omniomni/omni-engineering huggingface dataset:
Precision railroading. Precision railroading or precision scheduled railroading (PSR) is a concept in freight railroad operations pioneered by E. Hunter Harrison in 1993 and has since been adopted by nearly every North American Class I railroad. It shifts the focus from older practices, such as unit trains, hub and spoke operations, and individual car switching at hump yards to emphasizing point-to-point freight car movements on simplified routing networks. Under PSR, freight trains operate on fixed schedules, much like passenger trains, instead of being dispatched whenever a sufficient number of loaded cars are available. In the past, intermodal trains and general merchandise trains operated separately; under PSR they are combined as needed, typically with distributed power. Inventories of freight cars and locomotives are reduced and fewer workers are employed for a given level of traffic. The result is an often substantial decrease in railroad operating ratios and other financial and operating metrics at the cost of less-reliable service (particularly to smaller customers), long-term capacity issues, and possibly increased derailments and other safety risks associated with longer trains and crew fatigue.

History 
Harrison first introduced PSR at the Illinois Central Railroad (IC), where he became CEO in 1993. He implemented it at Canadian National after they acquired IC in 1998. After retiring from Canadian National, Harrison was recruited to take over leadership of the Canadian Pacific and implemented precision railroading there. In March 2017, he was appointed CEO of CSX Transportation and began implementing PSR on its large network, but he died eight months later.

Criticism 
Precision railroading has been criticized on many fronts.  Shippers complain about poorer service and delays. Railroad workers have raised concerns about safety due to reduced inspections and staffing. Under PSR, service is typically eliminated on shipping lanes and origin-destination pairs that have low traffic levels. Intermodal terminals have been consolidated, with the railroad relying on trucks for the last hundred miles. Fewer workers are needed, even with higher traffic volumes. As a result, over 20,000 railroad workers were laid off in 2019. The Surface Transportation Board estimates large freight carriers employed 30% fewer workers in 2022 as compared to 2018.

PSR advocates claim that shippers benefit in the long run from reduced costs and more reliable schedules. However, PSR has been criticized as being focused on short-term financial benefits at the expense of long-term capacity. In particular, precision scheduled railroading is impacting safety due to increased train length, up to three miles (5,000 meters) in many cases. This leads to a higher risk of derailments as well as crew stress and fatigue due to the difficulty of operating trains of this length, for which the North American railroad network was not necessarily designed.

References

Rail freight transport
Logistics
Regius Professor of Engineering (Imperial). The Regius Professor of Engineering is a royal professorship in engineering, established in 2013 at Imperial College London in England. The chair is attached to the college's Faculty of Engineering.

History

In 2013 Queen Elizabeth II endowed a number of Regius Professors at 12 universities across the United Kingdom, expanding the title from what had originally been only at ancient universities. The chair was awarded as part of the Queen's 60th anniversary celebrations. It was the fourth Regius Professor of Engineering to be established, after the Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow established in 1840, the
Regius professorship at Edinburgh in 1868 and the professorship at Cambridge in 2011. The first chair was conferred on Chris Toumazou at the Commemoration day graduation ceremony on 23 October. Regius Toumazou is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

List of professors
 2013−present ─ Chris Toumazou

References 

Engineering education in the United Kingdom
 Regius Professor of Engineering
2013 establishments in England
Engineering, Imperial
Engineering, Regius, Imperial
Imperial College Faculty of Engineering
Moskalyev SAM-7 Sigma. The Moskalyev SAM-7 Sigma was a one-off, Soviet, experimental tailless fighter aircraft.

Design and development

As early as 1933, Aleksandr Moskalyev was designing a rocket-powered, tailless aircraft with an ogival or gothic delta wing, wingtip fins and rudders, which would be able to fly faster than sound. Because no sufficiently powerful engines were available at the time, the Moskalyev SAM-4 Sigma never left the drawing board but it did lead to two interim types, the SAM-7 Sigma and SAM-9 Strela.

The all-metal Sigma was intended to investigate the manoeuvrability and field of fire of a two seat, tailless, wingtip finned fighter aircraft, using a less radical low aspect ratio, trapezoidal plan wing. This low wing had two spars and trailing edges carrying inboard elevators and outboard ailerons. The fins bore balanced rudders; six Soviet diagrams show different profiles and no photographs of the completed Sigma are known.

The Sigma was powered by a  V-12 Mikulin AM-34 engine mounted ahead of the wing leading edge and driving a four blade, wooden propeller. At high speeds it was cooled with surface radiators, supplemented at low speed by a retractable radiator.  The pilot sat over mid chord in an enclosed cockpit. The fuselage ended behind the trailing edge with a glazed and enclosed position for the rear gunner. 

