164 YEARS OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION www.theengineer.co.uk FEBRUARY 2020 Wind of change Could a new generation of wind propulsion technologies help clean up commercial shipping? 24 34 42 TheEngineerUK theengineeruk The Engineer UK INterview: Atlas copco CEO Mats masters of suspense: How semi LATE GREAT ENGINEERS: The life Rahmström talks electrification, active suspension is helping car and achievements of engineering connectivity and digtalisation makers balance speed and comfort legend ISAMBARD Kingdom Brunel ESTABLISHED 1856 164 CONTENTS YEARS OF TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION VOLUME 300 • ISSUE 7914 • FEBRUARY 2020 14 36 13 32 42 28 34 4 Editor’s Comment 14 COVER FEATURE 24 Interview 36 Q&A Why the commercial shipping sector - How a new generation of wind assist Atlas Copco boss Mats Ramhström An expert panel discus innovations in long resistant to change - is joining the propulsion devices could help clean up on electrifi cation, digitalisation and the fast moving world of EV charging low carbon transport revolution global shipping connectivity infrastructure 6 NEWS 18 VIEWPOINT 28 agritech 38 Product feature Europe poised for zero-emission Engineers can save the world, writes Can the growing fi eld of vertical farming Drive industry experts offer their heavy-duty trucks as Nikola launches Astronomer Royal Prof Lord Rees help shore up UK food security? perspectives on key industry trends battery-electric lorry 20 TALKING POINT 32 interview 42 Late Great engineers 10 BUSINESS NEWS HS2 - too big to fail or destined Ann Watson explains how skills body The life and times of Ministers misled over HS2 costs, for the scrapheap? Semta has remodelled itself to help Isambard Kindgdom Brunel claims Lord Berkeley report 22 MAILBOX meet industry’s future skills needs 54 from the archive 13 NEWS ANALYSIS Attitudes to autonomy and where 34 Automotive technology A look back at The Engineer’s 1955 High time for hydrogen - could the gas to target government infrastructure Innovations in semi active suspension coverage of USS Forrestal, the world’s reshape the HGV sector? investment achieve speed / comfort trade-off fi rst supercarrier COVER Image: Econowind Editor Jon Excell Commercial director Justyn Gidley Production Kyri Apostolou News 020 8076 0576 +44 (0)20 7738 5454 +44 (0)20 7738 5454 +44 (0)20 807 6779 Display 020 8076 0582 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Recruitment 020 8076 0581 Features editor Stuart Nathan Business development manager Publishing director Luke Webster UK subscriptions £75 pa UK/£117 pa overseas. +44 (0)20 7738 5454 Paul Tilston 01722 714847 Contact comments@ theengineer.co.uk. 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Printed by Pensord, +44 (0)20 7738 5454 Andrew Ganassin For more information please email up for our FREE weekly email Press Ltd, Blackwood, NP12 2YA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] newsletter and tailored job alert 3 February 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk EDITOR’SNOVEMBER COMMENT 2019 JON EXCELL READ MORE ONLINE Wind in the sails of Industry’s digital transformation; Huawei or not Huawei; and the marine innovation challenges of net-zero riven by increasingly demanding emissions targets, the priorities www.theengineer.co.uk of the automotive and aerospace sectors have been transformed in follow us at recent years. From the bold electric roadmaps of the world’s biggest car makers, @TheEngineerUK D to aviation’s growing interest in hybrid electric propulsion systems, to say 5 THINGS theengineeruk that these critical sectors are in the throes of a low carbon revolution is no overstatement. WE’VE The Engineer UK There are numerous examples of this rich climate of innovation The Engineer UK throughout this issue; from the truck industry’s growing interest in LEARNT hydrogen (News analysis, page 13) to the EV charging infrastructure advances discussed by the expert panel in our Q&A feature (page 36). THIS ENGINEER JOBS By contrast, the subject of this issue’s cover feature, the commercial ISSUE Find your next engineering job shipping sector, has proved somewhat more resistant to the changes online at The EngineerJobs sweeping other areas of transportation. Commercial Perhaps secure in its unassailable position as the enabler of world 1 shipping accounts trade, the sector - which is thought to be responsible for around 2.5 per for 2.5 per cent of cent of all global human-made greenhouse gas emissions - has tended to global greenhouse resist the winds of change sweeping other areas of transportation. gas emissions But a bold industry-wide strategy - set by the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) back in 2018 - to eliminate GHG emissions as One kilogram of soon as possible this century has changed the dynamic in the sector. 