The power of engineering

Lindsay Gill, 26, is a marine resource analyst for Marine Current Turbines in Bristol, where she’s been working for two years since completing her Masters in mechanical engineering at Cardiff University.

I’d done placements before graduating in wind-based renewable energy, but I really wanted to work in the marine field because it’s new and developing. I’ve got two roles here. The first is to analyse the tidal current and power data coming from the SeaGen turbine we have in the sea in Strangford Lock. And the other is to scout for and assess new sites, which have to have a sea depth of between 26 and 40 metres, and strong tidal currents as well. I look carefully at tidal flow and with that I’m using fluid mechanics which is an engineering discipline.

At the moment, I’m involved in doing an environmental impact survey in the area off Anglesey where we’re going to site a farm. We’re looking at the geology of the seabed and what’s on it.

We’re putting down current meters and also doing a survey of marine life and birds in the area. We also need to know what ships and smaller vessels currently use this area of water.

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David Witcher, 30, is an engineer working in the Machines Group at Garrad Hassan’s Bristol office. He joined the firm in 2001 after completing his Masters in mechanical engineering at the University of Surrey in Guildford.

I work very much at the mathematical end of engineering, and spend almost all my time at a computer. The first half of my job is coming up with software that makes all the decisions about what a turbine does when it’s in operation, including changing the pitch of the blades, and switching it on and off. The pitch of the blades is important because it affects optimising the capture of energy and controlling the vibrations on the whole turbine structure.

These parameters need to be tuned for each individual turbine. The other part of my job involves developing software that creates mathematical models of the turbine structure, wind conditions and of possible fault conditions that we use for the design of turbines.

We’re very busy at the moment and I really enjoy it. The technology is at a stage where it’s just maturing and there’s a still lot of research work to be done. So there’s an opportunity for engineers to have a real impact on how the industry moves forward.

Alistair Smith has worked in the nuclear power industry since completing his mechanical engineering degree at Sheffield University in 1981. He currently chairs IMechE’s Nuclear Power Committee and is Director of Nuclear Services at PB Power, consultants to nuclear power producers all over the world.

I started my career building nuclear power stations and helping clients operate them. The prospect now of building news ones here has renewed interest among mechanical engineers and hopefully this will attract new engineers to come into this industry.

There’s always been a belief among mechanical engineers that nuclear power has a role to play and, for the past three years, I’ve been working to persuade the Government that nuclear power should be part of the mix, because it’s got the best potential to contribute to a low-carbon energy policy.

Since Britain will be buying a ready-made power station design from either France or the USA, the role for mechanical engineers will be to manufacture the equipment, install it and commission it. Because everything has to be done to a much higher degree of safety than conventional power stations, engineers spend a lot of their time at computers working out the safety case for every single component

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