple of science ction. And like
many other staples of science ction, its a technology thats
now edging ever closer to reality.
Indeed, car-makers, technology suppliers and transport
authorities around the world are increasingly viewing the
autonomous car as the key to a safer, less congested and more
energy efcient road system.
Across Europe, automobile companies including BMW, Volvo
and Bosch have all recently tested driverless cars on public roads,
and regard autonomous technology as being a key area of their
future business.
In the US, search engine giant Google, which has a test eet of
around 10 autonomous cars, has successfully lobbied for changes
to legislation in Nevada, Florida and California that enable it to
test its technology on the road.
And here in the UK the government last month conrmed that
road trials of a driverless car developed by Oxford University and
Nissan will begin later this year.
The concept of the driverless car attracts a fair degree of
scepticism; many people still enjoy driving, and theres also an
understandable nervousness about ceding control of something
as potentially dangerous as an automobile to a computer.
But despite its sci- credentials, the technology required to
enable a car to drive itself is actually less revolutionary than one
might think. Many of todays high-end luxury cars already have
systems such as lane assist technology and adaptive cruise
control. And over the coming years other features, such as fully
autonomous parking technology (which Bosch hopes to launch
by 2015) look set to become increasingly commonplace. In a
sense, the driverless car is in fact the logical conclusion of the
development of these kind of systems. Car-makers tend to talk
of it as an evolutionary process.
Were developing a portfolio of automated functions in a
step-by-step process towards autonomy with different
technologies appearing at different tines, said Volvos Jonas
Ekberg, who heads up the Swedish companys research in the
area. Meanwhile, talking recently at Boschs annual automotive
symposium in Germany, the divisions outgoing chief Bern Bohr
Jon Excell reports on the evolutionary
process of creating a truly driverless
vehicle for the worlds roads.
Autos on
autopilot
ABOVE: Google has a test eet of
around 10 autonomous cars
Out of the loop: Intelligent
autonomous systems could one day
remove drivers from the equation
feature:autonomous cars
talked about the many individual steps his company is taking
towards its vision of accident-free and automated driving.
Nevertheless bringing all of these technologies together
and completely removing the driver from the loop presents some
major technical and regulatory challenges.
One of the companies leading the way in Europe is German
automotive specialist Bosch, one of the worlds biggest suppliers
of advanced safety and driver-assistance systems.
Michael Fausten, who heads up the companys research in
|the area, explained that there are a number of key functions
an autonomous car has be able to perform. It must know what
is happening around itself; it must know where it is and where
it wants to go; it must have the reasoning and decision-making
capability to plan a safe trajectory; and nally, it needs the
muscles or actuators that can take control of the vehicles
steering and control systems.
Car-makers seem to be taking a broadly similar approach to
solving these problems: using advanced imaging systems to
gather information about a vehicles surroundings that is then
cross-checked against detailed GPS and map data.
Boschs vehicle gathers data using radar and ultrasonic
sensors, a stereo video camera and a spinning roof-mounted
laser scanner (LIDAR), which generates a detailed 3D map of the
environment. Googles eet of autonomous Toyota Priuses also
uses a laser scanner coupled with GPS and other sensors to build
up an image of its surroundings. Meanwhile, BMW has adopted
a similar approach but mounted its laser scanner below the front
grill, where it is used to generate an image of what lies ahead of
the car. The shared long-term vision among all these companies
and many others is that all of this local intelligence will feed into
a vast pool of data relating to whats happening on the roads.
Cars will be able to talk to each other and to intelligent road
infrastructure, and plan their routes, trajectories and driving
styles accordingly.
In recent months, both Bosch and BMW have announced
successful trials on sections of the German autobahn a
signicant move away from the test track and into the more
dynamic and unpredictable environment of a real-life road.
The German autobahn is a very challenging environment,
Mapping the
environment:
Boschs vehicle
gathers data using
radar and
ultrasonic sensors,
a stereo video
camera and a
spinning roof-
mounted laser
scanner
Car-
makers tend
to talk of
driverless
cars as an
evolutionary
process
->
feature: autonomous vehicles
said Fausten. You have very dense trafc, very high-speed
vehicles, and high speed differences between trafc participants.
But the vehicle is doing quite well we are producing quite
good information on what is happening all around the vehicle.
The road tests have also provided some valuable examples
of the technologys growing ability to cope with the unexpected.
Fausten recalls one particular incident where the car pulled out
to overtake just as another vehicle travelling at speed in the
outside lane began pulling in a potentially hazardous scenario
familiar to anyone whos ever driven on a motorway.
As currently required by law, an engineer was poised to grab
the steering wheel and take control, but the vehicle dealt with
the situation on its own. It was really marvellous, said Fausten.
The vehicle recognised it and immediately re-planned the
trajectory and went back to the lane where it came from. It was
a relief seeing a system that is designed to be intelligent and take
decisions on its own doing what it is expected to do.
Faustens anecdote is a reminder of the chaotic and
unpredictable environment that lies in wait for the rst
autonomous vehicles. And while some researchers envision a
fully autonomous future with relatively easy-to-manage road
networks, it could be decades before anything like this becomes
a reality. Volvos Jonas Ekberg, another engineer with direct
experience of operating driverless cars on the road, believes that
the mixed trafc challenge will always be an issue. I dont really
see that we can have dedicated roads for autonomous vehicles,
he said. It wont happen that way for 20 or 50 years or maybe it
never will, so we will need to be able to mix with manually
driven vehicles.
With this in mind, a team of robotics specialists from Oxford
University is taking a different approach and working on the
development of a low-cost autonomous navigation system that
doesnt rely on existing infrastructure or communication with
other intelligent vehicles.
Led by Prof Paul Newman, the EPSRC-funded RobotCar team
has developed an autonomous Nissan Leaf, which, although not
yet as sophisticated as some of the other autonomous vehicles
around the world, boasts a more affordable approach to
navigation.
Based on low-cost lasers and cameras, Newmans system is
aimed at making the technology more affordable for the masses.
We can localise on the roads with a laser that costs about 7,000,
but what were working on now is how you can do this with just
cheap cameras. If you can do it with cameras you can then think
about doing this with just tens of dollars, he said.
One of the keys to the RobotCar approach is that the vehicle
doesnt need to rely on expensive satellite navigation technology
to know where it is. I dont need to communicate with every car
and the road to be able to drive home safely... so must we ensure
that machines do? explained Newman.
