Saimeche John Orr Lecture Notice 2011

SAIMechE JOHN ORR LECTURE 2011 “BLOODHOUND SUPERSONIC CAR” by Wing Commander Andy Green SAIMechE hosts this very prestigious “John Orr Memorial Lecture” each year to commemorate the achievements of Professor John Orr (1870 – 1954) in engineering education in South Africa. ‘ The history of this prestigious lecture dates back to 1961 when the first lecture was initiated to honour Professor Orr. This year the John Orr Lecture will be delivered by Wing Commander ‘Fastest Man on Earth’ Andy Green, the ‘Fastest Man on Earth’. Wing Commander Andy Green BLOODHOUND SSC – An Engineering Adventure The BLOODHOUND Super Sonic Car aims to be the world's first 1000 mph (1600 kph) Car. Powered by a state-of- the-art jet engine and a huge hybrid rocket motor, BLOODHOUND SSC will develop over 130 000 horsepower and cover 16 kilometres in 100 seconds from a standing start. Yet the main aim of the Project is education - to inspire the next generation of engineers with the sheer excitement of science and engineering, by sharing the highs and lows of building and running the world's fastest Car. Wing Commander Andy Green, BLOODHOUND SSC's driver, holds the current World Land Speed Record (1220 kph). He will outline the captivating story of how the current World Land Speed Record was set back in 1997, as well as the amazing science and technology behind the extraordinary new BLOODHOUND vehicle. He will also explain why South Africa was chosen as the ideal place to attempt this remarkable new record, and how the Northern Cape is preparing the world's best race track for BLOODHOUND SSC. Biography – Wing Commander Andy Green Wing Commander Andy Green, ‘The Fastest man on Earth’, is a serving Royal Air Force Fighter Pilot and a veteran of combat theatres around the world. Andy has flown the F4 Phantom, the Tornado F3 and the Harrier ‘Jump Jet’ and has commanded Royal Air Force operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Driving Richard Noble’s Thrust SSC (SuperSonic Car) in 1997, Andy set the world’s first and only supersonic land speed record at an astonishing 763 mph, driving literally ‘faster than a speeding bullet’. The team overcame huge technological, practical and personal challenges in pursuit of a unique Land Speed Record, driving faster than the speed of sound for the first time in history. After setting the outright Land Speed Record in 1997, Andy went on to drive the JCB DIESELMAX car in 2006. He and the team overcame some very different but equally challenging problems to smash the diesel record, setting the new mark at a remarkable 350 mph for the world’s fastest diesel car – powered by JCB digger engines. Not content with these records, Andy is now involved in perhaps the ultimate Land Speed Record challenge. He is the driver for the new BLOODHOUND SSC, designed to reach an astonishing 1000 mph. Using his previous Thrust and JCB experience, and drawing on his first-class Mathematics degree from Oxford and his experience as a Fighter Pilot, Andy is a central member of the design team for this remarkable Car. The Lectures will be held in the evenings at the following centres. The Lecture at each venue will start at 18h00 for 18h15: o Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) 15 November 2011 o Northern Cape: Kimberley (William Humphreys Art Gallery) 17 November 2011 o Cape Town: University of Cape Town (UCT) 22 November 2011 o Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) 23 November 2011 o Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) 24 November 2011 Full details for each venue listed above and Registration to attend any of these Lectures is available on the SAIMechE website - www.saimeche.org.za (then go to Calendar), or contact Anisa at our National office on (011) 615-5660. Attendance is FREE and is open to anyone who is interested in this enthralling engineering adventure. About Professor John Orr: John Orr was born in 1870 in Lancshire and in 1887 entered Glasgow University where he graduated BSc in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He received further technical education at Coatbridge Mining College and the Royal Technical College, Glasgow. In 1893 he was awarded a Whitworth Medal and Exhibition, tenable at the Royal College of Science, London. He gained further practical experience in Scotland and England before coming to South Africa in 1897. Initially he was attached to the School of Mines of the South African College in Cape Town (which later became Cape Town University), but a year later went to the Kimberly Branch of the School of Mines as the Professor of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He retained his professorship when the School was transferred to Johannesburg in 1903 as the Transvaal Technical Institute. After several changes of name, this organization became the University of the Witwatersrand in 1922, and ORR’s chair became the de Beer’s Chair of Mechanical Engineering. In 1952 he resigned to organise mechanical education at the Witwatersrand Technical College, where he remained until he retired in 1954. He was awarded the honorary LLD by the University in 1936. A Mechanical Engineering Chair and a wing of the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory at the University of the Witwatersrand are named after him. He was a man of wide interests. He was President of the forerunner of the present South African Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1908/09, President of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science in 1917, he helped to establish the South African Standards Institution in 1907, and was awarded an OBE in 1919, the Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935, and the Coronation Medal in 1937. He also directed technical training for the army and industry during World War II . .

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