Month: August 2024

Next Generation with Practical Experience

Backwards and forwards the discussion goes on platforms like LinkedIn. Everyone recognises the expected demand for engineers. This century will be as much an engineering century as any century that has gone before. Science advances rapidly. New materials are available. Computation power is shooting off the charts. It’s now possible to design, build and test more systems to do more tasks than ever before.

The question is where’s the next generation of engineers going to come from?

Here’s one aspect of the debate that I find mildly irritating. Despite that discomfort, I’m prepared to be a hypocrite on this point. It’s to discuss future education and training with an almost blinkered reference to one’s own experience. For me, that’s to look back 45-years and then project forward. This is a natural tendency that should be handled with extreme care. However much it’s good to cherish past successes they do not guarantee future ones.

My first paid job involved Rotring[1] ink pens and pencils. Drawing film and large dyeline printers. Ammonia vapour filled the print room. It’s the sort of place the term “blueprint[2]” emerged. Drawing a myriad of small mechanical components used to make-up cabinets of electronics. I’d follow them through to the workshop where they would be turned into hardware.

That world has gone almost entirely. At that time, an infant was growing. A chunky electronic pen that could be used to move straight lines around on a bulky computer screen. That infant was computer aided design. Methodically and slowly computer digitisation was taking over. Soon the whole job description; engineering draftsman, disappeared into the history books.

Today’s infant is Artificial Intelligence (AI) or at least, if we discard the hype, massive infinitely flexible computing power. As a result, we have no idea how many jobs will next disappear into the history books. So, if I have a point to make it’s along the lines of being mighty cautious about what could inspire the next generation of engineers.

Moving to the next step in my early career path. Given that I made solid progress and having an exceptionally progressive employer[3], I moved through departments each time having a go at something new. My pathway to electronic design (analogue) was step by step.

I’ve pictured an oscilloscope because that’s one of those key steps. What it provides is a way of seeing what can’t normally be seen. Sitting in a classroom learning about frequency modulation, or such like, is necessary. Doing the sums to pass exams is essential. But nothing beats hooking-up a few bits of equipment on a workbench and seeing it for yourself.

So, that’s my recipe for inspiring the next generation of engineers. Create opportunities for them to see it for themselves. Even in the massively complex digital soup that we all swim in.

Theory is fine. Being able to visualise is the best tool. Or is that just me?

[1] https://www.rotring.com/

[2] https://youtu.be/7vnGY9vXgsQ

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessey

1930s Aerodrome Architecture

We talk of optimism and pessimism as if one presides while the other sleeps. It’s not quite like that in consideration of the legacy around us. There’s no doubt that the 1920s and 1930s were years of austerity and depression. The Great War had an overwhelming impact on all sections of society. The buildings that remain from that era, including the house that I once lived in, do record a simpler style. Material chosen for their functional value rather than decorative.

Victorian’s built with flair and every mechanical contrivance that their technology could provide. Value in longevity was integral in their thinking. Who could imagine the sun setting on British empire?

The brief inter-war period was one of concrete and steel. A bit of classicism retained an influence. Form, fit and function played a bigger part. Modernism meant reflecting the advances in technology that were making great pace. Construction was fast.

Aviation was one of the most notable advances. Post-war flying moved from the military to sport, the recreation of the rich and the wonder of the onlooking public. It went together with the race for speed on land. Everything had to be faster and go further.

Maybe it was the Bauhaus in Germany, that set down some much-copied rules. Symmetry and square lines were on the drawing boards of a lot of public architects. It’s the case that some ornamentation was thrown in where the patrons were wealthy. Even that was relatively muted.

What lasted is no abomination of a poverty of ambition. It’s not utopian. It’s not brutalist. There’s instead a simplicity that was authoritative enough but not too ostentatious.

Pictured above is the 1932 Aero Clubhouse at Brooklands[1] in Surrey. It was designed by Graham Dawbarn[2] in what was a typical 1930s style. It set a trend for aerodrome buildings. Buildings like this one added grandeur to aerodromes where sheet metal hangers and small wooden huts were more often to be seen.

I like these enduring, straightforward, practical buildings. Yes, they are a form of British colonial architecture. One that could be easily reproduced anywhere on the globe. In today’s terms not the least bit environmentally friendly or efficient. Nevertheless, there’s an appeal that marks them out particularly when compared to the sheets of glass and skeleton frames of steel of modern aviation facilities.

