Shows / Engineering Matters
Engineering Matters
Five times winner of the Publisher Podcast Awards, including Best Technology Podcast, Engineering Matters celebrates the work of engineers who use ingenuity, practicality, science, theory and determination to build a better world. In the UK alone 5.7million people work in engineering related enterprises from manufacturing and agriculture to construction and transportation. Their work ensures that the country has sustainable power supplies, better connectivity between cities, increasing…
Episodes
- Engineering Matters
#226 Gaming: A New Engine for Engagement
What can an engineer or town planner learn from a computer game Viking? In this episode, we look at how one design team is using real time simulations, or…
- Engineering Matters
#225 Saudi Arabia: Preserving the past, building the future
Saudi Arabia has set out on a journey. This historic land is today home to a young country: a quarter of the population are under 15; more than 40% are younger…
- Engineering Matters
#224 Power lines, helicopters, and data analysis
Power companies like National Grid Electricity Distribution, have used helicopters to monitor power lines for decades. Once, an inspector would check each…
- Engineering Matters
#223 Data and collaboration, operations and maintenance
The operations and maintenance (O&M) sector has changed significantly since the inception of the 3P, or public private partnership, model in the 1990s. Once…
- Engineering Matters
#222 Revisited: The future of 3D printing
In episode #221, Engineering Matters looked at a new way of manufacturing feedstocks for plastics. This approach will eliminate the use for oil products…
- Engineering Matters
#221 Turning plants into plastics
The world consumes 4.25 billion tonnes of oil every year. Over half of the oil drilled out of the ground goes towards transport, but the entire sector is…
- Engineering Matters
#220 The End of the Diesel Generator?
Buildings and the construction industry account for 39% of global carbon emissions: 28% from materials and operational emissions, and 11% from construction…
Engineering Matters#219 Syria: Rising from the rubble
Can engineers help to build peace? Can the solutions engineers develop in places of conflict, contribute to the development of low carbon? They can. And…
Engineering MattersEpisode Twelve, How to build a Railway: Leaving a legacy
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. From jobs and skills…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Eleven, How to build a Railway: Safe at Heart
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. With any project…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Ten, How to build a Railway: Keeping things clean – our journey to net zero
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. Climate change…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Nine, How to build a Railway: From Track to The Cloud – the Layers of Railway
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. In this episode, we…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Eight, How to build a Railway: Our next stop is…
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode of the…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Seven, How to build a Railway: Building Bridges
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode of the…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Six, How to build a Railway: Going underground
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. The latest instalment…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Five, How to build a Railway: Opportunity for Innovation
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. We are always looking…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Four, How to build a Railway: Creating the Green Corridor
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. As the largest single…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Three, How to build a Railway: Preparing the ground
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. Over 250 miles of new…
- Engineering Matters
Episode Two, How to build a Railway: Unearthing History
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode…
- Engineering Matters
Episode One, How to build a Railway: The What and the Why of HS2
How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast series exploring the story behind the construction of the UK’s new high speed rail line. This episode focusses…
- Engineering Matters
#218 Origin stories
Engineering Matters is celebrating its fifth anniversary this week. Podcast founders Bernadette Ballantyne and Jon Young, along with the rest of the…
- Engineering Matters
#217 Managing the Energy Transition
More and more of the economy is being powered by the grid and that trend will continue over the next few decades. At the same time countries are looking to…
- Engineering Matters
#216 Accelerating Offshore Wind Construction
The next decade will see an unprecedented level of offshore energy construction. In order to achieve the 2035 emissions targets adopted by many governments…
- Engineering Matters
#215 Waste Goes Digital
Waste is an integral part of the circular economy. It is, in many cases, simply a resource that is in the wrong place. But it can also be a nuisance, an…
- Engineering Matters
#214 Delivering a Megaproject
When a major public infrastructure project is announced often a brand new organisation is set up that is tasked with delivering the project. These…
- Engineering Matters
#213 Revisited: Positioning Satellites in New Space
Just over a week ago, SpaceX successfully launched one of the largest rockets ever, a key step in humanity’s journey beyond the earth. While the rocket…
- Engineering Matters
#212 Turning beer green
The brewing industry has become a testing ground for the energy transition. Many drinkers want to drink responsibly: not just to protect their own health, but…
- Engineering Matters
#211 Rewilding the UK
Britains biodiversity has been declining sharply over the last 50 years. We are now one of the most nature depleted nations in the world. Despite legislation…
- Engineering Matters
#210 Revisited: Return of the Fatbergs
Last week the UK government announced plan to ban the sale of wet wipes to deal with the problem of fatbergs in sewers. This week we’re rerunning an episode…
- Engineering Matters
#209 Asset Management, Resilience, and Climate Change
In a world of complex supply chains, how can owners secure their assets against risks like climate change and disease lockdowns? By using the concept of…
