Cloud Hosting

Image credit: Illustra Media.

A new peer-reviewed paper in the journalBIO-Complexity, An Engineering Perspective on the Bacterial Flagellum: Part 1 Constructive View, comes out of the Engineering Research Group and Conference on Engineering in Living Systems that Steve Laufmannrecently wrote about. The author, Waldean Schulz, holds a PhD in computer science from Colorado State University, and is a signer of theScientific Dissent from Darwinismlist. What could a computer scientist say about the bacterial flagellum? Well, Schulz explains that his study examines the bacterial flagellum from an engineering viewpoint, which aims to concentrate on the the structure, proteins, control, and assembly of a typical flagellum, which is the organelle imparting motility to common bacteria.

This technique of examining biology through the eyes of engineering is not necessarily new systems biologists have been doing it for years. However, since engineering is a field that tries to determine how to better design technology, the field of intelligent design promises to yield new engineering-based insights into biology. Schulzs paper is a prime example of such a contribution. It produces what is arguably the most rigorous logical demonstration of the irreducible complexity of the flagellum produced to date.

Intelligent design is fundamentally a goal-directed approach to studying natural systems, where the various parts and components biological organisms are coordinated to work together in the top-down manner of engineering. Schulzs paper thus takes a constructive approach which requires a top-down specification. Heres how this approach works:

It starts with specifying the purpose of a bacterial motility organelle, the environment of a bacterium, its existing resources, its existing constitution, and its physical limits, all within the relevant aspects of physics and molecular chemistry. From that, the constructive approach derives the logically necessary functional requirements, the constraints, the assembly needs, and the hierarchical relationships within the functionality. The functionality must include a control subsystem, which needs to properly direct the operation of a propulsion subsystem. Those functional requirements and constraints then suggest a few and only a few viable implementation schemata for a bacterial propulsion system. The entailed details of one configuration schema are then set forth.

This approach is very similar to Paul Nelsons ideas about design triangulation: you identify some function that is needed, and if the system was intelligently designed then you can back-engineer other components and parts that will be needed for that function to be fulfilled. After all, engineers regularly specify and design systems top-down, but they construct those systems bottom-up. Thus an engineering analysis of the flagellum seems the best way to understand it.

Schulz introduces engineering methodologies to study the flagellum, which flow naturally from of an ID paradigm. He writes:

A common engineering methodology, called the Waterfall Model, first produces a formal Functional Requirements Specification document. Then a design is proposed in a System Design Specification, which must comport with the Requirements Spec. Typically this methodology is often accompanied by a Testing Specification, which measures how well the subsequently constructed system satisfies the requirements. This methodology was and is successfully applied at Intel, Image Guided Technologies, and Stryker. A similar specification method can be used by a patent agent or attorney in helping inventors clarify in detail what they have invented for a patent application.

When applying this method, one examines overall purpose for the proposed system, the usage environment, necessary functionality, available materials, tools needed for construction, and various parameters and constraints (dimensions, form, cost, materials, energy needs, timing, costs, and other conditions).After doing this, a design is proposed that logically comports with those requirements.

Schulz then applies this method to the flagellum, asking What are the requirements for bacterial motility?In doing this, he notes, the constructive approach becomes in effect the engineering documentation that must be written as if a clever bioengineer were tasked to devise a motility system for a bacterium lacking a motive organelle. He answers various questions outlined by the Waterfall Model:

Schulz thus determines that the system requires a propulsion subsystem to accomplish motion. It also requires some form of primitive redirection subsystem, working in concert with or integrated with the propulsion subsystem to help the bacterium find nutrients. There must also be a collateral control subsystem which can sense favorable or unfavorable substances. He outlines logic controls of this system including signals that indicate the bacterium should proceed full speed ahead or flee and redirect.

The response time for these signals and the motility speeds they induce must also be appropriate to fulfill the needed functions. However, the speeds should be appropriate. For example, A substantially faster speed would be wasteful of energy, and The energy cost to operate the propulsion subsystem must be less than the energy obtained by navigating to and consuming nutrients. And there are also assembly constraints including that The material resources and energy requirements to build a propulsion system must be low enough to justify its construction that is, to justify the benefit of motion to find new nutrients for metabolism.

He notes that all of these resulting requirements present us with an irreducibly complex system:

[T]he goal is to specify only a minimal set of requirements, assuring that all the requirements of the subsystem are essential. That would imply that the specified sensory-propulsion-redirection system is effectively irreducible. That is, if some part is missing or defective, then, at best, there would be noticeably diminished motility, if any.