[1] https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/

[2] https://www.ribapix.com/graham-dawbarn_riba47117

Dr Who?

I’m having to get to know Paddington. For such a long time my route into London was via Victoria station. Every nook and cranny of that enormous railway station was etched into my brain. I could go from A to B with the speed of a swift. Southern trains trundle backwards and forwards, in and out of London. For the last 8 years, I’ve been able to navigate from my doorstep to the Royal Albert Hall (RAH) in about an hour. Only occasionally being marooned in Croydon.

Once I’d discovered the BBC proms it became a regular part of my annual schedule. That knocked off August and part of September. Promming[1] is a wonderful tradition that opens access to great music of all kinds for a token sum. Standing for me is no big deal.

Last night, I travelled through space and time. A different space and time from my normal one. Now, I’m having to get to know the ins and outs of a different railway company. To some extent they have “proper” trains that go somewhere. I mean, cities in Wales and the West of England.

This was only my second BBC prom of the year. This one was going to be different. For a start it was Bank Holiday Monday. It was the main day of the Notting Hill Carnival[2]. For those who don’t know that sat on my route into Paddington and round the Central Line to the RAH.

Busy, busy, busy. I don’t know if the National Orchestra of Wales to the same route as me. They were on stage for prom 48[3]. Thankfully, GWR speedily and safely got us into London.

The buzz was infectious. Whovian community folk like to dress-up. Standing in-line outside before 6pm, conversations were about favourite monsters and the authenticity of other prommers costumes. Fantastic handmade scarfs. Elaborate purchases from e-bay. Eccentric illusions to long lost baddies. I felt grossly underdressed. That said, I shouldn’t have been surprised but the audience was about as intergenerational as is imaginable. Maybe, I should have said intergalactic. I was standing next to a would-be William Hartnell in his 20s. Further along the que there were 2 Sylvester McCoys in their late 50s, at least.

What can I say about the evening? Hat’s off to all concerned. It was a dam good show. I don’t count myself as a Whovian even if this small screen fiction has populated most of my life. I was struck, not just by the obvious theatrics but how important the music had become to the whole drama. It really does pull on the emotional strings. Story telling needs that magical music.

Standing in a crowded arena, I wasn’t for one moment frightened. Which I would have been as a young boy with a cyberman walking straight toward me. An authoritarian Dalek called for the interval. Ordering the orchestra off the stage. The revered Russell T Davies was in the audience. They played out with the Doctor Who theme.

For an evening learning a new route in and out of London, all my effort was more than rewarded. Time and space well spent. I shall now turn my hand to inventing a working TARDIS. Then I could go back and do it all again. Well, that is except for the cool breezy late-night hanging about at Reading station platform 3.

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3598F306c3KnN6t3x6ThKpN/what-is-promming

[2] https://nhcarnival.org/

[3] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00224zh

Magic Mornings

Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite time of day?
View all responses

Meat Loaf sang: “And wherever you are and wherever you go. There’s always gonna be some light.” That moment of light, when the sun returns from its overnight meanderings. It’s not so much the first moments of sunrise but the first moment that its catches my eyes.

I might be hiding behind the pillows trying to pretend it’s still dark. As the clock ticks there’s a moment when the pretence must end. Yes, I like a bright summer sunrise morning. Not a cloud covered sky but those sharp rays of sunshine. Laser like shining through the bedroom curtains.

The possibility of a new day is an unwritten book. It’s a time of day that shifts like sand. It could be half five, it could be six. It might be seven. Time flexes as the days go by.

Each day, as if a light bulb switches on, I’m awake. Senses alive. Greeting the new day. Emerging as if all time past existed only as a dream (fine – that is an exaggeration).

Morning persons, like me, are the nemesis of the late-night hawks. They prefer the dying embers of the day as if to wish the day never to pass. Me, I’m happy to meet the dark. Prospect of tomorrow is the best promise.

On Your Farm: 60 Years of Farming Innovation and Change

Like me, the BBC’s “On Your Farm” will soon be over 60 years old. I’m already there and, as a 4-year-old at the time wouldn’t have known there was anything new on the radio. That chunky Bush radio with the large batteries.

That’s a launch one year after the coldest winter for 200 years, in 1963. I don’t remember that winter but was told numerous stories about it. Winter 1963 must have been tough for the West Country farming community. Probably a lot of fun for me a very young boy. Snow for weeks and weeks.

