Category Archives: Engineering

Library STEM Subject Guides

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Finding the right sources of information for any subject can be tricky, given the vast amount of resources there are available to you via our vast range on online resources. This is especially true of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine (or STEM) disciplines. With that in mind, our Academic Librarians have created a set of online guides tailored to these subject areas.

You can find the complete A-Z list of all the guides by following this link:

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/library/subjectguides/

Each link gives you a concise run-down of everything you need to know about finding information for your subject, including the contact details for the Academic Librarian responsible for the School/Department concerned.

Be sure to visit and bookmark the links for future reference – you’ll certainly find them useful!

Pioneering Women of Loughborough for British Science Week 2019

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This week is British Science Week, and to mark the occasion
the Women’s Engineering Society at Loughborough University have launched a poster campaign across campus utilising images and information courtesy of our very own archives.

A Pioneering Woman of Loughborough showcases the life and work of two remarkable Alumni who both graduated from the then Loughborough Engineering College in 1922 – Verena Holmes and Claudia Parsons.

Verena Holmes became the first woman to be elected to the prestigious Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1924, and was President of the Women’s Engineering Society in 1931.

Along with Verena Holmes and Dorothea Travers, Claudia Parsons was one of the first women to be admitted to the Loughborough Engineering College, and went on to become the first woman as well to circumnavigate the world in 1938.

In her honour, the University launched a series of Memorial Lectures aimed at raising the profile of women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, given by such luminaries as
Maggie Aderin Pocock, Kate Bellingham, Helen Czers and Jessica Wade, who delivered last year’s lecture.

The University further honoured Claudia by naming its newest Hall of Residence (to be opened this September) after her.

The photographs and accompanying information detailed for the campaign were provided by the University Archivist Jenny Clark, who is based here in the Library.

STEAM Week on Campus 11th-19th March

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Need to let off a bit of STEAM before the end of term? Look no further!

STEAM is a week of inter-disciplinary adventures, involving Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths. From creating your own light-work, artist talks and a games jam to building a Future Machine and experiencing an Algoraves electronic music and light pojections night in LSU.

All these events are FREE but workshops must be booked in advance. For booking information and full timetable of events, visit this link.

100 Years of the Royal Air Force

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Today marks the 100th anniversary celebrations of the creation of the Royal Air Force, highlighted by a flypast over Buckingham Palace of 100 RAF aircraft past and present, including the iconic Supermarine Spitfire and the new F35 Lightning stealth fighter, as well as the Red Arrows display team.

The RAF was formed 100 years ago on 1st April 1918 when the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged to create the world’s first independent air service. It has since played a pivotal role in British and indeed world history, not least of all during World War 2 in the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

Loughborough University has a long and proud tradition in the area of aeronautics through its Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering. It began life as the Loughborough Aeronautical College, which obtained a contract in 1942 to teach Fleet Air Arm engineers using many of the operational types of RAF aircraft as instructional airframes, including Spitfires and Hurricanes.

The department is now housed in purpose built facilities that includes laboratories, workshops, wind-tunnels a flight simulator and a technical display area where a BAE Systems Hawk jet plane – a type still in use by the RAF – takes pride of place.

It goes without saying that in support of this department the Library has a vast cornucopia of resources about aircraft design, engineering and history, as well as many books in our history section detailing the exploits of the RAF in the many conflicts they have operated in during the last century, from World War 1 to the post 9-11 era. Why not visit our subject guides to find out more?

Database Trial – DETAIL Inspiration

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Our second database trial for June is also likely to interest architects and building designers.

DETAIL Inspiration is an image and reference database that uses precise, relevant visual inspirations to support architects in their search for construction solutions. With more than 3,300 projects from the last 32 years, DETAIL inspiration is a highly valuable source of research and inspiration for architects, giving access to reference photographs, sketches, technical product information, within a clearly structured search and filter system.

All project descriptions are available for download. The database design is optimized for smart phone, tablet and desktop.

To begin searching go to www.detail-online.com/inspiration – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 24th June 2017.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Database Trial – Birkhäuser Building Types Online

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Architects, artists and building engineers may find our latest database trial of great interest to them.

