Latest news with #engineer
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Climate
- Wall Street Journal
The Hidden Engineering Behind The ‘Hurricane-Proof' Florida Town
At Babcock Ranch, the roads are designed to flood during a hurricane. The town's engineer explains how this and other hidden tactics keep the town safe even during a hundred-year storm. Photo Illustration: MacKenzie Coffman
CBC
2 days ago
- Science
- CBC
These massive waves used to be the stuff of legend
Once dismissed as a maritime myth, rogue waves are now being recorded in Canadian waters more than ever. A network of AI-powered buoys off the coast of B.C. is capturing these giants in real time. Johanna Wagstaffe meets the engineer developing new tools to understand — and maybe one day forecast — their chaotic nature.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Desperate plea for Penny Wong to save Aussie dad after four years trapped in a Middle Eastern hellhole - but all he's getting is radio silence: 'Humiliation, torture room'
A Sydney father and mechanical engineer who was detained in an Iraqi prison for almost four years is still in limbo as conflict in the Middle East escalates. Robert Pether had been living in a heavily-guarded facility on the outskirts of Baghdad since he was arrested while helping the war-ravaged country rebuild on April 7, 2021. It was confirmed in early June that he would be released on bail, with the breakthrough lauded by Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the time. 'His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the Prime Minister and myself,' Senator Wong said. 'I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case.' But, three weeks later, concerns have grown regarding the engineer's welfare after the Albanese government was accused of leaving him stranded. Senator David Shoebridge told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday that the engineer's security was even more at risk amid the violent escalations in the Middle East. 'I'm advised that, since DFAT accompanied Robert from his prison release on June 5, there's been effectively no communication,' he said. The Greens politician, who has long been an advocate for Mr Pether, said this was 'extremely troubling', particular with the heightened tensions in the region. 'Robert was already in a perilous situation, having been held to ransom by the Iraqi authorities. Of course, his security is even more at risk with the ongoing violent escalations in the region,' he said. Shoebridge said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) had previously kept close communication with Mr Pether prior to his release. 'The dramatic change in behavior is hard to understand,' he said. 'In the three weeks since Robert's release, he's been in an incredibly vulnerable situation with no financial support, no safe accommodation and no identity documents. 'At a minimum, you would expect Australia's embassy in Iraq to be urgently addressing these basic needs so that Robert is safe and he has his documentation in place.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted DFAT regarding the status of Australia's embassies in the Middle East and its alleged lack of support for Mr Pether. Shoebridge said Mr Pether should not be left vulnerable. Since he was released on bail, an Australian senator has sounded the alarm that Mr Pether (pictured) has not received support from the federal government 'It's moments of crisis where you need support from Australia's network of embassies, which has only been highlighted in Robert's case,' he said. 'That, however, is not a sufficient reason to leave somebody with such clear vulnerability as Robert without the support they need. 'Robert's facing an ongoing travel ban from the Iraqi authorities who continue to hold him as a form of commercial blackmail.' Pether had travelled to Baghdad in 2021 to discuss a multimillion-dollar blowout in the cost of building a new headquarters for the government-owned Central Bank of Iraq. He was charged with deception and was sentenced to five years behind bars and a $16million fine. Pether has always maintained his innocence. Mr Pether shared his fears he would die in prison in a letter first published by this publication amid a life-threatening battle with melanoma and a lung condition. 'Robert is suffering the health consequences of prolonged, brutal confinement,' Shoebridge said. 'There are very real concerns that this health condition, that his lung condition, may be malignant, and that only adds to the stress.' Shoebridge said he had contacted the foreign minister on Tuesday, calling for the department to 'actively intervene' and provide Mr Pether with basic essentials. In his February letter, Mr Pether said he was worried he would never see his wife, Desree, or children, Flynn, 20, Oscar, 18, and Nala, 11, again. The engineer claimed he was unlawfully held captive as part of a sinister plot to extort millions of dollars from his boss's construction company. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention from 2022 concluded the detention of Mr Pether was 'being used to exercise leverage in a commercial transaction, in violation of international law'.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
‘Aramcorama' at Ithra: A living archive of energy, culture, memory