The BBC’s regular farming radio broadcast takes a wide-ranging view of what’s happening in the industry. Needless to say, the elapse of 60-years has seen changes that would have been incompressible in 1964. The sheer scale of enterprises, the power of modern machinery and huge reduction in the labour force may not have been predicable.

That early sixties period was one of great hope for the advancements that technology could bring. We now see that some of the leaps forward that were made were progressive but had long-term negative consequences. Ripping out hedges to make bigger fields and becoming ever more dependent on artificial fertilizers did increase productivity. That came with big costs.

If I’m correct in recalling what my father’s generation said, at the time there was great pride in the modernisation that was taking place. A vibrant competitiveness between farmers to have the most modern machinery and buildings available. National policies encouraged expansion.

There’re pictures of me and my brothers sitting on a new Ford 4000 tractor. Clearly, that modern tractor was the state-of-the-art for a family farm of the time. It’s now a classic at agricultural shows.

1964 was also the year of the debut of Top of the Pops. So, the BBC was busy catching up with the changes that were happening in society. We talk of populism now but pop culture kicked-off at the time I’m recalling.

The idea behind the BBC’s “On Your Farm” was an innovative one. Go out and chat to people about the challenges of their farming world on their working farms. Outside broadcasts were a relief from cultured studio accents and monotone accounts of the great and good. Outside broadcast vehicles and equipment of that era were bulky and sensitive. Making them work in a random field or farmyard must have been a technician’s nightmare. The reward for producers was getting a sense of real life transmitted into the nation’s kitchens and living rooms.

Putting aside the changes in agriculture, the changes in broadcasting are vast. Fortunately, radio hasn’t disappeared. It’s evolved. Now, with an inexpensive handheld mobile and a good microphone anyone can practically go anywhere at any time. Not only that, but given a reasonable internet connection the broadcast can be instant and of superb quality.

So, are we all better informed about agriculture, farming and the British countryside. I’ll let that one rest. One thing is certain. There are more opinions expressed, more often about more subjects than ever before.

I will not say one word about badgers.

Brazilian Air Crash

Two weeks have elapsed since the tragic loss of VoePass Linhas Aéreas flight PTB2283[1].

Reports are that the Brazilian air accident investigators[2] have successfully downloaded recordings from the aircraft Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR).

A detailed analysis of both recordings should provide a replay of the flight events on the fateful day. This means that any flight anomalies can be interpreted. Both actions of the crew and the response of the aircraft can be used to understand the sequence of events.

Those conducting the analysis will need to verify the past serviceability[3] of both recorders. It’s easy to assume that what’s presented in the recovered replay is what happened. However, that depends on the calibration of sensors and the correct functioning of the aircraft’s audio system.

CVRs and FDRs are primarily tools for the investigation of accidents and serious incidents by investigating authorities. Accident recordings can be a rich source of information. It’s not just the obvious contribution technical records make to an investigation. The CVR, via a cockpit area microphone picks up much more than just the speech of the crew and their communications with air traffic. Engines, propellers, aircraft warning systems, aerodynamic noise and the impact of structural failures all produce audio signatures.

I assume that the aircraft operator has a Flight Data Monitoring Program. Such a program can support continuing airworthiness and operational safety of an aircraft. It can be a vital part of a Safety Management System (SMS). Also, the regular analysis of flight data is one way of ensuring that the serviceability of the data acquisition system for an FDR is known.

A preliminary report on this fatal accident is expected in early September. It is up to CENIPA if the publish any transcript of the accident recordings.

VoePass, the airline in question, operates a regional network in Brazil. Not surprisingly it has now come under greater scrutiny by the Brazilian aviation regulator, Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil (ANAC).

It’s worth noting that the Brazilian civil aircraft fleet is one of the largest in the world. It’s a sizable country. Both ANAC and CENIPA are well experienced in addressing the aftermath of a major aviation accident. Expectations are high that the causes of this fatal accident will be fully understood. Appropriately then corrective action will be taken.

[1] https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/409335

[2] Brazilian Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center (CENIPA)

[3] https://www.caa.co.uk/publication/download/12811

Origins and Meanings

Daily writing prompt
Where did your name come from?
View all responses

Doesn’t take a lot of research to answer that question when it comes to my first name. Two key people in the New Testament share my name. John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Because of those biblical references the name John has a version in a wide range of languages. In its origins, it has something to do with being gracious. Although, I can’t say that’s a particular characteristic on mine (as a gracious remark).

