Topping out for new engineering hub at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

th288 — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 15:29:15 +0000

Tom Dyson, James Dyson’s brother, fulfilled the duty by pouring a bottle of Elgoods Cambridge Bitter onto the roof to mark the event.

He was supported by Bob Ensch, Area Managing Director for Morgan Sindall, the main contractor for the new £13.3 million development, and Angus Stephen, Operations Director for the ̽��ֱ��’s Estate Management.

̽��ֱ��building was made possible by a £6million donation from the James Dyson Foundation. ̽��ֱ��Foundation has also funded the development of a design centre for undergraduate engineering students.

̽��ֱ��James Dyson Building for Engineering will house postgraduates and support world leading research in areas including advanced materials, smart infrastructure, electric vehicles, and efficient internal combustion systems for cars.

̽��ֱ��building has a central nervous system of sensors built into it, giving those working inside it a chance to use their surroundings for research and teaching.

Specialist knowledge on research strategies and funding advice will be available on-site, supported by Philip Guildford Director of Research at the Department of Engineering.

Research undertaken in the hub will build on a rich tradition of invention: it was at Cambridge that Harry Riccardo pioneered the internal combustion engine and Frank Whittle revolutionised travel with his jet engine invention.

̽��ֱ��Department is located at the heart of the Cambridge cluster, which has created over 1,500 spin-out companies over the last decade.

Technology we take for granted, including: Concorde ‘droop’ nose design, the microchips developed by ARM that now power 90% of the world’s mobile phones, and the pregnancy test.

James Dyson said: “Developing the intellectual property that will help Britain succeed in the global technology race depends on applying our brightest minds to ambitious and exciting research projects. I’m hopeful that this new space for Britain’s best engineers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge will catalyse great technological breakthroughs that transform how we live”.

A topping out ceremony has been held for the James Dyson Building for Engineering in central Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. For image use please see separate credits above.

Yes

Ground-breaking moment as James Dyson Building comes to life

pbh25 — Fri, 19 Dec 2014 15:08:32 +0000

Construction has begun on a hi-tech ’living building’ that will allow engineers to ‘ask how it is feeling’ and get a reply.

̽��ֱ��James Dyson Building will have a central nervous system of sensors built into it, giving those working inside it a chance to use their surroundings for research and teaching.

It has been made possible by a donation of £8 million from the James Dyson Foundation to create a technology hub at the heart of Cambridge that will provide the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s brightest engineers with some of the world’s most advanced engineering laboratories.

̽��ֱ��new building will house postgraduates and provide spaces to allow students to share concepts; incubator units will let students conduct intensive research. Specialist knowledge on research strategies and funding advice will be available on-site.

̽��ֱ��building will support world leading investigation into areas such as carbon nanotubes, electric vehicles, and efficient internal combustion systems for cars.

At the ground-breaking ceremony Professor David Cardwell, Head of the Department of Engineering, spoke of the significance of the project to support world-leading research and the benefits of installing instrumentation into the fabric of the building.

“It is a very exciting time for engineering. Modern day construction is extremely impressive. There is so much opportunity to use the fabric of the building in terms of research and generating data and teaching students,” said Professor Cardwell. “ ̽��ֱ��modern way is to bring the building to life and this is a fantastic opportunity. It’s the sign of the future and we will be doing much more of this sort of thing as we move forward. There are very exciting times ahead.”

Sensing tools developed at the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) will provide the ‘central nerves’.

All three speakers at the ceremony, including Bob Ensch, Area Director at Morgan Sindall, the main contractors for the project, and Angus Stephen, Director of Operations for the ̽��ֱ��'s Estate Management, acknowledged the collaboration with CSIC to instrument the building and the opportunity the new resource will offer to facilitate transformative and life-changing technological breakthroughs.

A number of the foundation piles have been instrumented with CSIC fibre-optic sensors which will provide data, including the temperature gradient of the piles, the temperature of the concrete as it sets and strain measurements as the load changes during construction.

Bob Ensch spoke of the ceremony being a defining moment in the construction process and the implications of instrumenting the piles: “Fibre optics are like the nerves in the body and we are on our way to connecting the building up to create a living lab.”

Additional technologies will be added to the fabric of the four-storey, low-carbon and low-energy building as the project, due to be completed in November 2015, progresses to provide a picture of how the structure is behaving. Dr Mohammed Elshafie, Co-Investigator at CSIC, said: “This is a chance to populate a new building in our own back yard with a range of sensing technologies so, when CSIC is working with students and industry, we can demonstrate our sensing devices operating in real time. Installing CSIC sensing technologies transforms the building from a passive block of material into a living creature. We will be able to ask the building how it is feeling and the building will be able to reply.”

Angus Stephen, highlighted the innovative features of the structure to create carbon-free electricity and said the James Dyson Building will be the lowest energy user across the ̽��ֱ��’s estate.

̽��ֱ��James Dyson Building will be complemented by a state-of-the-art Dyson Centre of Engineering Design in the Inglis Building. ̽��ֱ��event was attended by members of the Dyson family.

Image L-R: Greg Smith (Site Manager, Morgan Sindall), Professor Dame Ann Dowling (President, Royal Academy of Engineering), Angus Stephen (Director of Operations, Estate Management), Professor David Cardwell (Head of Department of Engineering), Tom and Dore Dyson, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz ( ̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge), Bob Ensch (Area Director, Morgan Sindall).

Ground-breaking ceremony for James Dyson Building marks "very exciting times for engineering".

̽��ֱ��modern way is to bring the building to life and this is a fantastic opportunity.

Professor David Cardwell, Head of the Department of Engineering

Match funding announced for Dyson Centre for Engineering Design

̽��ֱ��ground-breaking comes as the Higher Education Funding Council For England (HEFCE) has announced £2.65 million match-funding for the Dyson Centre of Engineering Design.

̽��ֱ��money was released as part of a £200 million nationwide initiative to fund science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching capital projects during 2015-16.

Making the announcement last week Vince Cable, Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “Inspiring young people to take up STEM courses is vital to the success of the UK economy. This investment will mean world-class teaching facilities to build tomorrow's skilled workforce. It's just one way we are ensuring the UK remains a world leader in science and research.”

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page. For image rights, please see the credits associated with each individual image.

Yes

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - James Dyson Foundation

Topping out for new engineering hub at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Ground-breaking moment as James Dyson Building comes to life