The database Building Types Online draws on the expertise and the high international standing of Birkhäuser and comprises the knowledge and content of selected Birkhäuser manuals in typological order. The approx. 850 case studies are documented with texts by authors who are experts in their fields and with approx. 5000 architectural drawings of high quality as well as 2000 photographs of the buildings.

Using a systematic and analytical search and browse structure that allows all kinds of combinations, the database provides solutions for numerous design tasks in study and practice. This tool will facilitate research on building typology and architectural design assignments.

Thematic articles provide background information on individual building types or explain specific aspects such as lighting, acoustics, urban considerations, access types or planning processes. The users, be they in academia, architectural practice or students, will be offered a comprehensive online resource on building types based on seminal buildings of the past 30 years. Housing as one of the most frequent design tasks forms a large focus of the database.

To begin searching go to www.degruyter.com/db/bdt – access is via IP address and the trial runs to 31st July 2017.

A user guide is available at: https://www.degruyter.com/staticfiles/pdfs/User_Guide_Building_Types_Online_EN.pdf

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn s.c.corn@lboro.ac.uk with your comments.

Claudia Parsons Memorial Lecture

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The Annual Claudia Parsons Memorial Lecture, given on Monday 13th March by Dr Emily Grossman commemorates one of first women in the country to graduate in engineering, and was accompanied by a display created by University Archivist Jenny Clark.

Claudia Parsons studied Automobile Engineering at Loughborough College, the predecessor of the University, from 1919-22.  From documents held in the University Archives we know exactly which Workshops she was assigned to for practical engineering training and how she fared in her exams. Claudia was also an active member of the first College Union and took an enthusiastic part in College life, acting, dancing, and learning to swim, as she recounts in her autobiography Century Story.

In the 1930s  a trip she began by chauffering friends around America turned  into a motor  journey round the world and many adventures. Claudia thus became the first woman to circumnavigate the world by car and later published a book Vagabondage about it. During the Second World War Claudia Parsons worked in a munitions factory and later at the Ministry of Labour.

Previous Claudia Parsons Lectures have been given by Maggie Aderin Pocock, Kate Bellingham and Helen Czerski. A selection of pictures of the display can be found on the Library’s Facebook page below:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/loughboroughuniversitylibrary/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1152039124906743

World Space Week 2016

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wsw16This week is the start of World Space Week, the worldwide annual celebration of the marvels and mysteries of astronautics, astronomy and all things cosmic.

Launched specifically on 4th October by the UN General Assembly to mark the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, in 1957, and the signing of the ‘Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies’ on October 10th 1967, World Space Week has been held every year since 1999, and seeks primarily to educate people about the positives of space exploration and encourage better public understanding and support for space programmes.

This year’s theme is “Remote Sensing: Enabling Our Future,” an inward looking theme which celebrates Earth Observation from Space for the betterment of the human race, highlighting a host of classic Earth Observation missions such as the U.S. Landsat mission, the work of intergovernmental groups such as GEOSS Group on Earth Observations and emphasizes applications such as environment and agriculture monitoring, land use mapping and new uses such as location based services.

Fittingly, we have access to the National Geophysical Data Centre database, which provides the latest satellite geophysical data from the Sun to the Earth and Earth’s sea floor and solid earth environment, including Earth observations from space, and the NASA Scientific & Technical Information database, which includes up-to-date information about NASA’s satellite projects. We also hold a large number of books about satellite communications & navigation among our collection, along with a good selection of books about space & space exploration  in general.

To find out more about World Space Week, visit their website here:

http://www.worldspaceweek.org/

Database Trial – Polymer Library

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19985223,192x192,r-2We’re re-trialling a database this month that may be of considerable interest to chemists and engineers alike.

The Polymer Library is the world’s largest abstracts database dedicated to plastics, rubber, polymer composites and adhesives. Compiled and written by an expert team, this database sources information from journals, conference proceedings, books and reports to give you a comprehensive look at the information in your field. Find out more about the database and what it can do for you.

To obtain the trial details please login with your University username and password at https://internal.lboro.ac.uk/diss/lb/uniwide/webpages/Trials.html

Access is valid to 6th October 2016.

We welcome feedback – good or bad – on this trial, please contact Steve Corn.