Having done a little family history it’s a name that reoccurs down the generations. John was a hugely popular English first name for a long time. Today, it’s well down the rank and order of popular names. Which I think is slightly strange. John is easy to spell. It’s simple to pronounce and has some agreeable variations like: Ivan, Yan, Hans, Sean, Ian, Evan and Jack.

What makes my toes curl is being called Jon or Johnathan or Johnny. Apologies to those known as such but these watering downs of my first name just make me cringe.

What I’ve never properly figured out is the reversal of my name. It’s happened to me more than a few times when checking into hotels. It certainly seems to happen in France. It’s probably because my surname is most often a first name in specific cultures. So, I will arrive at a hotel front desk. Give my name. Then the hotel receptionist will look at me in a quizzical manner. Hum. So, you are not Mr Johns. No, I’m Mr Vincent. Johns can be a version of Jones or Johnson. It’s not my surname. It’s a whole different kettle of fish.

If only my parents had known this and named me Vincent Vincent. That would have squashed any chance of naming in the wrong order. There must be folk who run around with the same first name as surname. Bet they live in a hazy mist of confusion when trying to explain.

Back to Christianity. Yes, Vincent is a Saints name[1]. The far south westerly corner of Portugal is called: Cabo de São Vicente or Cape St. Vincent in English. Martyrdom does get a priest a place name. In his case, it was an especially gruesome martyrdom at the hands of the Romans.

My Vincents extends back to the corners of the English country of Dorset. Where precisely it’s hard to say but there were some of those with that name residing around the Isle of Purbeck[2]. Which is not an isle, by the way. It’s a peninsula. Corfe Castle, and the village that adjoins it goes back to the time of William the Conqueror. That’s about 1000 years of history. Maybe that explains me being short and blue eyed. Who knows?

[1] https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-saint-vincent-martyr/

[2] https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/areas-to-visit/purbeck/

Navigating Speculation in the Age of Abundant Information

Speculation is a natural human response. When faced with a paucity of information we often put together what we know and then make a best guess as to what happened or what might happen. However, wise or unwise it’s not possible to stop speculation. Well, that is assuming that autocratic power doesn’t use force to crush the free exchange of ideas.

Since the rise of the INTERNET, with a proliferation of all kinds of material, it becomes less and less possible to quell speculation. A sprinkling of information can grow into a monstrous conspiracy but equally it can grow into a stepping stone to greater understanding. Living with this two-edged sword is our modern dilemma.

In a more deferential society, that we may have been immediately post WWII, officialdom was accustomed to restricting information. The principal of “need to know” and statements like – wait for the official report – were enough to quell Press intrusion and intense public curiosity. On occasions this deference turned out to be tragic and been an enabler for authorities to cover up dreadful errors and failings. My mind goes to the Hillsborough disaster[1] when I think of tragedies made worse by the manipulation of information.

What’s all this about – you might say. I’m giving a thought to the post- accident scenarios that become more common. When major fatal transport accidents happen to planes, boats and trains there’s an instant demand for detailed information.

This is happening in relation to the recent Brazilian ATR aircraft accident and, this morning, to the sinking of a large modern yacht off the coast of Sicily. Both tragedies seem astonishing in their own way. So much of our technological world works so perfectly, a great deal of the time, that we get accustomed to reliability, safety and security. Almost taking it for granted.

Basic technical information, like registration numbers, type and age of the vehicle all surface quickly after an event. Even numbers of fatalities are verified within a couple of days. What gets the speculators going is the answers to the question – why?

A list of circumstantial factors can soon emerge. The time, the weather, the location and the organisations involved. All of this creates a mix that feeds both intelligent and unintelligent speculation. I’m not saying this is de-facto bad. It’s reality.

What’s all this about? There are reports across the media of the “last words of Brazil plane crash pilots.” This speculation surrounds the words spoken in the cockpit and seem to come from someone’s knowledge of a transcript. How can that be? Through international agreement the independent aviation investigation organisations across the globe are committed to a protection of this type of recorded information (Cockpit Voice Reporter (CVR)[2]). Accident flight recorders are there for the purposes of the investigation of an accident or incident.

