More Papers and articles

To Engineer

Strategies for solving complex problems

Authored by IES Past President Iain MacLeod

The paper discusses fundamental issues in problem solving and describes strategies used by professional engineers.

The Importance of Socially Responsible Mining in Developing Nations

Mining operations are an essential part of many developing nations. They provide jobs and resources, and fuel economic growth. However, irresponsible mining can also have a significant negative impact on the environment, local communities, and workers. It's crucial to recognise the importance of socially responsible mining to ensure that operations are sustainable and beneficial in the long run.

The disciplne of critical thinking

Working with complex uncertainty

Iain A MacLeod

This report discusses ideas as to how the thinking modes and principles used by those who achieve success in situations of complex uncertainty can be identified and adopted.

Engineering for Energy

A proposal for governance of the energy system

Authored by the IES Energy Strategy Group

The paper argues that government policy for energy must be based on engineered planning. The planning should be carried out by a National Energy Authority.

Why Society Needs Engineers, especially Naval Architects, Marine & Ocean Engineers

Firstly, the premise that engineering and technology are important and necessary parts of our human society and have been since the beginning of time; and secondly, the premise that, since we live on a planet that has approximately seventy percent (70%) of its surface area covered by water, there is an inherent need for development of technology and engineering solutions relating to the world’s oceans.

The success of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)

The role of professional engineers at sports events

Authored by William Dunbar, Formerly Director of Consulting Engineers Halcrow

The paper explains the role of a civil engineer in the provision of infrastructure and in the control of safety at major sporting events such as golf club championships.

The Rankine Songbook

The Rankine Songbook

A collection of humorous, romantic and patriotic songs written by Prof WJM Rankine

System planning in government and in education

Iain MacLeod

Over thirty years ago, I posed myself this question: “What are the processes and guiding principles that support the success of professional engineering outcomes?” I needed answers to that question to inform research work in computer aided design and also to help students to develop their professional competence. My quests for answers has continued over the years. I have re-phrased the question to be more generic: “How are successful outcomes achieved in situations of complex uncertainty?” and I use the term system planning to represent the processes and principles. I offer here some answers to the this question. Consideration of the wide use and success of system planning in society, raises two further questions: First: “Why do we allow politicians to go ahead with strategies aimed at solving problems of very high complexity that have not been subject to system planning?” Second: “Why is learning for system planning not a main activity in education?” In the paper, I provide some thoughts on the second of these questions that may also provide some answers to the first.

Science of Cracks: Fracture Mechanics

Erkan Oterkus

Although we may not always recognise it, cracks are important part of our daily lives. Cracks are also very important in the discipline of engineering. We can make predictions about whether cracks will initiate in a particular structure, when and which direction that they can propagate, with at what speed that they can propagate, if they will branch or not, and if they will stop or not once they propagate. The scientific field which focuses on cracks is named as “fracture mechanics”. In this paper, a brief history of fracture mechanics is given starting from its early days. Then, some important concepts of fracture mechanics are highlighted such as fracture modes, stress intensity factor and energy release rate. Since numerical tools are widely used for engineering analysis, several numerical techniques developed for fracture analysis and implemented within finite element analysis framework are discussed. Finally, an emerging approach, peridynamics, is briefly introduced and its applications for different material systems, loading and environmental conditions are summarised.

Primary Engineer 'If you were an engineer, what would you do?'

We have been very impressed by the publication of Primary Engineer, celebrating over 250,000 school pupils who have answered the question "If you were an engineer, what would you do?"

Mirror of History

A Millennium Commemorative Volume containing 25 of the most influential papers from the 20th Century volumes of Transactions, published in 2000 to coincide with the Millennium celebrations. Authors include Charles Parsons, John Logie Baird, Jackie Stewart and Sir James Lighthill.