He believes it is an area of research where the UK could have a
major impact and is keen to stress that Google isnt the only
show in town. Its not just happening in California, Newman
told The Engineer. The gene pool we pull from in the UK is the
same as at Google our teams got 30 people and the Google
team is the same size.
Newmans vision is shared by the UK governments
Department for Transport (DfT), which, in its recently published
Action for Roads report, predicts a world where by 2040,
semi-autonomous vehicles are commonplace on our roads. The
report also revealed that the DfT is looking at working with
industry and researchers on a close study of the hurdles the
technology faces and how the UK can best exploit its expertise in
the area.
The fully autonomous car will not appear overnight. Despite
some hugely impressive prototype vehicles, the car industry and
the road regulators are rightly conservative. But a number of
technologies slated to appear soon on production vehicles
including trafc-jam-assist technology that will take control of
the vehicle on congested highways will bring the autonomous
dream a step closer to reality.
Newman believes that trafc-jam assist will be a welcome
rst step for driverless car technology. It seems the most sensible
place for it to start, he said. No one ever advertises a car and
says buy this car and youll be happy in a trafc jam... they
always say buy this car and youll be able to drive down route
one with all the beautiful people at 80mph. Thats not actually
where we want a car to drive us. The thing that drives us crazy
about cars is congestion so shouldnt we be starting there?
Another important trend in the emergence of driverless
technology is the way in which it will evolve alongside other
automotive systems, in particular more efcient powertrains.
We know many strategies that can save energy, said Boschs
Fausten. But we can only suggest to a driver that they operate
Checks: There are a number of key
an autonomous car must be able to
perform before taking control
feature:autonomous vehicles
the vehicle in a very economic way. If you have an automated
vehicle you can tell it how to drive and it will do so.
Volvos Ekberg added that a vehicle able to intelligently plan
its own route and reduce its drag by joining closely-packed-
together, autonomous road-trains a lesson learned from Volvo
and Ricardos recently concluded SARTRE project could make
much better use of battery power, an important issue across the
automotive industry.
The general view seems to be that automated driving will
appear rst on highways, where it has already been tested and
where trafc conditions are more predictable. Moving the
technology into a more complex urban trafc environment will
be an order of magnitude more challenging.
There will surely be a push to bring this technology into urban
environments as well, said Fausten. But the big challenge is
that in comparison to a highway you have a very complex trafc
situation. On the autobahn you have just vehicles driving at
more or less the same speed and in the same direction and the
prediction of what will happen next is fairly easy.
If you have pedestrians, they have a rather difcult motion
pattern for prediction and then you have bicycles and small
motorcycles.
One real challenge for the technology is children they are
completely unpredictable.
Fausten said the key to enabling autonomous vehicles to
operate in these more dynamic environments will be teaching
a vehicles perception system to recognise all the types of
situation it will encounter. There is, he said, already some
progress in this area. Were teaching our cameras to recognise
a pedestrian for our automated emergency braking system, but
this has to be further developed, further improved and then we
have to learn how reliable it is and whether it can predict each
and every situation.
So far, all autonomous vehicle tests have required the presence
of a human in the driving seat, ready to take over in the event
that the vehicle gets into difculties. But how realistic is the
long-term goal of completely removing the driver from the loop?
Boschs Fausten envisions cars equipped with a so-called
highway pilot mode by the middle of the next decade, but said
that such a system will require a big leap forward. If you take
the driver out of the loop, he said, youre not allowed to have
any failure in the system that you cannot handle. The biggest
challenge here is to foresee a system that can cope with almost
every situation. It is not just making another functionality as we
have done in the past this will take a long time.
Ekberg, however, believes that there will always be a role for
the driver. The car will take responsibility but will need to be
able to hand responsibility back. It may come across exceptional
things that it cannot handle for instance, an accident on the
road or some environmental condition such as a snow storm that
it is not designed for.
European car-makers must also work within the framework of
the Vienna Convention, which is potentially a major regulatory
obstacle to the roll-out of fully autonomous vehicles. Last
amended in 1968, the convention states that every driver shall,
at all times, be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animal.
Fausten said that while existing and planned driver assistance
technologies are in line with these regulations, the rules will
need to be revised to allow driverless car operation. If we talk
about taking the driver out of the loop then there needs to be
some regulatory change, he said. But the authorities are aware
of it; the US, EU and Japan are all dedicating attention to this
topic. Were condent it will be resolved.
Others claim that the regulations are open to interpretation.
Its really a matter of words, said Ekberg. The original Vienna
convention was written in 1940 and says that the driver should
always be able to control his vehicle or animals. But what does
be able to control mean? Does it mean control all the time, or
control when its needed? The Swedish authorities interpret it
in such a way that it doesnt prohibit highly automated driving.
There are undoubtedly some tough challenges ahead.
Engineers have only scratched the surface of some of the more
complex technical problems. And regulations, consumer
acceptance issues and cost will undoubtedly slow the
deployment of driverless technology. But despite this, there is a
growing consensus that it will ultimately make a major difference
to the way in which we get from A to B.
Rarely can you perceive a technology thats so obviously going
to happen, said Newman. Computing has changed the world in
terms of healthcare, nance, entertainment and communication.
It is yet to change transport but it will.
For more on this story visit www.theengineer.co.uk
If you take the driver
out of the loop, youre not
allowed to have any failure
in the system that you
cannot handle
Michael Fausten, Bosch
RobotCar: Oxford Universitys

autonomous Nissan Leaf could
offer an affordable alternative
Smart cars: Many believe computing will
change the world in terms of transport in
the not-too-distant future
T
he planned high-speed rail network linking London with the
north of England (HS2) is probably the most controversial
engineering project in the UK today. Proponents say it will
ease overcrowding on existing lines and encourage investment and
economic growth by effectively bringing Manchester, Leeds and
Birmingham closer to the capital with shorter journey times.
Those against it, who have often been the most vocal in the
debate, argue its an unnecessarily costly alternative (the latest
budget estimate is 42bn) to upgrading our existing rail network
that will damage the countryside and destroy peoples homes (and
property values) without delivering the
benets promised.
