8/14/2019 Independent Bosch Technology Horizons Award, Independent Newspaper 16th July 2009

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planet's environmentalproblemscould besolved bytechnological innovation

an find answerstoenvironmentalproblemsons Award,in association with TheIndependentand theRoyal AcademyofEngineering, gaveyoung peoplein twoagegroupsthechancetoanswerthequestion, "Howcantechnologyandengineering provideinnovativesolutions totoday's global challenges?"with writers grapplingwith issuessuchas renewableenergy, theglobal water shortage,and medical solutions tonewdiseases. Their essaysalsoaddressed thephilosophical and publicrelations side oftheengineer's role. As oneof thejudges, Iwas impressed bythecombination ofscientificunderstanding andwriting flair exhibited byall 14essaysthat madetheshortlistin both agegroups. In the 14-18 agegroup, Leon Zhang fromUrmstonGrammar Schoolin Manchestertookthefirstprizeof700, whilein the19-24agegroup, GavinHarper,in thesecond year ofaPhD atCardiffUniversity, nettedthetopawardof1,000.win its fourth year, encourages students tothinkcreativelyabout thechangesand challengesfacing theworld. Theaward alsoseeks to highlight theimportanceoftechnologyand engineering toyoung people, andinspiremoreofthemtochoosethesesubjectsfor studyat Alevel and university.eremonyat TheRoyal AcademyofEngineering inLondon,hosted byformerTomorrow'sWorld presenterKateBellingham, nowPresidentofYoung Engineers, and featuring presentations fromAndyGreen, theRAF pilot whodrovetheThrust supersoniccar to aworldrecord 763 mph in 1997, and Peter Fouquet, President ofBoschUK.ent.In thepastsecond,one and ahalfacres ofrainforest werecut down, destroyingthehomesofmanyspeciesofwildlife.Inthepast minute, theenergyused in theUKwas equal to313 milliontons ofoil,which wecanneverget back. In thepasthour, 160 children died fromlackofaccess tosafedrinking waterand sanitation.is ourdutyto gether out.ect us all.Meltingpolar icecaps, risingtemperatures, theeconomiccrisisit s eemswecannotescapethem.Themediahasdoneits fairshareemphasisingtheproblem. Yet, thereis abrightside.Our greatest strength ashuman beingsis theabilitytothink. Wecantrytoputastoptotheseglobal dilemmas.s towaterproblemsin developing countries such as Africa. In oneofthehottest placesonEarth, water is in scarcesupply. Upto250million Africanscould livein water-stressed areas by2010, and morethan50 percent ofAfricanssuffer fromwater-related diseasessuchas choleraand infant diarrhoea. However, therearesolutions. Engineering has alreadyproduced breakthroughs. Bypressurising seawater toproducevapourjets andfiltering themthrough carbonnanotubes,wecanget clean drinkingwaterfromseawater an almost inexhaustibleresource. It maysound complex, butsuchengineeringfeats cansavemillions oflives, not justin Africabutallover theplanet.nd-blowingtechnologicaladvances thatareoftenyearsahead oftherest ofthe world.Oneofitsmost ambitiousplans is tobuild aworkingspacesolar powersystemby2030.Bydrawing on thecolossal energyofthesun, itcould meet the entireworld'selectricityrequirementsindefinitelywithout nuclear orGHG emissions. Itsoundslikea space-agedream, doesn'tit? Ifsuccessful,theimpact ontheworldwould bemonumental. It wouldmean energyfor schools,hospitals,and homes. Itwould mean anotherindustrial revolution.ng their bit, fromrecycling newspapers athome, todeveloping hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars in alab. Wearefinallyentering an erawhereengineeringand technologyaremakingtheworldabetter place.Takethetimetothink, forjust amoment. Nowstop,andthinktowards thefuture.marSchool, Manchester.e'sGrammarSchool, KentdaleSixth FormCollege, Wolverhampton;MaxIles, WorcesterSixthFormCollege;ConstanceMantle, HighgateSchool,London;Ben