Harnessing a 75 kW grinder

An important German foundry turned again to Clansman Dynamics for a solution that would improve productivity in their casting fettling department. Our 6-axis grinding manipulator provided twice the usable torque compared to their existing machine and the ability to use larger and, importantly, longer grinding tools. This paper describes the technical difficulty encountered; the design problems in achieving a solution for improving the life of the grinding tooling and the lessons learned in the painful task of innovation under severe pressure.

Great ships, solitary waves, and solitons

John Mellis

John Scott Russell was one of the foremost naval architects of his time. Born near Glasgow in 1808, he became a noted and popular lecturer, before moving away from academia to focus on industrial engineering. Among his many achievements, two stand out. First, the design and construction of the SS Great Eastern in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Second, the discovery and study of a strange wave phenomenon he acutely observed on the Union Canal near Edinburgh. Scott Russell’s ‘Wave of Translation’, now known as Solitary Waves or solitons, turned out to have significance and application in many fields, including optical telecommunications.

Engineering for net zero

IES Energy Strategy Group

The success of efforts to achieve the UK goal of net zero emissions by 2050 will be critically dependent on the actions taken by government. The paper explains why government decisions for achieving the goal must be based on proposals that have been ‘engineered’ by a specially appointed body.

Energy Benchmarking

Andy Pearson

This article summarises the lessons learned about energy benchmarking over the last three years, as developed in a series of studies on the cold storage logistics business. The results were presented as papers at international conferences in Canada, Scotland, Japan, Macedonia, Norway and England The article uses real data from live sites to illustrate the various advantages gained by pursuing this goal and explains how to add this capability to an existing facility. The possibility of using similar techniques in other sectors is briefly discussed. Keywords: Refrigeration, Energy, Efficiency, Benchmarking, Prediction

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IN GREAT BRITAIN: 1919 to 2023

A Brief History of the Industry with a Proposed New Model for the Future.

Charles Scott

Action is needed now! - download and read more

Presidential Address 1868

James M Gale comments on the removal of the weir near the Jamaica Bridge and the various discussions between interests before the construction of the Loch Katrine Works.

Presidential Address 1866

James Lawrie reflects “Whenever and whenever the action of mankind is based upon information possessed, the means by which distance- the impediment hitherto to the transmission of information- can be eliminated becomes of paramount importance” – the Transatlantic Cable

Presidential Address 1865

James Lawrie comments that “the public now feel and acknowledge that, within the whole business of engineers, no operations are more important than those assigned to them in perfecting the means for the preservation of life and health; and the cleansing of towns is imperatively required for that purpose.”

Presidential Address 1864

James Napier discusses his practical experiments and results on the subjects of superheated steam and of the rolling of ships.

Presidential Address 1862

William Johnstone reflects upon the challenges and construction of the Charing Cross Bridge in London, work undertaken by Mr Brunel and Mr Hawkshaw.

Presidential Address 1861

William Johnstone discusses the improvements made to the ‘air engine’ following a presentation by Patrick Stirling (Rev Stirling’s son). It is interesting to note that the Stirling Engine is currently generating interest as the core component of micro combined heat and power (CHP) units.

Presidential Address 1860

Walter Neilson, very much a paper of its time, Mr Neilson describes the contribution of engineering to armaments and defence and how railways, docks and ships can all make a contribution.

Presidential Address 1859

Walter Neilson reflects on papers and contributions over the last year – it reads like a who’s who of significant engineers of the time!

Presidential Address 1858

William Rankine discusses papers submitted over the last year and the successes that have followed on from the sharing of information. Way ahead if it’s time the Institution supported the adoption of the ‘metrical scale’ - the metric system was finally adopted in 1965!

Presidential Address 1857

William Rankine’s Inaugural Presidential Address 1857

Crawford Gorrie's Presidential Address 2004

We thought you might like to read Crawford's presidential address - many matters raised are still relevant today! Crawford Gorrie gives an overview of the history of G and J Weir and reflects upon the company’s successes and the importance of focus ‘on the vision and commitment to continuous improvement in whatever it does.’