We put your engineering questions about
the scheme to HS2 Ltds head of engineering
and operations, Tim Smart, as well as
independent experts Philippa Oldham,
head of transport at the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), and Prof
Felix Schmid from Birmingham Universitys
Centre for Railway Research and Education.
n Why cant we upgrade the existing West Coast Main Line
(WCML) and/or the Chiltern Main Line to provide the necessary
capacity and make room for faster trains?
Tim Smart: The WCML has already been upgraded, rst by British
Rail during the 1960s and again by Network Rail between 2004 and
2008 at a cost of over 8bn. Further upgrades are simply not
economically viable and they do not offer the step-change in
capacity needed for continued economic growth. To take advantage
of improvements in more efcient passenger rolling stock which
can carry higher passenger numbers, yet are lighter, faster and
more efcient in energy terms, there are limitations imposed by the
existing WCML alignment.
The higher capacity of the proposed HS2 line in terms of
frequency, speed and type of train means signicantly more
passengers can be moved per hour providing greater capacity more
efciently. Furthermore HS2 extends the benets of better
connectivity and capacity to important northern cities not currently
served by the WCML and releases capacity on it for the benet of
other communities and businesses along the route.
The reasoning is similar for the Chiltern
Main Line and it too has also been upgraded
in recent years. However a further
complication with this line is that it serves a
signicant number of smaller communities
and along various sections of its route is
more akin to a commuter type railway than
an intercity one. Consequently the issue of
compromise on the stopping pattern for
those communities it currently serves
becomes more acute.
Philippa Oldham: HS2 aims to move the InterCity services to
separate lines, freeing up capacity on the WCML for local, freight and
commuter services. Having a mix of low-speed and high-speed trains
on the same line is not really an option as this restricts the capacity
of the line. Capacity is affected by a large amount of variables that
include infrastructure factors (eg signalling systems and track
structure), trafc parameters (eg train mix and timetables) and
operational factors (eg maintenance restrictions and station dwell
Q&A:High Speed 2
Your questions answered on the contentious plans to
update Britains rail network with a new high-speed line
Fast and Fast and
Adding two further
tracks to the West Coast
Main Line would be very
difcult, very expensive
and very disruptive
furious
times). Variable speeds on the same railway severely
restrict capacity. It will not be possible to remove the
existing trafc from the WCML to avoid this phenomenon.
Recent experience shows that the upgrading of a running
railway is fraught with signicant performance and
nancial risks that were not experienced with HS1.
Felix Schmid: Adding two further tracks to the WCML
would be very difcult, very expensive and very
disruptive. The WCML was built in the Victorian period,
with the technologies available at the time. Reconstruction
of the railway would take 10 years or more and would
have a huge impact on the environment and the
communities. Enhancing the Chiltern Main Line would be
more straightforward but trafc is increasing rapidly on
this former secondary route and any upgrade would also
be very disruptive.
n Why separate HS2 from HS1, rather than linking the
two by using tunnels to have the lines meet around St
Pancras or Stratford, especially as those areas are closer
to Londons main business centres than Euston?
TS: We recently held a consultation on several proposed
phase one route design renements including proposals
on how we could link HS1 and HS2. The consultation
closed on 11 July. The responses to the consultation will
inform the transport secretarys decisions on the design
for the phase one route. The government aims to reach a
nal decision on the design that will be incorporated into
the hybrid bill in the autumn to allow it to be deposited in
Parliament by the end of the year with the formal
Environmental Statement.
PO: The Institution believes that there would be
enormous potential for the rest of the UK in providing a link
around London, which would link the Midlands and North of
England, Wales and Scotland to the Channel Tunnel. Journey
times from these UK regions to mainland Europe would be
considerably shorter and more convenient, thus encouraging even
greater modal shift from short-haul air to high-speed rail with
attendant emissions savings. Indications are that recent designs
are moving in this direction.
n To what degree are the HS2 plans based on proven technology?
How close are we to developing the necessary new technology
and what work still needs to be done?
TS: The design and development of the scheme does not rely on
technologies that have yet to be invented. The technologies
already exist and there may be further development from which
HS2 will benet. Not all the technologies have been used together,
so one of our big challenges will be their integration to achieve
high levels of performance.
PO: There needs to be an aspect of innovation within this project to
make sure that we design a system that is sustainable and t for
future requirements. 400km/h has still not been done elsewhere,
but the HS product is moving in that direction, there are still some
challenges that remain (eg noise, aerodynamics, energy efciency).
Maximising capacity of the built infrastructure at high speeds is a
challenge for the train control system, and the performance and
reliability of the train braking system, including adhesion at the
wheel/rail interface.
Q&A:High Speed 2
->
Third rail: HS2 proponents say it is preferable to
upgrading the West Coast or Chiltern main lines
Q&A:High Speed 2
FS: The current plans for HS2 involve tried and tested technology for
the infrastructure that is, tracks, bridges and tunnels. It is likely
that the trains will be built with more advanced technology than that
common today, eg permanent magnet machines, active suspensions
and pantographs. The railway control system (signalling) will be an
updated form of the European Rail Trafc Management System,
possibly involving ETCS Level 3, ie the moving block version of the
European Train Control System. However, most of the novel
systems are currently being tested extensively on other railway
networks and will be introduced only if they are appropriate.
n How much more energy and power do 250mph (400km/h)
high-speed trains need compared to conventional ones?
TS: Our preliminary calculations, which are
dependent on what assumptions are made
about service patterns, timetables and type
of trains, indicate an annual electricity
consumption gure of around 600 GWH
less than 0.2% of todays total UK
consumption in phase one. For phase two
we estimate that it will be 2TW less than
0.6% of todays total UK consumption. The
peak power demand values when operating
at conventional speed have not been
calculated.
FS: This depends to a limited extent on the quality of the
aerodynamic design but, in simple terms, the energy requirement
increases with the square of the speed while the power drawn by
the train goes up with the cube of the speed. On the assumption that
the cross-sectional area and the length of the trains is similar to that
of the comparator train, doubling the trains speed from 200km/h to
400km/h will increase energy use by 300% and the pantograph(s)
will have to collect 700% more power. Current collection is a major
limiting factor of high-speed railways due to the nature of the
electrical contact interface, the noise generated by the pantograph
and the difculty of maintaining good performance in high winds
and when ice forms on the overhead line.
n One reader argues that running trains at 186mph (300km/h) as
on HS1, rather than the proposed 250mph (400km/h), would be
easier, require less land and save energy. Do you agree and, if so,
what are the advantages of running trains at the higher speed?
