Latest Mechanical Stories
A step change in open ocean transport – how far can it lead?January 13, 2020
Having worked at wave energy R&D for some years, Irish SME Jospa Ltd discovered a novel way to propel a tug that produces significant bollard pull, using wave motion only, writes Patrick Duffy
Business lessons from ‘Ford v Ferrari’January 13, 2020
A look at the popular film through a lens of systems thinking and process improvement.
Understanding the impact of deep-sea miningDecember 16, 2019
Mining materials from the sea floor could help secure a low-carbon future, but researchers are racing to understand the environmental effects, writes Mary Beth Gallagher, MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering
Interdisciplinary team takes top prize in Mars colony design competitionDecember 16, 2019
MIT PhD student George Lordos and his brother Alexandros led the project, with the goal of the Mars Society competition: to establish a colony on Mars for 1,000 residents
Problem Based Learning: Case study of teaching mechanical engineering designDecember 2, 2019
This article presents a case study of how TU Dublin has addressed the question of how to teach students real world engineering skills relating to design and manufacturing, the objective being to help engineering graduates to be more effectively prepared for the challenges of professional engineering practice once they enter the workforce
Engineering skills and making political targets a realityDecember 2, 2019
Have you wondered what the future is going to look like by say, 2040, ask Sriram Kishore and Thomas Adams, NUI Galway
My engineering life Q&A: Mary Doyle-KentNovember 18, 2019
She was questioning from an early age and loved being taught about design and manufacturing in her father's workshop – now Mary Doyle-Kent is the mentor. She loves working in engineering and education, while the best advice she would give to her students is to work abroad in the early part of your career and always seize the moment
Aeroplanes could cut emissions by flying on waste cooking oil fuelNovember 4, 2019
Blending biofuels and kerosene to create greener jet fuel has shown promising results in test flights, but more work needs to be done to ensure biofuels burn cleanly and can be produced in a large-scale, low-cost way, says Dr Chong Cheng Tung
Students present mechanical engineering projects that have global impactNovember 4, 2019
At the sixth annual Mechanical Engineering Research Exhibition, graduate students and postdocs sharpen their communication and presentation skills
Engineers put Leonardo da Vinci’s bridge design to the testOctober 21, 2019
Proposed bridge would have been the world’s longest at the time, and new analysis shows it would have worked
Deploying drones to prepare for climate changeOctober 21, 2019
PhD student Norhan Bayomi uses drones to investigate how building construction impacts communities’ resilience to rising temperatures
Chartered Engineer of the Year award: Shortlisted finalists unveiledOctober 7, 2019
Six finalists are in the running for the prestigious Chartered Engineer of the Year Award title, part of Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards, which will be held in association with ESB in November
Irish Ferries’ WB Yeats: Poetry in motionSeptember 23, 2019
A modern cruise ferry is a complex package of engineering, comprising of safety systems, structural design, installed power, command and control systems, each of which are significant engineering projects in their own right, writes Derek Byrne
Soft robotics breakthrough manages immune response for implanted devicesSeptember 9, 2019
Researchers (including from AMBER and NUI Galway) have made a discovery could enable longer-lasting and better-functioning devices — including pacemakers, breast implants, biosensors, and drug delivery devices
Smart sink could help save waterAugust 26, 2019
An experiment with a water-saving 'smart' faucet shows potential for reducing water use. The catch? Unbeknown to study participants, the faucet's smarts came from its human controller
New e-skin innovation gives robots and prosthetics an exceptional sense of touchJuly 29, 2019
Unique sensor system responds 1,000 times faster than the human sense of touch, the fastest ever achieved for an e-skin
Tiny motor can ‘walk’ to carry out tasksJuly 15, 2019
Mobile motor could pave the way for robots to assemble complex structures — including other robots
Soft robots for allJuly 1, 2019
Each year, soft robots gain new abilities. They can jump, squirm, and grip. Unlike hard robots, they can handle tomatoes without bruising the fruit, resurface unscathed after being run over by a car, and journey through radiation, disaster zones, and outer-space with few scars.
Autonomous boats can target and latch onto each otherJune 13, 2019
Fleet of robotic boats, or 'roboats', could collect rubbish or self-assemble into floating structures in Amsterdam’s many canals
MIT leadership guru Hal Gregersen says questions are the answerMay 29, 2019
New MIT Sloan Executive Education programme helps executives identify 'unknown unknowns' through catalytic questioning