Richardson,Cults Academy,Aberdeen; Ethan Simpson, HawickHighSchool.tyvetsky, CambridgeUniversity, SheffieldHallamUniversity; Mohammad bin Jalil WelbeckDefenceSixthFormCollege; HollyFerrie, Brunel University; Su SeanGoh,LSE; ColeSoutter,Engineeringand Physical Sciences Research Council.most entries)tcliffHighSchoolfor Girls, Essex..Whether it'satailor-cutSavileRowsuit,or ahand-madepieceoffurniture, thereis apremiumtobepaidfor exclusivity.Thatis whyone-off's arenever going tochangetheworld. They'rejusttooexpensive. Makefewer than 100ofthem,and thecostofR&D is prohibitive. Churn themout likebottletops, andtheinitialcosts ofdevelopment dwindleintoinsignificance.eringofmade-to-measurenuclearpower stations,thereal clean-techsolutions willborrowmorefromthehighstreet than hautecouture.hecomplexity, makeitcheaplyand stamp itoutcookie-cutter style, thepriceofinnovationfalls. It makes engineeringbusiness sense,and theconcept canjust as easilybeunderstood bythe hordesofshoppers flocking toPrimarni, whoknowthat ifyou takeleading edgedesign,simplifyit andmakealot,you get aproductthatperforms, at anacceptableprice.t it hadshipped its 10,000th 1.5MW wind turbineimpressive, for acompanythathas onlybeenin themarketfor just over halfadecade: it shows that oncemass productionintervenes, it'spossibletoincreasecapacityquickly.UnlikeFord... theseturbines are"onlyavailablein white".coming theIKEAoftheSolar Industry. Itknows that ifyou haveanexpensivematerial,whether siliconfor asolarpanel,or top-notch wood for atable,therearepartsoftheproductwhereyoucan useacheaper material, andwhereusingthemoreexpensivematerial isneedlessover-specification. SowhereIKEAuses qualitywood as thefacing veneerfor itsfurniture, but makes thestructurefromcheaperrecycled manufactured woods,soSolFocus is using acheapmirror toconcentratethesolar energyontoasmall pieceofhigh-qualitysilicon. It is usinglessofan expensivematerial toachieveasimilar effect.dea Cool Earth Solartakesit further. Whileyou canproduceaprecision-reflecting surfacethatwill givehigh performance, howmuchcostcan youengineer out ofaparabolicreflector?Rather than trying toextractthemostsunlightfromagiven area, whynot turntheideaon its head andextractthemost sunlight foragiven amount ofmoney?edaboutits ideatomakeparabolicreflectorsout ofmetallised mylaranexceptionallycheap material, but onethat doesnot holdits formverywell duetoits flimsynature... unless youmakeit intoaballoon.Premiumheliumpartyballoonsaremadefromtwocircular sheets ofplasticfused together,soimagineaparabolicreflector formed fromaclearsheet, and ashinysheet. It'sa lightweight solution,toaheavyweight problem. Best ofall,thelackofweight meansthemounting hardwarecan becommensuratelylean.ameapproach on alarger scale.eSolar is acompanywith bold ambitions tochurn outelectricityfromthesun at apricelowerthanyou canmakeit fromcoal, with its associated carbonpenalty. Theconcept issimilar rather than coatinglargeareasofland with expensivesilicon,makearrays ofcheapmirror that can focustheenergyon asingle point. TheUS threw266mintodevelopingSolar One,aconcentratingplant withacapacityof64MW (sinceupgraded toSolar Two), but takethisconcept, andrather than making aone-off, breakit downintomodules thatcan bemass producedout ofstandard components, and you'vegotarecipeforcheap, clean power.rating complexity throwsufficient moneyat aproblem, andit's always possibletogenerateasophisticatedtechnical solution butreducing thecostto apointwherethetechnologies becomeubiquitous.ictitious, carriesanimportant fablefor clean-tech. Thestorygoes that theAmericansinvested asmall fortuneininventing a pressurised pen(that claimshouldrightfullybeattributed toDr PaulCFisher) which couldwriteinzero-G, whiletheRussiansused apencil.