Across Seven Seas and Thirteen Rivers

The occasion:   This time around, the Institution of Structural Engineers  has organized a couple of away days on board the HMS Belfast  for the it's AGM and for the meetings of it's Council and the International Interest Group. These are spread over 29-30 July 2010. On 30 July, I will be making some Headline Observations in one session, and make two presentations in another session. HMS Belfast moored on the River Thames HMS Belfast:   HMS Belfast  is maintained as an Imperial War Museum and is open to the public. The ship was transferred to the Imperial War Museum  in 1976 and since then it serves as a branch of the Museum. When Belfast was first opened to the public, visitors were permitted only on the upper decks. Today all of nine decks are open to the public.  To provide public access, a walkway connects the ship's quarterdeck with a pedestrian footpath on the south bank of the river. [Photo credit: released in the public domain by Chri...

In the realm of renewable energy, India is currently doing rather well in both hydro-electricity and wind power. Today, India has an installed capacity of 30,000 MW hydro-electric power, which is approximately 20% of the estimated total capacity. Similarly, India’s installed wind power capacity is 8,000 MW, which again is approximately 20% of the estimated total capacity. However, in solar power the picture is very different. At this time India’s total installed solar power capacity is a meager 100 MW, which indicates that solar power has not even begun to scratch the surface. The game stopper here is the capital cost of the equipment, which includes the solar panel comprising photo-voltaic cells, storage batteries and high lumen yet low wattage LED's. There are other challenges as well. For example, the equipment must be rugged enough to withstand the vagaries of the weather and have a long service life. Due to its high capital cost, today, it is widely acknowledged that solar ...

Dr. Prabha Kant Sinha, an alumnus, has contributed $2m toward setting up the “P. K. Sinha - Bio-fuel Research Centre” at IIT Kharagpur . The centre is already up and running and is engaged in researching the opportunities and challenges of Bio-fuel, such as, Bio-ethanol, Bio-diesel, Bio-hydrogen, Microbial Bio-fuels in the Indian context. Prabha earned his Ph.D. at MIT and B-Tech. at IIT KGP (class of 1970). He has been an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University until 1987.  He continues to teach sales and marketing leaders in executive education programs at Kellogg and at the Indian School of Business.  He has co- authored several books that include ‘ Building a Winning Sales Force’ . Prabha co-founded the sales and marketing  consulting firm ZS Associates in 1983 and is currently it’s Co-Chairman. Headquartered in Evanston, IL, the firm employs 1500 persons spread across offices located in many countries....

For the World Cup, South Africa has used ten stadiums. My blog has already featured nine of those stadiums. Peter Mokaba Stadium is the last of those ten stadiums. Last but not in any order of merit. I simply started with Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, which is the southernmost of all stadiums  in South Africa. Then from Green Point I moved northward. Peter Mokaba being the northernmost it is the last in my series. Peter Mokaba was renowned for his struggle for emancipation of South Africa.The design  is inspired by the locally iconic Baobab tree, with the steel structure supporting the roof plane gathered together at each corner of the stadium and supported by giant ‘trunk' structures which accommodate vertical circulation ramps and service cores. It has a capacity of 42,000 spectators. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

This stadium was newly-built for the World Cup. Mbombela literally means 'many people together in a small space.' It has a capacity of 41,000. It has been a welcome addition to the region which otherwise did not have any major football stadium earlier. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

The stadium—built in 1999 and upgraded in 2010—has a capacity of 39,000. It is named after the Bafokeng people that live in the area. Located 12km away from Rustenburg city center, the stadium is just under half an hour’s drive from the famed Sun City. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]

Built in 1906, this is one of the oldest stadiums in South Africa. Since 1948, it has undergone continual upgrades. It is the venue for both rugby and football and is the home to one of South Africa’s top rugby clubs, the Blue Bells. It has 43,000 seats. South Africa's national team, Bafana Bafana, achieved its first ever victory over a European side at this venue when they beat Sweden 1-0 in 1999. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup .]

The Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg was originally built in 1987. It underwent a major reconstruction and upgrade that was completed in 2009. With its present capacity of 88,500, the reconstructed stadium is the most awesome soccer venue in the African continent. The design is inspired by the iconic African pot called calabash . When lit up at night it provides one of the most spectacular views of Johannesburg. The venue hosted the first match of the World Cup 2010 and will appropriately host the final match as well. [Photo credit: Official FIFA website: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup.]