New materials enable engineers to create stronger, tougher, lighter, higher-performing components and assemblies. This can be seen today with materials such as composites, new lightweight metal alloys and graphene, and there is certain to be no let-up moving forward. Driven by demands from sectors such as aerospace and automotive, the frontiers of material development will be pushed to even more extreme levels.
Take the aerospace industry, for example, which is constantly looking ahead to materials that can offer greater strength, lighter weight and higher heat resistance in order to achieve desirables such as higher speeds, lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions. Today, composites are proving to be the material of choice for aerospace engineers. Over the past 30 years, composites content in passenger airliners has grown from just 5 to 6 per cent to 50 per cent in the latest commercial models such as Boeing’s Dreamliner...
UK productivity hindered by digital skills deficit – report
This is a bit of a nebulous subject. There are several sub-disciplines of 'digital skills' which all need different approaches. ...