Tech To The Future

There is intense interest in the aerospace industry to bring the hybrid electrification from cars, trains and ships into aircraft. This talk will explain why hybrid cars are “better” than conventional cars and explore some other applications that benefit from the “hybrid” approach. Jon will go into how a hybrid aircraft might be arranged and the potential benefits. We will discuss the technology gap before we can make hybrid airliners a reality and show the ongoing research efforts to meet the challenge with examples from the lab and even the possibility of a totally electric airliner

What stores a third of all carbon on Earth? Rainforests. What is one of the greatest threats to this crucial carbon store? The answer may not be what you expect: climbing plants called lianas are increasing tree death, causing carbon to be lost to the atmosphere where it contributes to global warming. Surprised? You are not alone: lianas have been overlooked for years because they are difficult to survey. I’ll be talking about how I used drones to develop a new method for mapping lianas, and how this can be used to protect our rainforest trees, safeguard carbon stores, and slow global warming.

Donal McNally has largely worked on the biomechanics of the spine and what can be used to repair it. His other work has taken him to examine impact injuries, for example quite how and with what methods you have to hit a bone before it breaks and using that to improve crash test dummies. Tonight, he will be focusing on his recent work on Heart Valve Repair Implants, something vital and lifesaving for our slowly ageing population, as well as those born with unfortunate defects.