Archive for the ‘Engineering’ Category
A drop in the ocean
In July 2007, Hilary Clinton, then a candidate for US President proposed a no-flight zone over Darfur, to prevent the Sudanese government from bombing their own citizens. It was an attempt to call to a halt what has been described as the first genocide of the 21st Century. At the same time though, scientists from Boston University made an astonishing discovery beneath the ground of Darfur, which had from 2003 to 2007 been the site of 200,000 killings in a brutal civil war. Read the rest of this entry »
The Tallest Building In The World
This is the text of a phone interview with Bill Baker, structural engineer on the Burj Khalifa and partner of S.O.M, on the day after the Burj Khalifa was inaugurated.
What was the launch like?
It was a pretty amazing launch. For structural engineers to see all this fire coming of your building is pretty shocking but it was an incredible event. There was this tremendous sight of sky-divers coming down. I couldn’t tell whether they were jumping off the building but I was told later they weren’t base-jumping. Then there was a light fountains. Then they had the lighting off, then spotlights. Then all the fireworks coming off the tower. It was incredible.
These Boys Take Some Beating
They could’ve just said, ‘we pay engineers well in Norway and value their contribution to society’ but they didn’t. This instead is how they advertise for young engineers on the other side of the North Sea. Hydro is a global, integrated aluminium and hydroelectric power company which is as old as the Norwegian state itself. In the early twentieth century when the company was founded Norway was one of the poorest nations in Europe. Now thanks largely to the way it has managed its power resources, distributed its wealth and invested in light and heavy technology, it is one of the richest. Our wealth from the North Sea was used to fill in for the decrease in taxation revenue and increase in our tax burden prompted by the decision to let heavy industry go to the wall and de-regulate our financial markets ; the very system which has just reared up and bit us in the knackers.
Mind you, they can’t get enough of our football on their TV so I suppose these things even out…