TS: HS2 is primarily about providing capacity and also of course
connectivity. By running trains at higher speeds more passengers
can be moved per hour more sustainably than other modes of
transport. Reasonable allowances must be made for the future
capacity and this of course must include speed as a factor. If we did
not design for the higher speeds that are available with modern
technology and designed for routinely on
other high speed railways throughout the
world, this capacity would be denied our
future generations and we would be faced
with upgrades and associated disruption that
has occurred on the UKs railways in the past
as it struggles to keep up with demand.
Whilst the design of HS2 for operation at
300km/h (186mph) would require slightly less
land and use less energy, it wouldnt
necessarily be easier. The civil engineering
assets on HS2 will be designed for a 120 year life. To ensure that
future advances in rolling stock technology can be utilised fully, the
track alignment is designed, where possible, for speeds up to
400km/h (250mph). However, the maximum speed of trains running
on HS2 in the early years of operation will be 360km/h (225mph),
with the majority of trains timetabled to run at 330km/h (206mph).
This provides an operational margin which allows trains to operate
at a higher speed should it be required to recover from minor delays
and keep to the timetable.
PO: The lower carbon credentials of moving people and freight by
railway is also an important factor as we move towards our legally
If we did not design for
higher speeds, capacity
would be denied our future
generations
Tim Smart, HS2 Ltd
High-speed hub: The HS2 plans include a new East

Midlands station between Nottingham and Derby
Q&A:High Speed 2
binding climate change act targets in 2020 and beyond. At the
Institution we believe the average speed for HS2 should be kept to
240kph (with a maximum of 320kph) until a truly decarbonised
electricity supply mix is available. It is important to get the optimal
speed to minimise the energy demands. Speed could then be
increased at a rate that reects the reduction in carbon emission of
the electricity supply, thus ensuring no overall increase in CO2
emissions. The land take is unaffected by higher speeds, although
the vertical and lateral alignment may change for reasons of
passenger comfort.
FS: Designing a railway for 300km/h rather than 400km/h reduces
the tunnel cross-sectional area, the curve-radii, the rating of the
electrical supply and, to a limited extent, the complexity of the
signalling system. The energy requirement is reduced by 45%,
while the power supply can be rated 58% lower. The land take
also reduces. However, HS2s plan is to build the railway for
400km/h, thus future proong it, but to operate it at about
330km/h.
n What impact do acoustic waves from 250mph trains have on the
rails, people and surrounding wildlife? One expert in particular
has raised the danger of Rayleigh waves in the track causing
problems and even derailments. What research has been done to
investigate and mitigate these issues?
TS: The cause of high levels of vibration from Rayleigh waves may
be compared to the bow wave from a ship. This phenomenon is
well understood and is managed by design and construction
techniques. Current high speed railways recognise the situations
where this could occur and incorporate measures such as soil
strengthening or bridging over soft ground to ensure Rayleigh
waves do not adversely affect train operations or damage the
infrastructure. These measures also ensure that there is no impact
on people and surrounding wildlife. There is currently research
being carried out by leading universities in the UK to develop more
effective and less conservative solutions.
PO: The main acoustic problem from high speeds is the pressure
wave impact on passengers (their ears) in tunnels. This can be
designed out through good tunnel ventilation and portal design, and
sealing the trains. Noise mitigation is a well-developed science and
generally, as HS1 has proven, high-speed rail noise is seen as less
intrusive by the neighbours than motorway noise.
n Why should we favour a project that will take so long to
complete that by the time it opens it may no longer suit our
transport needs?
TS: We simply must nd sustainable solutions that allow the nations
infrastructure to support this growth in business, industry,
population and travel. High speed rail provides an effective solution
to overcoming this, but must be in harmony with other methods of
transport, above all in maximising connectivity. Predicting the UKs
future needs is based on the best possible assimilation of information
on how to meet this challenge, looking across the broad spectrum of
issues including energy use, transport methods, available
technology, competing demands and experience elsewhere.
FS: This is an argument that can be put forward against ANY
infrastructure project. It is entirely fallacious in the HS2 context
because the railway will change the economic geography of Britain
and create its own demand, in the same way the motorways
changed Britain in the 1960s and 1970s.
n How many engineering jobs will HS2 create in the UK, and what
are these gures based on?
TS: I cant provide a specic engineering jobs gure at this stage of
the project but according to an Albion Economics report produced for
Greengauge 21 (June 2013) HS2 job numbers (direct and supply
chain) are predicted to be more than 22,000 in the next ve years. In
addition, they predict around 50,000 concurrent jobs will be
generated by HS2 towards the second half of the next decade. The
opportunities for British engineers and associated professions from
HS2 are tremendously exciting.
Northern stop: A new high-speed terminal will be built
next to the existing Manchester Piccadilly station
feature: automotive
T
he best way to avoid being distracted while driving is simply
to keep your eyes on the road. But human nature dictates
that drivers want to do other things. So many people have
become accustomed to the conveniences of smartphones from
being able to consult constantly-updated information to simply
keeping in touch with people via social networking, while having
your full library of music at your ngertips that they are
unwilling to give this up, even while in control of several tonnes of
high-speed metal. The covergence of satnav with smartphones is
another contributing factor.
So, as people are going to use infotainment while driving
anyway, whats the best way to allow them to do that safely?
In-car audio specialist Harman, which provides systems for
marques such as BMW, Audi, Jeep and Ferrari, is trying to come
up with solutions to the problem.
Different car makers have different preferred options. For
example, Volkswagen likes having touch-screens. But these have
to be placed high in the dashboard so that the drivers eye can
ick easily and quickly from the screen to the road. The layout of
the cabin means that the screen is therefore a considerable
distance from the driver further than he or she can reach by
A new gesture control
system could change the
way we use in-car
infotainment.
Stuart Nathan reports
Research
in motion
On the road: Harmans system would display sat-nav directions
onto the windscreen so the driver doesnt need to change focus
feature:automotive
just taking a hand off the wheel. So as well as taking your eyes
momentarily from the road, you have to lean forward a bit.