Back to our modern dilemma. Is it good or bad that sensitive protected information leaks into the public domain before it’s been thoroughly analysed and properly understood? There is a cost to a dilution of the protection of information. For one, it may discourage the voluntary application of safety enhancements, like fitting a recorder to a plane, boat or train.

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c8m8v3p0yygt

[2] https://skybrary.aero/articles/cockpit-voice-recorder-cvr

A constrained list

Daily writing prompt
What are your top ten favorite movies?
View all responses

I’ve done this before. At least for movies with an aviation theme. My measure of a “good” movie is one that doesn’t dull with repeated viewing. Yes, of course, let’s not take that to absurd limits. I’m more talking about, say once a year, if it comes up on the small screen. I’m going to sit through it and enjoy it.

A top ten selection doesn’t mean there are only ten. There’s a lot of movies that fit into the category of being a pleasant way to spend time on a long flight. Even on a tiny seat back screen the hours pass quickly if the entertainment is really entertaining.

In no particular order, and straight off the top of my head. No great analysis or soul searching.

Apollo 13[1]. An intense drama based on true events that grip my imagination. Especially for those who watched events unfold on a black and white TV. Just think. If you or I had been in the room at ground control – what would we have thought and felt?

Flight of the Phoenix (The original)[2]. That twist about the guy being a model aircraft maker and the backwards and forwards of the emotions of the stranded passengers and crew. Faith is rewarded only at the last moment.

Ice Cold in Alex[3]. Another movie where the protagonists go on a testing journey, and you go with them all the way. It’s engaging and immersive and makes you ask – would I have lost hope? To top that it has a beautiful ending.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind[4]. I know the movie is marmite. For me, loved it from day one. It now looks dated or at least the special effects. Its quality is that its so simple yet so vast.

The Shining[5]. So brilliant in its menace. Everything drags the viewer into the insanity of isolation and a malevolent force that destroys a person. Yet, from the first moment of the film all the signpost point to where its going.

Galaxy Quest[6]. For pure unadulterated entertainment value. It’s a parody. It’s not full of belly laughs. What it has is a wonderful off-beat comic story that is so well done by such good people.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show[7]. Iconic and full of endlessly repeatable lines, it’s a movie that makes me smile time and time again. Didn’t we pass a castle back there?

A Matter of Life and Death[8]. Captivating as we all root for David Niven in his fight to stay on Earth. Soring imaginings wrapped-up in an irresistible warmth.

Passport to Pimlico[9]. A movie with surprising undertones in our post-Brexit situation. Excelling in humour but inscribed with an acute observation of human behaviour.

The Ipcress File[10]. Masterful casualness of Caine as he wrestles with the sinister unknown. Sensemaking of threads of information slowly feed to the viewer make this a powerful movie.

My list has comedy, adventure, horror and thrillers. If I write a list tomorrow maybe half the names would change. Ten is such a limiting number.

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112384/

[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059183/

[3] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053935/

[4] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860/

[5] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/

[6] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/

[7] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073629/

[8] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/

[9] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041737/

[10] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059319/

Keep it simple

Daily writing prompt
Create an emergency preparedness plan.
View all responses

Plans are great. Professionally, I spent years and years making plans of all different shapes and sizes. Some collected dust on shelves, some turned out to be wholly inadequate and others did the trick, at least in saving time, money and potential harm. The often quoted saying “no plan survives contact with the enemy” has a ring of truth to it but it’s a million times worse not to have a plan when faced situations that are likely to be harmful.

It seems obvious to say it. Making plans for other people and making plans for oneself are not the same. Training staff and having a detailed plan of what do in a flight emergency is essential. As a humble passenger, sitting in an assigned seat, I expect an aircraft to safely go where it’s supposed to go. So, am I properly prepared for the one in a million event?

If I can, I always book an aisle seat. Having people climb over you to get to the loo isn’t such a big deal. It’s the elbows of the 20-stone man in the middle seat that’s more annoying.

Listen to the safety briefing. Read the safety card. Count the rows of seat to the nearest exit. Yes, I do. I try not to be that– oh, I’ve heard or seen that a hundred times before type of bore.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to work through my private emergency plan. Closest I’ve come was a flight landing on one engine at Düsseldorf Airport. The heart raced a little when looking out of the aircraft window. I could see airport firefighting vehicles chasing us down the runway.