A new turboelectric airliner concept capable of delivering 17 per cent better efficiency over 2050 projections for standard airliners has been unveiled at the AIAA AVIATION Forum. The aircraft design project, led by the hybrid-electric aviation company Electra and assisted by engineers from the University of Michigan, is part of NASA’s Advanced Aircraft Concepts for … [Read more...] about Advanced airliner concept delivers 17 per cent better efficiency
Sustainability
Engineering students unveil impressive concept to tackle nightmare junction
Students investigating one of Scotland’s most congested road junctions have developed an innovative conceptual redesign. The idea explores how a minimum-interruption approach, based on alternative junction layouts, could significantly improve traffic flow and environmental performance while avoiding the scale of disruption often associated with major infrastructure … [Read more...] about Engineering students unveil impressive concept to tackle nightmare junction
A simple calculation could change the way we use misfit wood
Urging industry to make better use of wood that’s wasted or burned for energy, researchers have released the first structural tests of non-straight, forked and double-curved roundwood logs used as columns. In his mission to normalise the use of ‘misfit wood’, Aalto University architect and researcher Jaakko Torvinen (pictured above) has shown how standard, business-as-usual … [Read more...] about A simple calculation could change the way we use misfit wood
Inaugural Future Timber Design Awards winners revealed
Forest Industries Ireland (FII) has announced the University of Galway winners of the Future Timber Design Awards ─ a new initiative supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The awards were developed by FII to promote sustainable and innovative timber construction and design by bridging academic learning with real-life application for undergraduate … [Read more...] about Inaugural Future Timber Design Awards winners revealed
New reactor design produces renewable methane from carbon dioxide
An international team led by researchers at Pennsylvania State University has developed a new reactor design that efficiently converts carbon dioxide and renewable electricity into methane – the primary component of natural gas – while scaling the system up by roughly an order of magnitude without sacrificing performance. The study demonstrated that microbial electrosynthesis … [Read more...] about New reactor design produces renewable methane from carbon dioxide