It had conventional, retractable landing gear with single landing legs hinging inward on the forward spars. There was a small, semi-recessed tailwheel in the extreme rear fuselage. 

The Sigma was first flown in October 1935. It was judged dangerous to fly as it was hard to keep straight during take-offs and had a high landing speed of . Its flight characteristics were never fully explored and it never reached its estimated top speed of  at altitude.

Specifications (performance estimated)

References

Single-engined tractor aircraft
1930s Soviet experimental aircraft
Moskalyev aircraft
Soviet inventions
Russian inventions
Sarah Bell. Sarah Jayne Bell  is the City of Melbourne Chair in Urban Resilience and Innovation at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and Honorary Professor of Environmental Engineering at The Bartlett School in University College London (UCL). She works on urban water systems. She was the Director of the UCL Engineering Exchange during her 16 years as a Professor of Environmental Engineering at UCL.

Early life and education 
Bell studied chemistry and environmental engineering at the University of Western Australia and graduated with a Bachelor's of Science and Bachelor's of Engineering in 1996. She moved to the University of New England in Australia for her graduate studies and earned her master's degree in environmental management in 1999. Bell was a doctoral student at Murdoch University, where she worked on sustainability and technology policy and completed her PhD in 2004. In 2005 Bell joined University College London.

Research and career 
After moving to the United Kingdom, Bell was awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Research Fellowship on Living With Environmental Change. Her research considers urban water systems and infrastructure provision, and involves collaboration between engineers and their local communities. Bell has studied the ability of health systems to respond to climate change. She has worked with AECOM, Thames Water and Arup Group. She was promoted to Professor in September 2018.

Bell identified that there was not much collaboration between engineers, architects and local communities. In an effort to mitigate this lack of communication, Bell founded the University College London Engineering Exchange. She worked with UCL Urban Laboratory to launch a review into social housing, which identified that demolition decisions are often made by professional bodies without adequate engagement with residents. She is part of the Community Water Management for a Liveable London (CAMELLIA), which looks to improve decision making through community and industry engagement. As part of CAMELLIA Bell has looked to make London's water supply more sustainable.

Bell is committed to teaching and her efforts have been recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering and University College London. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and Institution of Civil Engineers.

Selected publications

References 

Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century British women engineers
Academics of University College London
University of Western Australia alumni
University of New England (Australia) alumni
Murdoch University alumni
Fellows of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Environmental engineers
Pierce-Arrow armoured lorry. The Pierce-Arrow armoured lorry was a heavy armoured car mounting a QF 3-pounder Vickers gun, it was used by the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War.

Design
The Pierce-Arrow armoured lorry was a turreted armoured lorry based on an imported American Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company 5-ton truck chassis with added armoured bodywork, it was armed with a turreted QF 3-pounder Vickers gun. The Pierce-Arrow had a front mounted engine protected by folding armoured panels, behind the engine was an enclosed driver's compartment a single two armoured shutter, the turret was behind the driver's compartment. The Pierce-Arrow armoured lorry used the same chassis as the Pierce-Arrow armoured AA lorry, it used identical bonnet armour as the latter whilst the driver's compartment was reduced to half width to allow the main gun to fire forwards.

History
Construction of the two Pierce-Arrow armoured lorries was carried out by W. G. Allen & Sons in Tipton, who used  armoured plate for the fighting compartment, the turret turntables were manufactured by John Shearman & Co at Newport, Wales, where the RNAS had a depot to service armoured cars. The two vehicles were dispatched to Russia in 1916 with No 1 Squadron, Royal Naval Armoured Car Division under Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson for the expedition to Russia and the Causasus. Throughout the campaign the Pierce-Arrows provided heavy fire support to the lighter Lanchester armoured cars that made up the bulk of the force. In Russia the weight proved to be too heavy for the chassis so the turrets were removed, and the guns were mounted on a pedestal with a shield, and the hull sides were filled in with flat plates.

See also
 List of combat vehicles of World War I

References

World War I armoured cars
World War I armoured fighting vehicles of the United Kingdom
Armoured cars of the United Kingdom
Armoured lorry
Brett Blanton. Brett Blanton is an American professional engineer who served as Architect of the Capitol (AOC) from January 2020 until February 13, 2023, overseeing the office of the architect, which manages the United States Capitol Complex in Washington, D.C., and its more than 2,400 employees.

Education and career 
Blanton earned his Master of Science from Virginia Tech in ocean engineering and his Bachelor of Science in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1993. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in civil engineering and a Certified Energy Manager.

Blanton served in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps for 22 years. He retired from the Navy in 2015. He then served as Deputy Vice President for Engineering at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Reagan National and Dulles International Airports.

