LINCOLN ENGINEERING BUSINESS BREAKFAST: WEDNESDAY 27 JULY 2011

Attendees at the recent Lincoln Engineering Business Breakfast. Coffee, bacon rolls and brown sauce optional

The University of Lincoln School of Engineering and City of Lincoln Council Business Services Team collaborate in events to understand the main drivers for successful marketing and development of the engineering sector in the region.

We are working together to put Lincoln engineering ‘on the map’ in terms of investment and relocation opportunities.

Mike Bristow of Wyman Gordon Ltd. discusses Sharing Best Practice

Attending the event were:

Bifrangi UK Limited
Castlet Limited
Cenex
City of Lincoln Council
Coptech Technology Limited
Destec Engineering
Dynex Semiconductor Limited
e2v
Education Business Partnership
Hindles of Lincoln
Hoval
ITP Engines UK Limited
Industrial Marine Power
James Dawson & Son Limited
Lincat Group Plc
Lincoln College
Lincoln Crankshaft & Machine Limited
Lincoln Diesels
Lincolnshire County Council
Lincolnshire & Rutland Employment & Skills Board
Micrometric Limited
Napier Turbochargers Limited
NMB Minebea UK Limited
North Lindsey College
Optima Graphic Design Consultants Limited
Praxair
Rakon UK Limited
Rilmac (Holdings) Limited
Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery
Specialist Heat Exchangers
University of Lincoln
VXI Power Limited
Wyman-Gordon Limited

IEEE Technical Committee membership for Engineering’s Dr. Wing-Kuen Ling

Engineering’s Dr Wing-Kuen Ling (better known to us all as ‘Bingo’) has been given the prestigious invitation to join the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers’ Circuits and Systems Society Technical Committee on Nonlinear systems.

The IEEE is the world’s largest society for the advancement of technology.

The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society is the leading organization that promotes the advancement of the theory, analysis, design, tools, and implementation of circuits and systems. The field spans their theoretical foundations, applications, and architectures, as well as circuits and systems implementation of algorithms for signal and information processing.

Dr 'Bingo' Wing-Kuen Ling

The Society brings engineers, researchers, scientists and others involved in circuits and systems applications access to the industry’s most essential technical information, networking opportunities, career development tools and many other exclusive benefits.

Local members with similar technical interests engage in professional exchange through the Society’s 10 regional chapters in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific.

Setting up the engine laboratories in the New School of Engineering

Engine lab control room for the Free-Piston Engine

It’s only 12 weeks until we move into our new building. On the ground floor are some of our experimental laboratories, in particular our engine test cells. The cells each have an associated control centre separated by safety materials, from where experiments can be conducted remotely.

Pictured is the control centre for the Lotus Free-Piston Engine when it was under development in the Test Cells at the University of Loughborough, with the actual engine cell visible in the background through double safety glass.

The task I’ve got now is to move our experimental engines into the new build, and get them all running, commissioned and most challenging of all, correctly wired up into the data acquisition and control systems.

A fully working and commissioned Lotus Free-Piston Engine

The picture of the Lotus engine gives an indication of the amount of sensor and actuator cabling associated with each engine.

Engines are generally under computer control via either LabView, or running Matlab and Simulink developed control algorithms under DSpace. It’s quite rare for me to hand write code these days, DSpace compiles control structures from simulink into C, and downloads it onto ta converters.he host control microprocessor and associated A-D and D-A converters.

A lot of our engine laboratory equipment has been stored at the ThinkTank until the move, so we’re just starting the process of going through it all and allocating space.

A haulage company delivering some of our dynamometer equipment to the ThinkTank prior to our move.

Research Brainstorming and ‘Sandpits’

IWWMW Wall

I have trawled some more photos of Research Brainstorming and Sandpits out of the vaults. There are lots of different methods of brainstorming for research projects and solutions, so I’ve posted some ideas from another Sandpit which was operated by Proctor and Gamble.

The method centres around the IWWMW (which stands for ‘In What Way Might We?’) wall. This wall acts as a focus for the day’s (or week’s) activities.

In the first instance, after a problem briefing, the wall is open to place posts centred around the core problem issues ‘in what way might we solve x?’

Only two types of post are allowed: proposals and IWWMWs. Proposals group with problem issues, and suggest avenues of technology, research or solutions. At no time is criticism allowed, the only way to address proposals is via another layer of IWWMWs.

The wall develops...

Good sport is to be had during the ‘re-alignment’ sessions, where everyone has the opportunity to move any or all the posts around on the wall to bring associated problems and solutions together into research projects. Sometimes it seems like the entire wall is in movement at the same time.

Project re-alignment session

This very basic methodology is one which I’ve found to be the most effective for brainstorming and working up research proposals. A session like this can easily generate a dozen Research Council standard proposals between a couple of dozen people if everyone buys into the process.

Brainstorming briefing