Issues

Issue 103

June 2025

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A long tank holds dark wastewater that has light bubbles across its surface
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Design & manufacturing
  • Issue 103

Treating wastewater more sustainably

Towns across the UK are growing. Building more houses inevitably means more sewage and wastewater. Innovative collaborative working and an environmentally friendly treatment technology has delivered Scotland’s lowest carbon new wastewater treatment works.
Illustration of a tennis player wearing a white dress and shoes, serving on a grass court, with symbolic imagery of sports technology drawn inside her shadow.
  • Sports & leisure
  • Software & computer science
  • Issue 103

Wimbledon's technology is on point

Wimbledon may be the world’s oldest tennis championships, but it has its proverbial finger on the pulse when it comes to technology. Technologies from Hawk-Eye and body tracking to large language models are enhancing the championships for fans and players alike.
Illustration of A350 planes representing different scales of modelling, including the airflow of computational fluid dynamics and molecules modelled in molecular dynamics.
  • Software & computer science
  • Issue 103

Engineering simulation across scales

Thanks to exponential advances in computing and modelling techniques, engineers can simulate physical processes at multiple scales, from the sub-atomic to whole-aircraft systems. But physics-based models come with a steep computational cost – which data-driven, AI-based approaches could help us crack.

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An illustration shows a red car on the road with blue, green and orange signals around it in different directions. There are grey cars surrounding it.
  • Transport
  • Technology & robotics
  • How does that work?
  • Issue 103

How do self-driving cars navigate roads and traffic?

Autonomous vehicles, or driverless cars, are reshaping the future of transport. They are designed to navigate roads and traffic without human input, using a combination of sensors, software, and AI.
A computer rendering shows a transparent outline of a car in light blue with three green cuboids inside it
  • Transport
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Issue 103

A solid future for electric vehicles

Switching to an electric vehicle is an action that more and more people are taking to curb their carbon emissions. However, the use of lithium-ion batteries does pose issues for drivers, such as their increased weight and range anxiety. But these could be solved by solid-state batteries.

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A woman in a green t-shirt and jeans is inside in a classroom talking to a mix gender group of students. The woman is gesturing as she speaks
  • Opinion
  • Issue 103

Role models for young children mean a fairer future for us all

‘If you can see it, you can be it’ is a phrase often used to highlight the importance of representation and role models. And nowhere is this truer than for women in engineering and technology roles. Alex Knight emphasises why role models in primary schools are critical to a more equitable and inclusive future.
Aman wearing a blue and white checked shirts stands outside and looks at the camera
  • Chemical
  • Environment & sustainability
  • Profiles
  • Issue 103

Processing the bigger picture

Professor Nilay Shah OBE FREng has seen huge changes in the processing industry since he started his career in chemical engineering, from the decline of the traditional petrochemicals industry as a major collaborator, to a growing interest in reducing emissions and the rise of information technology.

A man with brown hair wearing a beige shirt in a soundproof room, looks at an electronic device held in his hands
  • Electricals & electronics
  • How I got here
  • Issue 103

Q&A: Dr Mahmoud Wagih, an award-winning electronics engineer

Dr Mahmoud Wagih is focusing on developing wireless power and sensing technologies using sustainable materials, which could lead to millions of low-waste, maintenance-free smart devices.

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An artistic rendering of a brain, with a grid-like pattern on the grooves of its transparent outer shell, and a purple interior seen through the shell.
  • Software & computer science
  • Electricals & electronics
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 103

Memristors go mainstream: brain-inspired hardware could cut AI’s energy costs

Professor Themis Prodromakis designs neuromorphic AI hardware that takes cues from the brain. Aside from slashing AI’s energy use, it could also make for smarter spacecraft and brain-computer interfaces.

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An electric car driving along a tree-lined road, with a rig of cameras on top.
  • Technology & robotics
  • Transport
  • Innovation Watch
  • Issue 103

Wayve is scaling self-driving AI around the world

UK-headquartered $1 billion AI startup Wayve is solving longstanding challenges for self-driving cars with deep learning. Where will its AI go next?