Audi, meanwhile, prefers a system with a screen that doesnt
repond to touch, and a separate controller placed near to the shift
lever or gearstick, which can be operated simply by the driver
dropping his or her hand downwards without otherwise changing
position. This can be a twist controller a knob that moves a
cursor down a list of options on a viewscreen or a touch-sensitive
pad. For example, the destination for a satnav can be selected by
drawing the initial letter of the placename onto the surface of the
pad P for Paris, say then using the twist knob to move through
options. Although this generally entails looking away from the road
for longer, the ability to remain in the driving position is seen as
safer than having to move while looking at the screen.
One answer is to borrow a bit of technology that was
introduced by the defence sector some decades ago: the head-up
display (HUD). If it helps ghter pilots keeps their attention where
it belongs, surely it can do the same for car drivers? The principle
is straighforward: show the vital information in the same area
that the driver is looking, on the windscreen itself. But in practice
its not that simple: the information still has to be shown in such a
way that it doesnt obscure safety-critical parts of the windscreen,
and there still needs to be a way for the driver to interact with the
information select items of importance, activate functions and
so on in such a way that it doesnt break their concentration.
Harmans answer to this is to combine a head-up display with
gesture control. Currently only embodied as a demonstration
unit and not yet incorporated into a car, the system projects a
display onto an angled glass sheet placed on top of the
dashboard it functions something like an autocue, although in
a car it would project onto the windscreen.
The information on the display is integrated with displays on
the dashboard and on the instrument console, but what is
displayed on the HUD varies. When driving, for example, it will
only display information vital to the task (that is, not phone calls).
A camera in the front of the car works as a machine vision device,
measuring the distance to the vehicle in front. Information such as
direction arrows for satnav, the current speed limit of the road and
the cars speed are displayed on the road between the front of
the car and the vehicle in front.
The infotainment system incorporates a wi- hotspot so that it
can stream trafc news and weather reports. This information is
displayed on the dashboard display, but can be moved up to the
HUD using gesture control. This uses a system similar to the
Microsoft Kinect gaming console: sensors in the dashboard
monitor the drivers movements, recognising specic programmed
gestures. For example, to turn the music in the car down, the
driver places his or her hand above a control knob by the gear
selector and moves it up or down sharply. To turn it off, you make
a gesture like patting an invisible dog, twice.
When the car is stationary, functions such as the phone are
enabled. If someone rings, an icon for the caller is displayed at the
lower left-hand side of the HUD. To answer the call, you point to
the icon. To dismiss it, you sweep it away. Similarly, information
such as weather conditions can be swept up from the dashboard
onto the HUD. The advantage of this, according to Harman, is that
the drivers eyes never have to refocus; all the vital information is
displayed at a convenient distance, making use of peripheral
vision but not requiring any change in attention.
The system also works as an alarm. For example, when the
front camera system detects that the car is too close to the vehicle
in front for the
speed at which its
travelling, it
displays a warning
signal on the HUD
(the direction arrow
for the satnav turns
red) and it can also
sound an audible
alarm. Similar
warnings can also
be set if the car drifts out of its lane. Further sensors on the side of
the car detect vehicles in the drivers blind spot and provide
another HUD alert.
Just to add a level of in-car comfort, the system also has a
driver-facing camera equipped with face-recognition system,
which can be programmed for regular drivers. This automatically
sets up the car for a particular drivers preferred settings, such as
their seat position, steering wheel rake, ideal temperature and
favoured radio stations.
Harman is currently demonstrating the system at specialist
exhibitions and to its regular customers, and is optimistic that it
could be on the market within ve years. Its a totally logical step
for us, said vice-president for infotainment and lifestyle Michael
Mauser. The automotive sector is moving towards greater in-car
connectivity and Harman is ideally positioned to make this
technology part of the smart, responsive control systems.
The system is, in fact, surprisingly intuitive, in much the same
way that a touch-screen tablet turns out to be easy to use.
Although its impossible to replicate the demands of driving in a
static display, the visual feedback of moving display items from
HUD to dashboard and back while making simple gestures is easy
to understand and quickly becomes second nature, without the
need to take your hands off the wheel for longer than it would
take to change gear or switch on the headlights, for example.
What springs to mind is the gesture-controlled display device in
the lm Minority Report, where unneeded items can be swept out
of the way. Although Minority Report also had ying cars, and
while Harmans system is futuristic, its not that futuristic.
Driven to distraction: current in-car displays require the driver to
look away from the road and reach for the centre of the dasboard
If the head-up display
helps ghter pilots keep
their attention where it
belongs, surely it can do
the same for car drivers?
For more on this story visit www.theengineer.co.uk

Staying in touch: Trafc news, weather and phone calls can be
viewed on the dashboard display or moved onto the windscreen
interview: terry hill
T
he key factor behind
Londons successful bid
to host the 2012 Olympic
Games according to Arups
Terry Hill wasnt the legacy
plans, the environmental
credentials or David Beckham.
It was the Channel Tunnel.
Or rather it was the rail link
between London and the
tunnel, also known as High
Speed 1 (HS1), which not only
connected the UK to the rest of
Europe but also stopped at the
Stratford area of east London
that would become home to
the Olympics.
Stratford before HS1 was
a difcult place to get to
unknown, forgotten, Hill
said. HS1 meant you could
get from the centre of London
to the Olympic site in seven
minutes. I remember taking
the International Olympic
Committee through the tunnels
between Kings Cross and the
Stratford site and they were
blown away with the ease
[with which] you could get to
the Olympic Park. No Olympics
had ever achieved that before.
And that, to my mind, was
what brought the Olympics to
London and contributed to its
great success.
Hill, who was technical
director of HS1 and chairman
of Arup when it worked on
Heathrow Terminal 5 and the
Beijing Olympic stadium and
recently received the Royal
Academy of Engineerings
Presidents Medal for
promoting excellence in the
eld, is a great evangelist for
the transformative power of
infrastructure. Connect two
places, he believes, and
business, investment and
regeneration can follow. This
is the thing I have worked all
my professional life for, and
that is infrastructure as
regenerating the economy and
region, he said. Infrastructure
is a fantastic stimulus to
creating fantastic new areas.
The 16km resund Bridge
that links Sweden and Denmark
is his prime example: since the
opening of the Arup-designed
crossing in 2000, the previously
declining Swedish city of
Malm has become a gentried,
skyscrapered centre of
knowledge industries. And
back in London, the areas
around St Pancras and Stratford
stations have also seen major
regeneration, which Hill
attributes to the arrival of HS1.
