This Week in Engineering

Longview Fusion Energy Systems Inc., has signed a memorandum of understanding with civil engineering giant Fluor to build a commercial pilot plant for grid electricity generation, using Longview’s solid-state laser driven, inertial confinement technology. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Venerable diesel engine builder Cummins has introduced a fuel agnostic heavy truck engine that uses an interesting modular design to create a single internal combustion powerplant capable of operating on diesel fuel, biodiesel, and gaseous fuels such as hydrogen, biogas or natural gas. Nonetheless, the fuel infrastructure will be dominated by kerosene type liquid fuels for the foreseeable future. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Reducing the carbon footprint of the chemical industry requires a two-pronged strategy: reduction of fossil fuel use as an energy input, and capture and reuse of carbon dioxide generated by chemical processes themselves. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Mojave, California-based Stratolaunch has announced the successful test of an air-launched, hypersonic uncrewed test vehicle, the Talon TA-1. As a private company, Stratolaunch can be contracted to gather specific data in hypersonic flight in support of customer-specific aircraft and missile programs. This proprietary data can form an important and valuable source of intellectual property for air framers and give them a competitive advantage in what will almost certainly be a crowded and lucrative hypersonic market space. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Ocean shipping under sail may be making a comeback. Cargill, a very large global producer of bulk agricultural commodities, has partnered with BAR Technologies and MC shipping to retrofit a large cargo vessel with vertical airfoils to augment propeller propulsion. The ship, Pyxis Ocean, has been retrofitted with what BAR Technologies calls WindWings, and has been under test at sea since August 2023. The 37m tall, solid, steerable sails are deployed electrically from the bridge, and once deployed, onboard sensors adjust the sails for an optimal configuration. The goal is not to replace diesel propulsion, but to supplement it, allowing lower throttle settings to maintain a desired steady-state speed. Under optimum conditions, BAR reports that the Pyxis Ocean achieves fuel savings of 11 tons per day. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

With over 150 countries signing a Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030, tracking will be essential worldwide. A purpose-built satellite, MethaneSAT, has been launched to do just that, with the satellite a project of the Environmental Defense Fund. Data will be available, to everyone, worldwide. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

According to Kelly Blue Book, 2023 was a record year for U.S. electric vehicle sales, with 1.2 million vehicles delivered, resulting in a 7.6% total U.S. market share, up from 5.9% in 2022. Fourth-quarter EV sales were up year-over-year by 40% — big numbers, but lower than the 49% year-over-year gain in the third quarter. Cox automotive predicts that 2024 will see EV market share in the U.S. reach 10% of all vehicles. Growth is slowing and dealer inventories of electric vehicles in America are climbing, and some manufacturers such as Ford have begun offering incentives to move EVs. A fundamental reason in the reduction in electric vehicle sales incentives in America and Europe was a persistently high MSRP of electric vehicles, caused by the high cost of batteries. With high interest rates making the financing of expensive purchases even more expensive, buying with persistent inflation in other consumer goods, but optional electric vehicles worldwide may be slower than predicted. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Two major developments in the Chinese aerospace industry were revealed at the recent Singapore airshow. United Aircraft Group announced a tilt rotor UAV in the six-ton class, capable of carrying cargo and passengers for both civilian and military applications, and the COMAC C919 airliner received another order for 40 aircraft for Tibet Airlines, in a special high-altitude configuration. The C919 is crucial for the success of the Chinese civilian aircraft industry, competing in the most important single aisle market segment in commercial aviation, currently dominated by the Airbus A320 series and the Boeing 737. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Carbon capture technology company Spiritus used a novel adsorbent-based direct air capture technology for CO2 in a unique way: to offset the carbon footprint of Taylor Swift’s recent transpacific jet flight from Tokyo to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. Can it be scaled to keep the internal combustion engine relevant? * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

A joint program by the U.S. Air Force and Xwing Corporation has demonstrated fixed wing cargo carrying capability in a point-to-point flight between two airbases using a specially modified Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Beijing-based Betavolt New Energy Technology Company has developed an atomic energy source, miniaturized into a form factor approximately ½ inch square and less than ¼ inch thick. The first production batteries, called BV 100, are expected to have a lifetime of 50 years, delivering 1/10 of a milliwatt of power at 3 Volts. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