2 hydrogen has the Today, as we report, no stone is being left unturned in the sector’s quest same energy density as to reduce its environmental impact. And amongst the many technologies one gallon of diesel that look set to play a role are a new generation of systems that harness shipping’s original energy source: the wind. Socket fi t is one MISSION The technology behind these systems – a curious blend of Fle ner 3 of the biggest STATEMENT rotors, aerospace industry inspired deck mounted wing structures, and challenges in prosthetics even giant kites - is truly fascinating. And whilst it’s early days, a growing The aim of number of ship operators and industry experts believe that this new The Engineer generation of wind-assist technologies, coupled with existing powerplants is to champion - could play a key role in reducing the sector’s emissions and boosting its and promote fuel effi ciency. Who knows, perhaps these innovations might ultimately prove as engineering disruptive as some of those pioneered by the subject of our latest Late innovation and Great Engineers article (page 42): possibly the most well-known late great More than fi fty per technology engineer of them all, and one of the great innovators of transportation - 4 cent of readers development Isambard Kingdom Brunel. think HS2 should be axed across all of Brunel’s role as the the UK’s key 5 designer of the engineering Clifton Suspension bridge sectors. is questionable EDITOR • [email protected] Excell February 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk 4 FEBRUARY 2020 Read more online Follow us at: @TheEngineerUK AUTOMOTIVE theengineeruk • Autonomous vehicles on The Engineer UK bumpy road to market The Engineer UK CIVIL & STRUCTURAL www.theengineer.CO.UK • Bone composition inspires NEWS more resilient structures DEFENCE & SECURITY • Interview: Babcock technology All-electric Nikola lorry paves MD Jon Hall ELECTRONICS & the way for fossil free freight COMMUNICATIONS Battery-powered truck precedes fuel-cell lorry • Drones link scattered devices to create IoT networks jason ford reports • Self-healing thermoelectric material adds durability to urope is set for the roll-out wearables of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks with the introduction MEDICAL & HEALTHCARE of the Nikola TRE, a battery- • New bandage clots blood but electric lorry that will act as doesn’t stick to wound Ea springboard for the launch of a • AI tracks blood sugar without fuel-cell freight vehicle. fingerprick using ECG Arizona-based Nikola will bring its advanced electric technology proprietary infotainment system to RAIL & MARINE the TRE, which is based on IVECO’s • Shipping sector proposes S-Way heavy-duty truck, which was emissions busting research launched in July 2019. programme A maquette of the TRE was unveiled on December 3, 2019 at ROBOTICS CNH Industrial in Turin, Italy. The • Sea anemone inspires unveiling followed the creation adaptable robotic gripper of joint venture between Nikola and CNH’s IVECO commercial vehicles arm, and FPT Industrial, the BEV’s modular lithium-ion distribution and local authority its powertrain division. Iveco has battery system will have a total missions. invested $250m into Nikola and capacity of up to 720kWh, with the Gerrit Marx, president of IVECO Jobs online the first battery-electric vehicles electric driveline delivering 480kW commercial and specialty vehicles (BEVs) are expected to be delivered continuous power output with said the move to a FCEV version of LOOKING FOR A in 2021, followed by fuel-cell 1800Nm peak torque. The lorry the TRE will help customers meet electric vehicles (FCEVs) in 2023. will also have a maximum speed of EU emissions targets, assist in the NEW ROLE? Speaking in Turin, Trevor 121kph (75mph), a 350kW charging development of a more circular Visit jobs.theengineer. Milton, CEO, Nikola Motor Co. said, capacity and an average recharge economy, and offer a ‘conflict-free’ co.uk to search hundreds “What’s really special about this time of two hours. method of developing a fuel source. of vacancies with leading truck is while a lot of other OEMs They added that the nine- “Hydrogen truly is the fuel of employers from across are building a lot of small battery battery pack (800V each) BEV will the future. Both the drivetrains industry electric trucks, or very limited be offered to customers who would between the electric and the range hydrogen trucks, we are ‘pay by the mile’ and will be able hydrogen trucks share the same actually doing it.