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Innocent Gininda shares his journey to becoming a registered Professional Engineer (PrEng), emphasizing the importance of mentorship, early preparation, and understanding ECSA requirements. He offers advice to aspiring PrEngs, highlighting the value of diverse feedback and a positive mindset. My journey to becoming a registered Professional Engineer (PrEng) culminated successfully in November 2024. I was fortunate to begin my career at a company with a Commitment and Undertaking (C&U) Agreement with ECSA and a robust mentorship program. This commitment to training engineers to the standard required for Professional Registration provided me with essential resources and a structured path to track my experience against ECSA requirements. Early exposure to these expectations instilled a positive outlook on registration and solidified my desire to achieve this milestone. My views on Professional Registration have remained consistently positive throughout this journey. Working alongside ...

NEWS: Scientists can now build structures with swarms of flying drones

Researchers say technology could be used to erect or repair buildings in difficult spots like disaster zones or in the upper reaches of skyscrapers.



They say the technology could be used to erect or repair buildings in difficult spots like disaster zones or in the upper reaches of skyscrapers. The drones cooperate to deposit layers of material guided by a digital design, adapting their movements as they go. They are fully autonomous while flying but are monitored by a human controller.

“We’ve proved that drones can work autonomously and in tandem to construct and repair buildings, at least in the lab,” said research leader Prof. Mirko Kovac. “Our solution is scalable and could help us to construct and repair buildings in difficult-to-reach areas in the future.” The fleet consists of “BuilDrones”, which deposit materials during flight, and quality-controlling “ScanDrones” that measure their output and help control them.

Throughout the build, the drones assess the printed geometry and adapt their behaviour to meet the specifications to within five millimetres. 


A BuilDrone and a ScanDrone built this 2m-high tower of fast-curing foam (University College London/BRE)


Researchers had the fleet build a 2m-high cylinder made up of 72 layers of a polyurethane-based foam, and an 18cm cylinder composed 28 layers of a bespoke cementitious material.

Co-investigators include Robert Stuart-Smith, Stefan Leutenegger, Vijay Pawar, Richard Ball, Chris Williams and Paul Shepherd, and their research teams at University College London, the University of Bath, the University of Pennsylvania, Queen Mary University of London, and the Technical University of Münich).

The project is supported by Swedish contractor Skanska and UK consulting engineer Buro Happold, as well as UK research organisation BRE.

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