In a significant and unexpected move, Ford Motor Company has announced production cuts of the all-electric F150 Lightning, assembled at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan. Light trucks and sport utility vehicles are the most sold, highest margin vehicles in America, and industry analysts attribute slow EV adoption in this segment to several factors. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

NASA’s new X-59 supersonic research aircraft is poised to crack the most vexing problem of commercial faster-than-sound travel: Sonic boom. The unique shape of the aircraft manages shockwave formation and is anticipated to reduce the window-rattling noise of sonic booms to a thump no louder than the slamming of a car door. If it works, a new generation of supersonic commercial airliners may be free of current FAA restrictions over supersonic operations over populated areas. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

For a decade after the Wright Brothers’ 1903 flight, inventors, dreamers and entrepreneurs operating out of barns and sheds all over the world built radical prototypes to turn aviation from a dangerous hobby into a practical proposition. Today, there’s a modern equivalent of that excitement in the electric vertical takeoff and landing space. The eVTOL industry has reached an important milestone, with the first commercial certification of a battery electric VTOL aircraft in China. This summer’s Paris Olympics is expected to feature regular eVTOL service between Paris area airports, contingent on European aviation authority certification, which is expected. If successful, this may open the floodgates to low altitude, urban air mobility in cities worldwide. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

In a blockbuster takeover, Nippon Steel has bought the iconic American producer United States Steel in a $14 billion deal. The combined company will have a global steel output of 86 million tons and is part of Nippon Steel’s program to achieve 100 million tons of global annual production. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

*This is our last episode of 2023! We'll be back again the week of January 8th.* Stockholm, Sweden based Corpower Ocean has developed a standalone generation source the company calls a Wave Energy Converter, a floating generator unit tethered to a seabed anchor. The converter is essentially a floating bouy, resembling a giant sport fishing float or “bobber”, containing a novel mechanism. As the converter rises and falls relative to its seabed anchor, the vertical motion is converted by a rack and pinion mechanism into rotation, driving generators. The technology has been tested in real-world conditions since 2018 and has little environmental impact on marine life. Ocean wave power resources globally are approximately 500 GW, enough to potentially supply 10% of the world’s electricity needs. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

A new set of Biden administration restrictions on foreign sourced EV raw materials and components may constrain production growth just as the need for zero emission vehicles to meet EPA requirements increases. With China controlling several key minerals, the race is on to develop alternate sources, but current tax credit regimes have MSRP restrictions, putting engineers in a classic bind: increased input costs, without the ability to pass those costs on to the consumer. The regulatory regime will be a pivotal factor in the rate of EV adoption in America, and the 2024 election will greatly determine where those EV batteries will be made. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Two Québec, Canada-based companies, Limosa and Airmedic, have announced a partnership to develop an electric VTOL medevac aircraft that combines the benefits of helicopters and fixed wing aircraft for this time critical mission profile. The aircraft, made by Limosa, is called Limomedic and will be operated by medevac service provider Airmedic for emergency services in Québec. Canada has many isolated communities which are difficult to access with fixed wing aircraft and an electric VTOL solution with fixed wing speed could save lives in remote areas. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

The rapid, global push toward electric vehicles has put a premium on extraction of several critical minerals. Lithium is the most important, but others such as copper, cobalt, nickel and other metals will be needed in large quantities to facilitate large-scale battery production. Caterpillar and Freeport McMorRan have announced a project to automate the company’s fleet of ore hauling heavy equipment at the Baghdad, Arizona copper mine. A first in U.S. mining, the fleet of 33 CAT 793 machines will be converted, with electrification expected in the future. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.

Numerous government-supported and private launch providers are in the market today, and from a cost perspective, the current leader is SpaceX. But, on November 2nd, China’s iSpace launched and landed their Hyperbola-2 test stage in a successful hop that demonstrated the company’s throttleable engine technology and precision landing capability. * * * Want to watch this podcast as a video? This Week in Engineering is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as End of the Line, Designing the Future, Manufacturing the Future, and the Engineering Roundtable.