Its hard to argue that
infrastructure hasnt made a
difference in these cases, but
its often one of many factors in
regeneration. Malmos revival
was sparked not just by the
bridge but also by a new
university and a major housing
exposition. East Londons
A lifetime leading major infrastructure projects
has made Terry Hill a preacher for their powers
of regeneration. But now, he tells Stephen Harris,
the sector needs a revolution
Well connected
Education
1970 Diploma in Civil and
Structural Engineering,
Wigan and District Mining
and Technical College
1984 MSc in Economics,
Birkbeck, University of
London
2010 Honorary Doctorate,
Lancaster University
2010 Honorary Doctorate,
City University
Career
1976 Joined Arup
1991 Dublin Port Tunnel
1996 Technical director,
Union Railways
1996 Project manager,
Channel Tunnel Rail Link
1999 Project director,
Department for Transport
Crossrail investigations
2003 Project manager, New
Tyne Crossing
2004 Chairman, Arup Group
2006 Chairman, UKTI
Construction Sector
Advisory Group
2009 Chairman, Arup
Group Trusts
2009 Chairman, Global
Transport Market
terryhill
Chair of board of
trustees, Arup
Stratford
before HS1 was
a difcult place to
get to unknown,
forgotten
interview
transformation arguably began
in the 1990s with a creative
scene fuelled by cheap rents
and eventually followed by a
planned regeneration scheme
that included the Olympics.
Surely this was more important
than the building of a high-
speed line to Paris?
His response is that
infrastructure is what enables
regeneration to happen. Great
cities you think of them
because of their icons, their
culture, their society. But
actually its totally underpinned
by efcient infrastructure,
which we take for granted but
actually makes the difference
between a busy and crowded
place and a world city.
For all his enthusiasm
for what infrastructure can
achieve, however, Hill thinks
theres a problem. The world is
changing dramatically as more
and more people move to the
cities, but the way we deliver
infrastructure has yet to move
with it. And if it doesnt, then
we face a crisis, he argued. In
the provision of infrastructure
for cities, weve not had the
transformation that weve had
in other economic areas. If you
look at the digital revolution,
the quality of product from
the automotive industry, the
efciency that comes with the
research that goes into aviation
technology, I dont think weve
had that in construction and
infrastructure.
This poses a huge challenge.
The amount of people living in
cities is going to double over the
next 40 years. Everything thats
been built and provided and run
and operated and maintained
in cities but has developed
over the last 5,000 years has
got to be done again in the
next 40. If we dont do that
smarter then there is a looming
crisis as to what the cities are.
The cities we know and love
and cherish now are going to
be overwhelmed by this tide
of humanity rushing in.
A big part of the problem
has to do with cost. Arguably,
we do have more capable and
efcient infrastructure that
has beneted from digital
monitoring and control
systems. But as a 2010
report led by Hill highlighted,
infrastructure isnt getting any
cheaper. Everything else that
you know, whether its food,
mobile phones, cars, clothing
or whatever, the trend is for
things to get better, quicker,
cheaper. And yet there doesnt
seem to be any trend that way
[in infrastructure], he said.
Its a particular problem in
the UK: Hills report for the
Treasury found infrastructure
costs in Britain were
signicantly higher than in
Europe, placing the blame on
a range of factors including
unnecessary standards, blurred
decision making in government
and a lack of long-term
certainty. Hill also pointed
to the governments lack of
understanding of the risk of
big projects and the tendency
to throw money at a situation
rather than attempt to reduce
costs, which means that we
dont necessarily get the best
value for money.
People are naturally
conservative and think
goodness me, this is going to
go over budget I better have
a big budget, and the trouble
is when you have a big budget
you tend to spend it. So theres
almost a behavioural nature
that ends up in a spiral of
increasing costs rather than
decreasing costs. Its partly
driven by a perception that was
formed in previous decades by
over-running projects such as
the Jubilee line underground
extension and the Channel
Tunnel itself, he added.
But one could argue that
weve now learnt from our
mistakes and our fear of
overspending has made us
better at meeting, or at least
setting, targets. The Olympics
budget was tripled from its
original estimate but then met
without further overspend.
HS1 was not just done on time
and on budget; it opened on
the day we had predicted six or
seven years before, said Hill.
Weve done the rst order
improvement. We now can
predict the outcomes and we
can deliver against those. I
think the second order is just
making it far more efcient and
that means taking some risks
and seeing if we can do things
quicker or at a lot lower cost
than at the moment.
Its not surprising to
discover Hill is in favour of
the new high-speed rail link
between London and northern
England. He argues that people
always object to big projects
because they disturb the
comfort of a familiar if
unsatisfying status quo, yet
once they are nished the
public tend to accept the
change. But just because
people might accept a project
in the long run doesnt mean
its necessarily the best option.
Thats where I disagree
with you, he said. I dont think
you have to get infrastructure
exactly right, because what
happens is the world forms
around it. Was that bridge
between Denmark and Sweden
put in exactly the right place?
People, jobs, investment start
moving and forming round the
new thing. Yes, weve got to
put the emphasis on getting it
as least intrusive as possible.
But that should not deter us
from getting on and providing
it. Because every year its not
provided there are people who
are not beneting from it and,
when its done, they will.
Once again, he believes
innovation is the key to
overcoming public opposition
to major projects. People would
be less sensitive if we could
deliver infrastructure more
efciently. Imagine if we could
do the equivalent of keyhole
surgery with infrastructure. We
are not doing a bad job with
Crossrail: most of it is hidden
from view while were getting
on with it. Imagine if we
could do that with railways,
with power stations, with
waterworks and so on. The
equivalent of keyhole surgery
for infrastructure would mean
that politicians and nanciers
would take decisions a lot
more readily.
on this story
When you have a big budget
you tend to spend it. So theres a
behavioural nature that ends up
in a spiral of increasing costs
feature: electronics
W
earable and exible gadgets are poised to become
the next major trend in electronics, according to many
observers. Manufacturers such as Samsung have already
demonstrated prototype smartphones with exible screens for the
next generation of smartphones. Wearable consumer products have
debuted in the form of the Jawbone Up wristband activity monitor
and the Google Glass head-mounted computer. There is intense
speculation that Apples next product launch will be a smart
wristwatch, the iWatch. Taking things a stage further, fashion
house CuteCircuit has demonstrated a dress with a mobile phone
integrated into it, embedded into clothing using conducting thread.
