Principal and Vice Chancellor, Heriot-Watt University
Professor Richard Williams OBE FTSE FREng is a Fellow and Vice President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He is a professor and Vice Chancellor at Heriot-Watt University with academic research interests in energy systems, chemical and mineral engineering and sensors. He was a co-author of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Chinese Academy of Sciences report into the future of energy storage technologies and policy. He has interests in radical innovation.
Chill out: how a new ‘cold economy’ could bring environmental benefits
Mar 27, 2017 14:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy
The ability to keep things cold is a pillar of modern society demand is booming worldwide to deliver air conditioning, data centre cooling and transport refrigeration, particularly in emerging economies. Although our...
Drones delivering packages in cities won't take off – here's why
Jan 13, 2017 01:47 am UTC| Insights & Views Technology
You may have gasped with disbelief the first time you saw a photograph of a drone home-delivering a box from Amazon or cakes from a bakery or carrying a bag of crisps. Until recently, this was the stuff of science fiction....
Why batteries have started catching fire so often
Nov 13, 2016 16:34 pm UTC| Technology
All our lives we have relied on batteries in everything from mobile phones and cars to hand torches, but confidence in the technology has deteriorated of late. Many airline passengers have had to surrender their Samsung...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight