Engineering Programs @ NCC

Important Information for Anyone who Designs, Builds, Owns, Works, or Lives in a Building.

Combining engaging text with captivating images and helpful diagrams, renowned science writer Tom Jackson guides readers through the history of Engineering in the 7th installment of the groundbreaking Ponderables? series.Engineering is all around us. From our bridges, tunnels and skyscrapers, to our cars, computers and smartphones, engineering shapes our world and influences just about everything we see and do. And it's been that way for longer than you might think. From the crudely knapped hand axes of our human ancestor Homo Habilis to the mind-blowing ways in which modern engineering has improved our quality of daily life and expanded the scope of our civilization, the story of engineering is the story of humankind itself. In a series of 100 enlightening articles, this book tells that incredible story by exploring the biggest names, grandest achievements and greatest inventions of the engineering world from prehistory all the way up to present day. Carefully curated, beautifully illustrated and addictively fun, this volume is your ultimate guide to the dreamers, thinkers, tinkerers and builders that make our world.

This is a follow-up book to David MacKay's Sustainable Energy - without the hot air, the no. 2 green/enviro bestseller in 2009 and 2010, which had a large influence on both government policy and public opinion of how we should plan our energy for the future. (Like Sustainable Energy, the new book is available free online for personal non-commercial use, as well as in paperback and hardback.) The steel and aluminium industries alone account for nearly 30% of global emissions, and demand is rising. The world target is to reduce industry's carbon emissions by 50% by 2050. However, projections are that world demand for materials will double by 2050, so to meet our emissions target, we have to achieve a 4-fold reduction in emissions per unit of material used: industry will have to make huge changes - not just to the processes involved, but to the entire product life-cycle. The book presents a vision of change for how future generations can still use steel, cement, plastics etc., but with less impact on the environment. First it's a wake-up call, then it's a solutions manual. The solutions presented here are ahead of the game now. By providing an evidence-based vision of change, the book can play a significant role in influencing our future. The book has been written for: designers; engineers; operations, technical, and business managers; traders; government and NGO officials associated with business, climate, energy, environment, waste, trade and financing. It is relevant to a wide range of industries: energy: steel and aluminium; mining; construction; consulting; manufacturing; transport, automotive, aerospace, marine; architecture. The style of the book is intended for a popular audience as well as the specialist.