DHAHRAN: 'Aramcorama,' within Ithra's museum, reimagines the exhibition experience, turning the Kingdom's industrial history into a personal and immersive journey. Rather than simply documenting the rise of the country's oil industry, the exhibition explores how it shaped cities, communities, and modern life. The Aramcorama exhibition at Ithra explores how the oil industry helped shape cities, communities and modern life in Saudi Arabia. (AN photo) It encourages visitors to reflect on how past events changed people's sense of identity. 'Aramcorama' tells the story through a rich selection of visuals. Geological maps, handwritten notes, internal messages, and photographs trace nearly a century of growth and change. • At 'Aramcorama' exhibition, Geological maps, handwritten notes, internal messages, and photographs trace nearly a century of growth and change. • Visitors can explore how Aramco's global outlook has influenced not only individual lives but also the nation's perspective. Visitors can explore a timeline highlighting each decade and framed by hanging prints and illuminated media displays. This setup creates an engaging environment that feels dynamic and full of discovery. The Aramcorama exhibition at Ithra explores how the oil industry helped shape cities, communities and modern life in Saudi Arabia. (AN photo) Abdullah Alshammasi, a longtime engineer at Aramco, spoke to Arab News about how the company influenced more than just the oil and gas industry and impacted generations of employees and locals. He said: 'The company certainly had lasting consequences on the earliest generations that worked in it. Aramco's history is the modern history of the communities that lived in the Eastern Province. Abdullah Alshammasi, Aramco engineer 'The fact is, since the company was established it needed a knowledgeable workforce, so a campaign of education was also established, and it steadily increased in depth from manual skills to softer, more intellectual skills.' The exhibition also showcases vintage safety posters that were originally used to display workplace rules. These posters show how design and language have changed over the years, highlighting the changes in style and communication. The Aramcorama exhibition at Ithra explores how the oil industry helped shape cities, communities and modern life in Saudi Arabia. (AN photo) This section of the exhibition captures the story's understated honesty, letting ordinary items like posters, letters, and tools tell the story of values, habits, and shifting responsibilities. As visitors explore the exhibition, they can see how the company's global outlook has influenced not only individual lives but also the nation's perspective. Alshammasi explained: 'Generations have now been everywhere around the globe, studying at the best institutions, bringing back with them a better sense of the world, widening their horizons and, therefore, our societies and culture.' 'Aramcorama' ultimately reflects how modern Saudi society was built; not just through buildings and oil fields, but also through education, progress, and mindset. Alshammasi said: 'It tells me that Aramco is as old as our modern lives.' This fact is especially evident in the Eastern Province, where the company's presence reshaped daily life, and Alshammasi added: 'Aramco's history is the modern history of the communities that lived in the Eastern Province. Their lives were directly affected by the company, for good and for ill.' The exhibition does not hide that tension, but invites reflection on both progress and its costs, what was gained and what may have been lost. 'Aramcorama' does not ask visitors to celebrate or criticize, but to notice, reflect, and form their own opinions. It respects the complexity of history and shows how innovation, labor, infrastructure, and community are all deeply connected.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Gloucestershire man who invented gas smell wins 'dull' award
An 85-year-old scientist who invented the smell that is added to natural gas has received a lifetime achievement engineer Peter Hansen was asked by a company to produce a smell to add to gas, which is otherwise scent he created was added at Milford Haven refineries and means that people can "smell" gas has now received the inaugural lifetime achievement award from The Dull Man's Podcast, which is produced by a team from Gloucestershire. "I had to look for the nastiest smell I could think of," Mr Hansen said. "That was the choice. I can't describe the smell, it's just horrible."Demitris Deech, from the podcast, who interviewed Mr Hansen in one episode, said: "Peter was very popular and then we had some feedback asking, 'Has he won an award? Has he got an MBE? Has he been knighted? Has he got a Nobel Prize?'"None of that – and so we thought we'll invent a prize for him, which is The Dull Man's Podcast award."Mr Hansen said: "I have discussed my award with my family and I was surprised a lot of people don't realise that natural gas is odourless." Mr Hansen said that, in the 1970s, he had a phone call from a "gentleman in Newport", in south Wales, asking him to develop a smell for a natural gas company."Natural gas had just entered the country," Mr Hansen said."The pipeline was being built across to Newport steel works and up towards the Midlands to be distributed across the country."They were looking for a smell they could inject into the gas. They were serious and it was important and urgent."After sending the gas company samples of his smell substance from his own new business, Mr Hansen faced another problem."The problem was they wanted 40,000 litres delivered in two months," he said."I was a fresh new company, that would take me a year to produce."For a while, he went into production with a friend from Bristol – but his friend's company went bust so he decided to sell the formula to the gas company."Because I was in my 30s, I wasn't very business wise," Mr Hansen said. "I should have tied something up in writing but it was all done on trust."But I had the kudos that I delivered the smell and that was enough for me."