Architect of the Capitol 
President Donald Trump nominated Blanton on December 9, 2019, for a ten-year term as Architect of the Capitol. On December 12, 2019, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration held a hearing on his nomination. On December 16, 2019, the Committee reported his nomination favorably to the Senate floor. On December 19, 2019, the full Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote. He was sworn in on January 16, 2020.

The Architect of the Capitol is responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, including the U.S. Capitol, House and Senate Office Buildings, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Botanic Garden and the Capitol Arboretum.

Time in office 
Blanton significantly transformed the management of AOC by implementing Enterprise Asset Management to utilize objective data-driven prioritization of projects in the legislative budgeting process, established the first building codes and certifying official in the Legislative and Judicial Branches, established AOC University to provide training for staff, and oversaw implementation a robust human capital strategy.   

In November 2022, a report from the office of the Inspector General alleged that Blanton's underage daughter took his vehicle and drove recklessly at a Walmart in Tyson's Corner. The report also alleged Blanton's wife gave tours of the U.S. Capitol.

As a result, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, an omnibus spending bill, included a clause in the AOC budget "That none of the funds appropriated or made available under this heading in this Act or any other Act, including previous Acts, may be used for a home-to-work vehicle for the Architect or a duly authorized designee". On February 13, 2023, President Joe Biden rescinded Blanton's appointment as Architect of the Capitol.

Awards 
 Bronze Star with Combat "V"

References 

Architects of the United States Capitol
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Virginia Tech alumni
United States Naval Academy alumni
Furke (radar). The 5P-27 "Furke" is a ship-based 3D air and surface search radar system designed and produced by the VNIIRT (as a part of Almaz-Antey) for the Russian Navy. It is designed for detection, tracking, identification and targeting of air and sea vehicles, including low-flying aircraft and sea-skimming cruise missiles. The radar incorporates a semi-active phased array, digital signal processing, mechanical azimuth scanning (30 rpm), electronic elevation scanning and is able to operate in any weather conditions.

The "Furke" is used on Steregushchiy-class corvettes, and is a ship-based variant of the 1РС1-1Е radar of Pantsir-S1 air defense complexes.

Variants

References 

Naval radars
Military equipment introduced in the 2000s
Zheng Quanshui. Zheng Quanshui (; born March 1961) is a Chinese scientist currently serving as a professor and doctoral supervisor at Tsinghua University.

Education
Zheng was born in the town of , Jinxi County, Jiangxi in March 1961. He holds a number of degrees starting with bachelor's degree in Industrial and civil buildings from Jiangxi Institute of Technology (now Nanchang University, 1982), then a master's degree in applied mathematics from Beijing University (1985), a master's degree in solid mechanics from Hunan University (1985), and a doctor's degree from Tsinghua University (1989).

Career
From 1982 to 1993 he taught at Jiangxi Institute of Technology, becoming associate professor in 1987 and to full professor in 1992. From 1990 to 1993, he was a researcher at the Royal Society and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In May 1993 he joined the faculty of Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tsinghua University, where he became a doctoral supervisor in 1994 and a director of the Department of Engineering Mechanics in 2004,

Honours and awards
 1995 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars
 2000 "Chang Jiang Scholar" (or " Yangtze River Scholar")
 2004 State Natural Science Award (Second Class) 
 2017 State Natural Science Award (Second Class) 
 November 22, 2019 Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

References

1961 births
Living people
People from Fuzhou, Jiangxi
Nanchang University alumni
Peking University alumni
Hunan University alumni
Tsinghua University alumni
Academic staff of Tsinghua University
Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Engineers from Jiangxi
Scientists from Jiangxi
Educators from Jiangxi
Ford V4 engine. The Ford Motor Company built two models of 	60° V4 engine in Europe:
 Ford Taunus V4 engine, 1962–1981, built in Germany
 later developed into the  Ford Cologne V6 engine
 Ford Essex V4 engine, 1965–1977, built in England
 later developed into the Ford Essex V6 engine (UK)

V4
Ford
Gasoline engines by model
REFA. REFA, the Association for Work Design, Business Organization and Business Development is Germany's oldest organization for work design, business organization and business development.

It was founded in 1924 as the Reichsausschuß für Arbeitszeitermittlung (English: Reich Committee for Working Time Determination). During the Nazi era, it was known as the Reichsausschuß für Arbeitsstudien (English: Reich Committee for Labour Studies).

References

External links 
 https://refa.de/en/ (official English-language website)
 

1924 establishments in Germany
Adult education in Germany
Organisations based in Germany
Vocational education in Germany
Moskalyev SAM-9 Strela. The Moskalyev SAM-9  (Arrow) was a one-off, Soviet, 1930s experimental tailless aircraft designed to test the characteristics of a leaf-shaped low-aspect-ratio delta wing.