- Engineering Matters
#208 Counting Carbon Costs in the Built Environment
The first edition of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Whole Life Carbon Assessment for the Built Environment, published in 2017, is a…
- Engineering Matters
#207 Revolution in the North Sea
For 50 years the North Sea has been critical to European energy. Technology and skills developed over decades enabled the extraction of oil and gas in some of…
- Engineering Matters
#206 The Giant Props of Gothenburg
The Swedish city of Gothenburg is celebrating its 400 year anniversary in 2023 and as part of the celebrations the city is undergoing a construction boom. For…
- Engineering Matters
#205 The Green, Green, Shores of Home
In recent decades, companies have moved manufacturing to countries offering low cost labour. Today, as they aim for Net Zero, they must also consider their…
- Engineering Matters
Introducing: How to Build a Railway
The Engineering Matters and Reby Media team has been working on a new podcast series in partnership with HS2. How to Build a Railway is a twelve-part podcast…
- Engineering Matters
#204 Creating Green Airports of the Future
Globally, the aviation industry accounts for 2.5% of all carbon emissions. The emission of other gases and particulates at altitude may make its warming impact…
- Engineering Matters
#203 Revisited: Crisis Shelter for Mass Displacement
In light of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, this we are revisting the story of Nooraullah Kuchai. Noorullah is a civil engineer, a humanitarian and…
- Engineering Matters
#202 After the Collapse
What do we do after a structure fails? Often, we go to court. Courts cannot make bereaved families, or those injured, whole. They cannot repair damaged…
- Engineering Matters
#201 Creating the UK’s First eMixer
In 2019 Tarmac announced their Innovation Challenge, for companies to propose new technologies to help Tarmac decarbonise. Over the next three years in…
- Engineering Matters
#200 Nuclear Robots on the Cutting Edge
Robots are increasingly able to take on any repeatable task in industry, and are used in many dull, dirty or dangerous tasks. But their deployment for highly…
- Engineering Matters
#199 Pioneering Carbon Capture for Thermal Power
How can we maintain reliable power through the energy transition, while still making significant cuts to energy emissions? Carbon capture and storage promises…
- Engineering Matters
#198 Collaboration: The Net Zero Trilogy
Getting to net zero emissions requires a paradigm shift in the way that we think and in the way that we do business says Dr Kim Yates from Mott MacDonald. In…
- Engineering Matters
#197 On the Cutting Edge of Aviation
In 1992 rolls Royce helped to fund a new technology centre at the University of Birmingham which began a long relationship between the manufacturer and the…
- Engineering Matters
#196 Back to the Future of Fusion
The US National Ignition Facility recently announced that it had achieved a milestone in the development of fusion technology, producing more energy from a…
- Engineering Matters
#195 The Journey of the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree
Every December in London a magnificent Christmas tree is unveiled in Trafalgar Square. It is an annual gift from the people of Norway to the people of Britain…
Engineering Matters#194 Nuclear Power Connections
The UK government recently confirmed its support for Sizewell C. Getting to this point, and planning how thousands of construction crew and millions of tonnes…
- Engineering Matters
#193 Carbon Crunch (Part 2): Resilience in a Changing World
This year saw infrastructure resilience included in the Carbon Crunch programme for the first time. It is recognition that our infrastructure is being exposed…
- Engineering Matters
#193 Carbon Crunch (Part 1): The Decarbonisation Debate
It has been nearly 10 years since the world first recorded atmospheric carbon above 400 parts per million. That year, 2013, also marked the first edition of…
- Engineering Matters
#192 Drilling Deep for Geothermal
The deepest hole ever drilled drives 12.2km down below the border of Russia and Finland. The Kola Superdeep Borehole was an experiment to penetrate as deeply…
- Engineering Matters
#191 A Deep Dive Into the Past
In 1985 diver Henri Cosquer discovered a submerged cave entrance in the Mediterranean near Marseilles. Exploring over the next six years he discovered a…
- Engineering Matters
#190 Regional Re-balancing
For 200 years, towns and cities across the British regions developed specialised roles in the economy of empire. Mining towns and ports, potteries and…
- Engineering Matters
#189 Life Cycle Analysis of Construction Materials
How do we assess the environmental impact of construction materials? Some materials may enjoy a reputation as natural and sustainable. Timber, quite literally…
- Engineering Matters
#188 Data Analysis for Climate Resilience
UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that over the past 20 years, 1.2 million people have been killed by more than 7,000 disasters. It estimates the…
- Engineering Matters
#187 Electrifying the Los Angeles Bus Fleet
In Los Angeles only 3% of the population say they take public transit regularly, compared to 84% of residents who commute to work in their car every day. This…
- Engineering Matters
#186 Vampire: Resurrecting Britain’s Fastest Car
On 20 September 2006 Richard Hammond raced down the Elvington airfield in Vampire, the jet-powered dragster that still holds the British land speed record…
- Engineering Matters
#185 Building Canada Line’s Digital Twin
The Canada Line is North America’s most efficient commuter rail. Since it opened in 2009, they have operated with a system availability of 99.9% and a…
- Engineering Matters
#184 The Future of Old Cities
Net Zero is our 2050 ambition for society, but to make this a reality city must be held to a far higher standard. Our urban environments will need to become…
- Engineering Matters
#183 Testing Times: Building a Megalab
At the end of 2019 the Coronavirus pandemic began its global take-over, the world had to react fast to try and stop the spread. A project sprung up overnight…
- Engineering Matters
#182 Using Gravity to Store Energy
As electricity grids around the world transition to using renewable energy resources, investment will need to be made in energy storage. When the sun doesn’t…
- Engineering Matters
#181 The Foundations of a New Arctic
When picturing the Arctic, people from warmer latitudes are likely to imagine frozen tundra and lonely steppe. Add global warming to this and the vision shifts…