To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bristol’s most famous engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the University of Bristol is holding a series of free public talks. The talks highlight how Bristol’s world-leading engineering experts are continuing Brunel’s legacy as they seek to tackle some of the challenges facing the world over the next 30 years, such as climate change, floods, earthquakes, air travel and the future of telecommunications.
The acclaimed innovator, Brunel, helped advance British engineering in the eighteenth century by propelling it to the forefront of world developments and design. His designs, which include the Clifton Suspension and Tamar Bridges, the SS Great Britain and the Great Western Railway, helped establish Britain’s reputation as a world leader in this field.
At the first talk [Thursday, January 26], Climate Change and Extreme Floods, Ian Cluckie, Professor of Hydrology and Water Management in the Department of Civil Engineering, will discuss the impact of our changing climate. Our future climate will see significant changes as levels of extreme storms and floods increase. This talk will describe some of the aspects surrounding this issue and introduce some of the radar technology used to study such extreme events.
In the next talk, on Thursday, February 9, Nick Lieven, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, will discuss the prospects for future aircraft in, The Life and Times for Future Aircraft. With a predicted five per cent annual growth in air travel over the next 20 years, how do we manage an ever increasing fleet of aircraft and what influence is this likely to have on the environment? Consequently, what are the realistic prospects for larger, smarter and lighter aircraft?
On Thursday, February 23, Colin Taylor, Professor of Earthquake Engineering, will talk about, Designing for Earthquakes. As the Boxing Day 2004 Indonesian event demonstrated, earthquakes are one of the most devastating natural disasters that humankind faces. Over the past 40 years, civil engineers have developed increasingly effective ways of designing buildings and major infrastructures so as to protect lives during earthquakes.
Using computer simulations and small physical models, Professor Taylor will explain why earthquakes can be so damaging and how earthquake engineers, including researchers at Bristol University, are developing new ways of improving building and infrastructure performance.
On Thursday, March 9, Joe McGeehan, Professor of Communications Engineering, will present The Future of Telecommunications. Professor McGeehan, has been credited with pioneering many of the major developments in mobile communications and was recently placed sixth in a list of global technology trend-setters, which also featured Microsoft boss Bill Gates. In this talk he will discuss the major developments that have taken place in mobile communications over the past 30 years and the number of advances and challenges that the wireless communications field is facing.
On Thursday, 23 March, David Stoten, Professor of Dynamics and Control, will discuss The Aspects of Testing Methods for Safety in Engineering. A common feature of any engineering system is that it must be tested to ensure its safety, durability and its fitness for purpose. But how can we do that for something as large as a bridge, or for something that does not yet exist in its entirety. Dynamic Substructuring, currently being developed at Bristol University hopes to help solve this problem.
Professor Stosten said: "The talk will present an advanced testing method, called Dynamic Substructuring, that is being developed at Bristol University. The method, which is based on ideas from the field of Automatic Control, is currently receiving much interest from UK and worldwide dynamic testing communities."
The next talk Like Father Like Son, on Thursday, 30 March, presented by Dr Jitu Shah, Research Fellow in the Department of Physics, will discuss the influence Brunel’s father, also an engineer, had on the life of his son, Isambard.
Dr Shah said: “Isambard Kingdom Brunel is one of our most celebrated engineers, associated with Bristol through his numerous work, in an around the city and throughout the West Country.
“In the year 2006, the bicentennial year of his birth, this lecture will recount the exceptional engineering ability of his father Sir Marc Brunel (an engineer of considerable achievement) and establish the link and likeness between the engineering ability of the father and the achievements of his remarkable son Isambard.”
The interactive talks are organised by the University’s Community Engagement Team based in the Public Programmes Office. All talks take place on Thursdays in Waddelow Hall, Broadmead Baptist church, Broadmead, from 1 to 2 pm. No pre-booking is necessary and members of the audience are welcome to bring their sandwiches.