Engineering sporting brilliance
28 May 2014
Here at Process Engineering we aim to please. As the Brazil World Cup approaches, followed by Wimbledon and the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire, I know there is a good chance many of you will find yourselves in the pub or at a friend’s barbeque (if the weather holds out) huddled around a TV screen.
And at such events, there is often a requirement for good banter – especially during a dull 0-0 draw between England and Costa Rica, or when rain stops play at the tennis.
Consider it done.
Your pub talks will be awash with sporting trivia thanks to the forthcoming June issue of the magazine, which takes a look at some of the processes behind sport.
Perhaps this message is too important just to keep to ourselves and our mates down the pub?
Whenever you see players like Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo and David Luiz running in Nike boots, you can say “ere, did you know the soles of those football boots are made from castor oil?”
Or when you see Andy Murray sat between sets at Centre Court sucking on an energy gel, you could point out that the level of detection required to ensure there are no banned substances in the gel is the equivalent of isolating one second in a 30-year period.
Or as you see Mark Cavendish sprinting down the Champs-Élysées to the finish, you can point out that if he falls off, his head will be alright as it is encased in Kevlar.
Almost everything that we consider to be the cutting-edge technology that allows athletes to go harder and faster for longer comes back to chemistry and chemical engineering.
In a country bedevilled by an engineering skills shortage, perhaps this message is too important just to keep to ourselves and our mates down the pub?
Perhaps we should be shouting about this in our schools too?
