Barrichello's race engineer honoured with doctorate - 23-11-2007 - 11:41

Rubens Barrichello's senior race engineer at Honda, Jock Clear, is to receive the honorary title of doctor of engineering by his former university.

Clear, who graduated from Heriot-Watt University with a degree in mechanical engineering, will be presented with the honour for his "outstanding success in applying engineering science in the most demanding and competitive of environments".

Following his graduation in 1987, Clear went on to work as a design draftsman at Lola Cars before moving to the Benetton F1 team as Head of Composite Design.

After a stint as senior designer at Lotus, Clear made the transition into race engineering within the same team.

In 1994 he joined the Williams team as race engineer to David Coulthard and then Jacques Villeneuve when he took the 1997 FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.

Clear first took responsibility for former Ferrari driver Barrichello in 2006.

The honorary title was also bestowed on Clear because he acted as a role model for young engineers. At Honda he is the leader of the team's Human Performance and Young Driver Programmes.

New engineering chief for Renault - 19-11-2007 - 14:39

Car manufacturer Renault has appointed Nadine Leclair as its senior vice president of vehicle engineering development.

She will fill the role previously held by Michel Faivre-Duboz who is to become Renault's senior vice president of supply chain and logistics in the new year.

Ms Leclair, 49, will be moving from her current position as technical range manager for the Megane car and has worked at the original equipment manufacturer's engineering department since 1984.

Earlier this year, Renault announced huge expansion within Europe, with new engineering and design centres being built in Romania as well as expanding its Nordic market.

Alain Margaritopol, managing director of Renault Nordic, said at the time: "The ambitions of Renault Commitment 2009 announced in February 2006 require that we review our distribution policy in a number of key markets, for greater service quality for our customers and greater growth for our brands.

"We count on being able to give stronger support to the network and allowing dealers to be more aggressive in their marketing. In addition to an expanded and renewed product line, Renault dealers will see the introduction of the new Logan model."

Wagon appoints new chief - 19-11-2007 - 14:38

Automotive engineering firm Wagon has announced the appointment of a new chief executive.

At the end of the month, Pierre Vareille, who currently fills the role, will be stepping down and Jurgen von Heyden will fill his shoes.

Mr von Heyden was previously president of the Body and Glass division of Dura Automotive and will officially take up his new post on January 2nd.

Throughout December finance director Richard Cotton will be acting CEO of the firm.

The move is part of a company-wide restructuring programme which was enforced after it began to lose money. Figures from the company last month show, however, that trading in the first half of the year was on track.

Pierre Vareille will head to France where he will take up a new position at FCI, a worldwide supplier of electronic and electrical connectors.

Wagon was created in 1918 to manufacture freight railways and switched to automotive engineering in 1979.

Volvo seat 'best of new' - 14-11-2007 - 11:10

An automotive engineering solution to keep children safe in cars has scooped an award for new technologies.

The Volvo Cars booster seat has received one of Popular Science's annual Best of What's New awards for the system for children who are too big for the baby seat.

Integrated into the vehicle, the two-step booster cushion boats and extended inflatable curtain, stronger side body structure and load limiting seat belts.

Earning the award is the result of not only of the initial studies which gave birth to the seat originally - it was first seen in Volvo's 2001 Safety Concept Car as a way of getting children into better positions with regards t their safety belt.

The design has since been tweaked and refined and was recently launched in the XC70 crossover wagon at the Geneva Motor Show.

Other winners in the automotive category included BMW's sun-reflecting leather made by embedding metallic pigment during the tanning process and a system that gives the driver access to their mp3 player, phone and other electronic devices which can use Bluetooth.

New material could make hydrogen car cheaper - 13-11-2007 - 11:11

A reasonably priced hydrogen powered car has come a step closer to reality following the discovery of a new hydrogen storage material.

Scientists at the University of Virginia have discovered a material that absorbs and stores more than twice as much hydrogen as previous materials.

"In terms of hydrogen absorption, these materials could prove a world record,” Adam B. Phillips of the University of Virginia said.

"Most materials today absorb only seven to eight per cent of hydrogen by weight, and only at cryogenic [extremely low] temperatures. Our materials absorb hydrogen up to 14 per cent by weight at room temperature."

As climate change and environmental efficiency become more important to legislators and customers, automotive engineers have increasingly been considering cleaner and more efficient ways to power cars.

The LA car show is exhibiting a hydrogen powered car, the Honda FCX concept, the first fuel-cell vehicle for every day drivers.

Meanwhile, scientists at Penn State University have developed a way of using bacteria to extract hydrogen from biodegradable substances.

Expansion plans for Rolls and Bentley - 07-11-2007 - 15:50

British car manufacturers Bentley and Rolls-Royce are both planning to expand production thanks to booming business.

The Iconic cars, commonly associated with the super-rich, appear to be in great demand with both companies saying that they will need to increase the number of vehicles they make in order to satisfy their customers.

Bentley board member Stuart McCullough said recently that the company was now looking at how it will operate on a bigger scale.

"In four years our volume has grown from 1,000 to 10,000 cars," he said.

"The current volume is closer to where we want it to be, but we may have to change the way we produce cars.

"At Crewe [Bentley's factory] we currently work a two-shift system, so as an example we could go to a three-shift system."

And Rolls-Royce also said that it needed to ramp-up its production operations. A second production line is planned to run in parallel with the existing one, allowing it to double production rates of its popular Phantom model.

The company said that it had sold 22 per cent more Phantoms last year than it had anticipated.