The snag with all these applications is that they need battery
power. Batteries tend to be the opposite of exible: solid and
made in awkward shapes not readily suited to exible devices.
Theres no physical reason
that batteries cant be exible;
its just a practical problem,
said Will Stewart, chair of the
IET communications quality
panel and a visiting professor
at Southampton Universitys
optoelectronics research
centre. Batteries just need
a container for the electrolyte
but this is usually rigid. The
container could be made exible, provided it retained its
integrity, said Stewart. As an engineering challenge, he added, it
should be readily soluble.
Reports suggest Apples iWatch may feature a exible
display that wraps around the users wrist, so speculation
ramped up last month with the publication of a patent
application from Apple for a exible battery. In a
wide-ranging list of potential applications,
alongside calculators, tablet computers
and music players, the patent
application specically mentions
wristwatches.
Apples patent application says:
Electronic devices are ubiquitous in
society Many of these electronic
devices require some type of portable
power source [but] also have unique
form factors. Because of this, the
portable power source of any one
electronic device may not t within any other electronic device.
Furthermore, these unique form factors often require exible
battery arrangements, whereas conventional battery packs are
often too rigid to exibly conform to these form factors.
The application sets out to solve this, but not by changing the
design of the cell itself. Instead it describes how a number of cells,
which could be galvanic or photovoltaic, are encapsulated within
a bottom and top laminate layer. Between any two cells the
laminate layers are glued together to isolate the cells from each
other and to seal them against moisture and other contaminants.
At each of these seal points the laminate can ex, allowing the
battery as a whole to be bent into a curved shape as required.
Meanwhile, a team led by John Rogers at Illinois University has
developed a battery which can be stretched by a factor

Flexible batteries are being developed to fuel the next
generation of gadgets. David Fowler reports
Portable
power
On the cards: US company
Flexion is marketing batteries
for the next generation of
intelligent credit cards
The iWatch
may feature a
exible display
that wraps around
the users wrist
feature:electronics
of three in any direction. A company, MC10, is commercialising
the idea, aiming at applications in consumer electronics, remote
monitoring for the health industry and implantable medical
devices.
These applications use a 2D array of ultra-miniature batteries
that are separately fabricated and packaged and then connected
by serpentine connections wires in the form of a repeating
zig-zag or S shape, with the connection as a whole looped into
a larger S shape. The cells and connections are embedded
in a stretchable polymer, and as the polymer is stretched the
connecting wires straighten.
A potentially signicant breakthrough, as far as exibility is
concerned, was developed by
a team at Leeds University, led by Prof Ian Ward, who has now
licensed the technology to US company Polystor
Energy Corporation, which is working on
commercialisation. This was a polymer gel
electrolyte that could replace the liquid
electrolytes currently
used in lithium cells used in a wide range of
portable consumer devices such as laptops,
digital cameras, phones and music players.
Traditional lithium-ion batteries are based
on cells lled with a liquid chemical forming
the electrolyte. Anode and cathode, with a
polymer separator between them, are formed
of thin sheets rolled into a spiral within the
container holding the electrolyte. If the
separator is damaged allowing the positive
and negative electrodes to form a short circuit,
the battery heats up rapidly and can catch re.
The polymer gel overcomes this problem,
creating an electrolyte that is solid but exible
and eliminates the need for a rigid container.
The Leeds team developed an automated
extrusion/lamination manufacturing process
that sandwiches the gel between an anode
and a cathode at a rate of 10m/min to create a
highly conductive strip that is just nanometres
thick. The resultant lm can be cut to any shape.
Prof Stewart said that, to some extent, product designers
have been able to work around the shape limitations of current
batteries because of advances in the efciency of electronics, so
that batteries can at least be small. For example, smartphones
have an enormous amount more performance than old mobiles
without signicantly reduced battery life, because processors
are cleverer. For a handheld computer or smart watch, he said,
a exible display is likely to be more signicant.
Where he believes new developments in small, exible
batteries are likely to be very important, however, is in the
internet of things the use of tiny sensors and communication
devices to identify objects and connect them to a network, from
electronic transport tickets to medical implants.
The Flexion range of batteries developed by Solicore, based
in Florida, is designed for this type of application. The batteries
are based on the companys patented solid polymer electrolyte
technology, which allows manufacture of lithium polymer cells
just 0.45mm thick. The company is marketing the batteries for
applications such as the next generation of intelligent credit
cards and security cards, which will contain memory chips or
microprocessors and require embedded battery power. The
batteries can survive the hot lamination process used to make
cards and are also suitable for radio-frequency identication
tags and sensors, security and information devices and thin-lm
medical drug-delivery products that can be attached to the skin.
Solicore vice-president of worldwide sales David Eagleson said:
The key to our battery is the separator layer that in effect acts as
a sponge-like material, which allows the battery to be bent and
continue operating in an effective manner. However, he added:
We have an extremely good bend radius and [producing] a
wristband would not be an issue.
Blue Spark in Ohio also produces ultra-thin batteries, in this case
conventional zinc-carbon batteries, but in printed form. Printed
electronics uses standard graphics processes to print electronic
circuits and components on media such as paper, plastic and
textiles. The concept has been around for some time, but recent
advances in conductive ink chemistry and exible substrates
promise to make possible a range of new markets and applications.
Blue Spark prints the active components on a PET substrate
and adds electrolyte and separator layers; a top PET layer then
seals the battery. One application is Sealed Air Corporations
Turbo Tag radio-frequency identication time and temperature
monitoring system, which features autonomous data logging. The
tag is used for temperature-sensitive foods and pharmaceutical
products and can track and record cold chain temperatures from
the processing plant, in transit, and up to the point of delivery.
Printed batteries could help extend the internet of things to
include almost any small but important everyday object. Stewart
said: Its possible to
imagine that, in future,
any valuable item will
have a sensor built in
so that you can always
nd it.
Stretching out: a 2D array of
tiny batteries are separately
fabricated and then connected
by serpentine connections
Smartphones
have an enormous
amount more
performance
than old mobile
phones without
signicantly
reduced battery
life, because
processors
are cleverer
Prof Will Stewart, IET

Slimming down:
Blue Spark makes
thin zinc-carbon
batteries in
printed form
For more on this
story visit www.
theengineer.co.uk
feature:medical sensors
I
t seems our mothers were right - in our own way, we are all
special. Unfortunately when it comes to medical science and
devising treatments for everything from diabetes to cancer, this
degree of variation between individuals with their differing natural
hormone levels, metabolisation rates for drugs, and responses to
stress proves problematic.