Design and development
As early as 1933, Aleksandr Moskalyev was designing a rocket-powered, tailless aircraft with a highly-swept short-span curved delta wing with wingtip fins and rudders, able to fly faster than sound. Because no sufficiently powerful engines were available at the time, the Moskalyev SAM-4 Sigma was never built but it led to two interim types, the SAM-7 Sigma and SAM-9 Strela.

The tailless Strela was built to test the behaviour of the SAM-4's radically new wing plan using a highly swept delta with moderately convex leading and trailing edges. 

Set at shoulder height, the wing root ran from ahead of the engine to the extreme tail and was fitted with broad-chord elevons equipped with trim tabs. It had the unusually low aspect ratio of 0.925. Like the rest of the Strela, the wing structure was wood. Control surfaces were fabric covered but the rest of the Strela's skin was plywood. Moskalyev had intended to use a  Hispano-Suiza 12Y engine, but only a  Renault 6P was available. The Strela's enclosed cockpit was at about mid-chord with a fairing behind it reaching the large, triangular fin with a narrow chord rudder equipped with a trim tab. The Strela had a fixed conventional undercarriage, with cantilever faired legs based on those of the Moskalyev SAM-5 and a sprung tailskid.

It was first flown, at Voronezh, in early 1937 by A.N.Rybo. A.N.Gusarov and A.P.Chernavskii explored its characteristics over the next few months, finding it controllable but demanding. The high landing angle of attack (around 20°) typical of delta wing aircraft was not yet familiar but worrying. In mid-1937 development of the SAM-9 was ended.

Specifications

References

Moskalyev aircraft
Tailless aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
1930s Soviet experimental aircraft
Soviet inventions
Russian inventions
JAXA Astronaut Corps. The JAXA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)  that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and Russian space missions. , the corps has seven active members.

History 
The first Japanese astronauts were chosen by NASDA, the predecessor to JAXA, in 1985 to train as international mission specialists in the Space Shuttle program.

The first Japanese citizen to fly in space was Toyohiro Akiyama, a journalist sponsored by TBS, who flew aboard the Soviet Soyuz TM-11 in December 1990. He spent more than seven days in space aboard the Mir space station, in what the Soviets called their first commercial spaceflight which allowed them to earn $14 million.

The first member of the Japanese Astronaut Corps to fly was Mamoru Mohri aboard STS-47 in 1992.

On 1 October 2003, three organizations were merged to form the new JAXA: Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JAXA was formed as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).

Members 
The Astronauts Corps is one of the main divisions within JAXA. The agency generally recruits astronauts who have degrees as scientists, engineers and/or medical doctors. In addition to being Japanese citizens or residents, candidates must meet certain physical standards (including height, weight, hearing and visual acuity), educational requirements, and be fluent in English.

Active 
, JAXA has seven active astronauts, six men and one woman.

Former 
There are six former JAXA astronauts.

Selection groups 
1985 NASDA Group
1992 NASDA Group
1996 NASDA Group
1999 NASDA Group
2009 JAXA Group
2023 JAXA Group

See also 
Toyohiro Akiyama — First Japanese person in space
Other astronaut corps:
Canadian Astronaut Corps
European Astronaut Corps
NASA Astronaut Corps (United States)
Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps (Russia)
People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (China)
List of astronauts by selection
Human spaceflight
History of spaceflight

References

External links 
JAXA Astronaut Corps

Lists of astronauts
Vincent Lepetit. Vincent Lepetit is a French computer scientist, professor at the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech. He received his PhD degree in computer vision in 2001 from the University of Nancy.

Lepetit leads a research group in computer vision for augmented reality at the Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, TU Graz. He was formerly professor at the Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision at the same institution from February 2014 to December 2016. He is a senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France.

Lepetit's research interests include machine learning and 3D computer vision.

Selected research
Calonder, Michael, et al. "Brief: Binary robust independent elementary features." European conference on computer vision. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010.
Lepetit, Vincent, Francesc Moreno-Noguer, and Pascal Fua. "Epnp: An accurate o (n) solution to the pnp problem." International journal of computer vision 81.2 (2009): 155.
Tola, Engin, Vincent Lepetit, and Pascal Fua. "Daisy: An efficient dense descriptor applied to wide-baseline stereo." IEEE transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence 32.5 (2009): 815–830.
Lepetit, Vincent, and Pascal Fua. "Keypoint recognition using randomized trees." IEEE transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence 28.9 (2006): 1465–1479.

References

French computer scientists
Academic staff of the University of Bordeaux
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)