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National Engineering Laboratory
The National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) was originally one of several large government-funded public research laboratories in the UK, staffed by scientists and engineers of the Scientific Civil Service. Other such laboratories include the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the Laboratory of the Government Chemist (LGC), the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Transport Research Establishment (TRL). NEL was established in 1948 at Thorntonhall under the name Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory (MERL), in the village of the same name near East Kilbride, Glasgow, Scotland. History The location was partly dictated by politics, since it was realised that Scotland did not have a UK public research establishment (in contrast to its defence establishments). There was also debate on whether the new laboratory would be an outpost of the prestigious NPL (which now has its main base in Teddington, just west of London), or have a separate identity. Eventually the latte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Civil Service
His Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as His Majesty's Civil Service, the Home Civil Service, or colloquially as the Civil Service is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports His Majesty's Government, which is led by a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive. As in other states that employ the Westminster political system, His Majesty's Home Civil Service forms an inseparable part of the British government. The executive decisions of government ministers are implemented by HM Civil Service. Civil servants are employees of the Crown and not of the British parliament. Civil servants also have some traditional and statutory responsibilities which to some extent protect them from being used for the political advantage of the party ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws of thermodynamics which convey a quantitative description using measurable macroscopic physical quantities, but may be explained in terms of microscopic constituents by statistical mechanics. Thermodynamics applies to a wide variety of topics in science and engineering, especially physical chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering, but also in other complex fields such as meteorology. Historically, thermodynamics developed out of a desire to increase the efficiency of early steam engines, particularly through the work of French physicist Sadi Carnot (1824) who believed that engine efficiency was the key that could help France win the Napoleonic Wars. Scots-Irish physicist Lord Kelvin was the first to formula ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This society received a royal charter in 1783, allowing for its expansion. Elections Around 50 new fellows are elected each year in March. there are around 1,650 Fellows, including 71 Honorary Fellows and 76 Corresponding Fellows. Fellows are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRSE, Honorary Fellows HonFRSE, and Corresponding Fellows CorrFRSE. Disciplines The Fellowship is split into four broad sectors, covering the full range of physical and life sciences, arts, humanities, social sciences, education, professions, industry, business and public life. A: Life Sciences * A1: Biomedical and Cognitive Sciences * A2: Clinical Sciences * A3: Organismal and Environmental Biology * A4: Cell and Molecular Biology B: Physical, Engineering and I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas George Sopwith
Douglas George Sopwith CBE FRSE MIME Wh.Sch (1906–1970) was a 20th-century Scottish engineer. From 1951 to 1967 he was Director of the National Engineering Laboratory (UK). Life He was born on 13 November 1906, the son of Joseph Sopwith, master mariner. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School. Sopwith gained a Whitworth Scholarship which supported him to study Engineering at the University of Manchester graduating BSc (Tech) in 1928, at the same time becoming a full Whitworth Scholar. He then worked at Manchester Dry Docks. In 1934 the Institute of Mechanical Engineers awarded Sopwith their Thomas Lowe Gray Prize and in 1948 he won their Bernard Hall Prize. His alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1948. He then got a job as Superintendent of the Engineering Divisions at the National Physical Laboratory. In 1951 he was appointed Director of the National Engineering Laboratory where he remained for the rest of his career. In 1957 he was created ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CAD/CAM
CAD/CAM refers to the integration of Computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Both of these require powerful computers. ''CAD'' software helps designers and draftsmen; ''CAM'' "reduces manpower costs" in the manufacturing process. Overview Both ''CAD'' and ''CAM'' are computer-intensive. Although, in 1981, Computervision was #1 and IBM was #2, IBM had a major advantage: its systems could accommodate "eight to 20" users at a time, whereas most competitors only had enough power to accommodate "four to six." ''CAD/CAM'' was described by ''The New York Times'' as a "computerized design and manufacturing process" that made its debut "when Computervision pioneered it in the 1970's." Other 1980s major players in ''CAD/CAM'' included General Electric and Parametric Technology Corporation; the latter subsequently acquired Computervision, which had been acquired by Prime Computer. CAD/CAM originated in the 1960s; an IBM 360/44 was used to build via ''CNC'' th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flexible Manufacturing System
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a manufacturing system in which there is some amount of flexibility that allows the system to react in case of changes, whether predicted or unpredicted. This flexibility is generally considered to fall into two categories, which both contain numerous subcategories. The first category is called as ''Routing Flexibility'' which covers the system's ability to be changed to produce new product types, and ability to change the order of operations executed on a part. The second category is called ''Machine Flexibility'' which consists of the ability to use multiple machines to perform the same operation on a part, as well as the system's ability to absorb large-scale changes, such as in volume, capacity, or capability. Most FMS consist of three main systems: 1) The "Work Machines" which are often automated "CNC machines" are connected by 2) By a "Material handling" system to optimize parts flow and 3) The "Central Control Computer" which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indentured
An indenture is a legal contract that reflects or covers a debt or purchase obligation. It specifically refers to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, it is an instrument used for commercial debt or real estate transaction. Historical usage An indenture is a legal contract between two parties, particularly for indentured labour or a term of apprenticeship but also for certain land transactions. The term comes from the medieval English "indenture of retainer"—a legal contract written in duplicate on the same sheet, with the copies separated by cutting along a jagged (toothed, hence the term "indenture") line so that the teeth of the two parts could later be refitted to confirm authenticity ( chirograph). Each party to the deed would then retain a part. When the agreement was made before a court of law a ''tripartite'' indenture was made, with the third piece kept at the court. The term is used for any kind of deed exec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Measurement Office
The National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO) was an executive agency of the UK Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). Its function were to provide a measurement infrastructure which supports innovation, facilitates fair competition, promotes international trade and protects consumers and the environment. History The agency was created as National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) in 1987 from a reorganisation of the Standards Department when it moved from its previous location in central London to a new, purpose-built facility in Teddington which was officially opened by the Duke of Kent on the 9th of April 1987. Until June 28, 2007 it was an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry. It then became part of the newly formed Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In 2009 an agency moved to Department for Business Innovation and Skills and until April 2015 was known as the National Measurement Office (NMO). In April 2015 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department For Innovation, Universities And Skills
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its head office was based at Kingsgate House, 66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1, which has now been demolished. In June 2009 it was merged into the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It was responsible for adult learning, some parts of further education, higher education, skills, science and innovation. DIUS also had responsibility for a number of Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs). These included the Research Councils: * Medical Research Councilbr>* Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSR* Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC* The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC* The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC* The Science and Technology Facilities Council ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Young, Baron Young Of Graffham
David Ivor Young, Baron Young of Graffham, (27 February 1932 – 9 December 2022) was a British Conservative politician, cabinet minister and businessman. Early life David Young was born into an orthodox Jewish family in London. His father was born in Yurevich, near Minsk, a village that is now in Belarus but was then largely populated by Lithuanian Jews, including Young's own family. The family fled an antisemitic pogrom to England when David's father was 5. In England, Young's father imported flour and later set up as a manufacturer of coats for children. Young went to Christ's College in Finchley and then University College London, to take a law degree as an evening student during his time as an articled clerk to become a solicitor, being admitted to the roll of solicitors in 1955. Business career Having qualified as a solicitor, Young practised for only a year, after which he joined Great Universal Stores as an executive, working for part of that time as an assistant t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