Doctors have long known that creating a tailored approach to
treatment should greatly improve patient outcomes. However, when
it comes to diagnosing disease, medics are still dependant on single
point-in-time measurements of factors such as blood glucose and
hormone levels, which do not show how these factors dip or rise into
danger zones over the course of a day. In the same way, monitoring
heart rates over time within a hospital does not always show up the
physical responses caused by the stresses of everyday life.
Work is therefore taking place on the development of sensors for
continuous monitoring, giving medics an ongoing insight into a
patient in order to track the spread of disease, monitor their exposure
to environmental factors,
assess their mental health,
and so provide a complete
picture of their state of
being. This data can then
also be compared to the
biomarkers within a persons
DNA that suggest how - or
whether - their body will
respond to particular
compounds and metabolise certain drugs.
Eventually, once treatments can be made more personal and so
more effective, it is hoped there will be both reduced mortality rates
and signicant savings for healthcare providers such as the NHS.
The Wellcome Trust and EPSRC have long been partnering to
support both centres of excellence for medical engineering and
schemes such as the Innovative Engineering for Health fund. The
main advance (from these) is technology to remotely detect vital
signs in patients via a webcam, said Dr Meher Antia, business
analyst in the technology transfer division of the Wellcome Trust.
Oxford Universitys Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) has
recently spun out a company called Oxehealth to commercialise this.
Oxehealths system monitors respiratory rate, pulse rate and
oxygen saturation by measuring the light reected from an
individuals face using a webcam. Although the basics of this have
been used clinically since the 1980s to monitor hospital patients
using a nger probe sensor with in-built LEDs and a photodiode,
Continuous monitoring of medical conditions could help
develop individualised treatments. Julia Pierce reports
Tailored
treatments
Medics depend on
single point-in-time
measurements which
do not show dips or
rises over the day
Picture of health:
Skin tone measured
with a webcam can
reveal pulse and
breathing rates
feature:medical sensors
interference caused by ambient, articial light has hampered the
application of the technology. The Oxford invention includes novel
algorithms that remove the effects of ambient light interference,
allowing the technology to be used in everyday settings such as a
patients home. Other algorithms are used to process the image
recorded with the webcam and extract heart rate, respiratory rate
and oxygen saturation from it.
Work is also progressing to monitor chemical markers.
Continuous monitoring, particularly as part of the management of
diabetes, is an important trend, said Professor Tony Cass of the
Department of Chemistry and Institute of
Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College
London. When monitoring a condition such as
this, doctors must currently rely on data from a
small number of measurements taken several
times per day. However, many of the factors to be
measured change on a much smaller timescale so
must be measured continuously in order to get
an accurate picture of what is going on.
Aside from glucose monitoring, continuous
monitoring also has an important role to play in
fertility. The two hormones FSH (follicle-
stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing
hormone) produced by the pituitary gland
oscillate in order to make a woman fertile.
However, it has recently been discovered that
FSH may have a 95 minute cycle, and if this is not
occurring, it is likely that the person involved will
be infertile. Other hormones such as cortisol and
melatonin also have a daily rhythm if properly
present. Monitoring is usually carried out in a
research context, and natural levels differ
between individuals. Finding out what might be
unusual for a person, rather than unusual compared to a clinical
average, is very useful when deciding if they need treatment.
So attractive has the issue become that it is even the subject of an
XPRIZE. Consisting of two separate and consecutive competitions
over two years, the Nokia Sensing X Challenge launched in April this
year with a goal of aiding development of a wide array of new
sensors for the mobile health industry. Cheshire-based ABI-med are
involved in the rst competition. They have created advanced
miniature ECG devices and software, tailored to continuously
monitor a patients heart rate and perform tasks such as alerting
doctors of any abnormalities using any Android phone, laptop or
tablet PC via WiFi or USB. The ABI-med model is superior to the
existing ECG devices in the sense that it has excellent recording and
signal quality, which is not easily affected by the movements of the
patient, said Dr Constantinos Anagnostopoulos, head of research
and development. However, our aim now is to further deliver to the
market more and more innovative and miniature products, which will
be able to operate without interruption whilst delivering a diagnostic
grade ECG and thus drastically improving the quality of monitoring.
However, there are still a number of challenges to face before
some types of sensor are widely used. There hasnt been a great
deal of success in implanting sensors for home
use, said Imperials Cass. We have to reconcile
the benets with the problems that people
experience, in that the sensors dont work well
for very long. The body is a hostile environment
and implanting an active device is much more
problematic than implanting something like an
articial knee. The act of molecular exchange
that takes place during monitoring means the
sensors are more likely to be rejected, and this is
a big challenge for the whole eld. However, he
believes this can be overcome. Our approach has
been to develop a minimally invasive device a
few microns below the skin so it doesnt even
reach the capillaries - most of the bodys defence
systems are in the blood, he explained. This
interstitial region also has the benet of not
containing any pain centres, so there is minimal
trauma and risk of infection. The patient can
insert the sensors, then remove them 24 hours
later - its like wearing contact lenses. Once they
are mass produced, the cost will reduce and we
hope they will become the equivalent of the
diabetic nger-stick, in terms of price. Putting a different chemistry
on the sensor will allow other substances to be monitored, too. We
could also look at how therapeutic drugs are metabolised, and tailor
doses to suit the individual. Combining this information with a
persons genetic prole will give a much fuller picture than just
looking at the genome itself, especially when it comes to clinical
trials. The Imperial group have scheduled patient trials to begin by
the end of 2013. Although development of such sensors and sensing
systems faces challenges, new interest and funding opportunities
are producing results. It appears this might be the beginning of the
end for the one-size-ts-all approach to treatment after all.
Continuous
monitoring,
particularly for
diabetes
management, is an
important trend
Prof Tony Cass,
Imperial College
Monitoring: Conventional ECG

systems can only be run in a
clinical setting and are not
suitable for continuous use
Painless: Imperials implantable
sensor doesnt reach pain centres
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Monitoring: Conventional ECG

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