Schulz then proposes a design for the bacterial flagellum to fulfill these requirements of flagellar motility. Some of the following requirements must be met:

There must also be various assembly requirements. Construction materials could include a variety of potential biomolecules, including sugars, RNA, DNA, nucleotide bases, or proteins. The answer is clear: an obvious generic requirement of using available fabrication tools, templates, and control effectively rules out the use of other materials, such as sugars or non-protein polymers.

There are a variety of potential basic designs for propulsion. One is a jet-like nozzle (which would require a bladder and many more parts). Another is a rhythmic flexing (which would require a long, flexible body and much more). Still another is a leg-like appendage (which would require appendages), or a snake-like caterpillar crawl (again requiring a long flexible body), or a helical propeller. Schulz explores what would be necessary for a helical propeller the actual design of bacterial flagella. He discusses various needed parts including an armature or mounting structure, a motor rotor, a drive shaft of appropriate length, a helical propeller, and possibly adaptors to bind those components together. Further, he notes, there need to be bearings and seals between the rotary components and static components. Heres a larger description of the needs:

The static subassembly requires the following components: the semi-rigid cell membrane(s) for rigid mounting, a motor stator, multiple sealed bearings where the rotary subassembly penetrates cell membranes, and an energy conduction pathway.

The stator together with the motor rotor produces torque. The stator must be rigidly attached to some or all of the bacteriums inner and outer membranes and the peptidoglycan layer. The rigid attachment transfers necessary counter-torque to the cell body as well as providing stability for the rotary subassembly. For each membrane or layer the drive shaft penetrates, there must be a bearing. Each bearing must (a) stabilize the drive shaft, (b) provide a low-friction contact with the drive shaft, and (c) provide a seal to prevent movement of molecules past where the shaft penetrates its host membrane or layer.

Schulz finally develops a dependency network for these requirement showing their interdependency relationships which addresses all of the above constraints, including the purpose, environment, required functions, constraints, and the logically implied static, structural requirements. Its quite a detailed diagram here it is its a bit large so click here for a full-resolution version:

In an impressive table, Schulz lists all of the different components and properties of the flagellum and the rationale for their inclusion. He notes that although there are a couple of different ways to build the system, In either case, the specified bacterial motility system would be irreducibly complex and that the intricate coherence of all of the parts, systems, and design requirements of the flagellum is essentially irreducible. He concludes:

Current evolutionary biology proposes that the flagellum could have been engineered naturalistically by cumulative mutations, by horizontal gene transfer, by gene duplication, by co-option of existing organelles, by self-organization, or by some combination thereof. See the summary and references by Finn Pond. Yet to date, no scenario in substantive detail exists for how such an intricate propulsion system could have evolved naturalistically piece by piece. Can any partial implementation of a motility system be even slightly advantageous to a bacterium? Examples of a partial system might lack sensors, lack decision logic, lack control messages, lack a rotor or stator, lack sealed bearings, lack a rod, lack a propeller, or lack redirection means. Would such partial systems be preserved long enough for additional cooperating components to evolve?

That is the key question which will be explored in future papers that Schulz aims to publish. Based upon the intricate coherence and irreducible complexity of the numerous parts and properties of the flagellum, the answers to these questions would seem to be no.

Read the original:

New Paper Investigates Engineering Design Constraints on the Bacterial Flagellum - Discovery Institute

For more than two decades, the bachelor's program in oil and gas engineering at the University of Calgary was popular with students seeking a career in energy and maybe a job in one of the office towers downtown.

But after a long downturn in the oilpatch, enrolment at historic lowsand the energy landscape changing, the university's engineering school is suspending admission ofnew students to theundergraduate program. Existing students will still be able to complete their degree.

"It's really been a great program for us; it typically used to be a high-demand program," said Prof. Arin Sen, head of the department of chemical and petroleum engineering."It wasn't a decision that we came to lightly."

The university saidit has no plans to abandon oil and gas studies. Sen said there are still various paths for engineering students to pursue careers inoil andgas, including a minor in petroleum engineering or graduate studiesamong any number ofoptions.

"We've had partnerships with that sector for four decades ... and we're going to continue doing that."

The news comes during a period of change in the broader energy sector, including the growth of renewable technologies, government commitments to slash greenhouse gas emissions and uncertainty about long-term demand for fossil fuels.

In Canada, the oil and gas sector is also trying to emerge from a long downturn that resulted in thousands of layoffs. Meanwhile, energy demand continues to increase worldwide.

The oil and gas engineering undergraduate program at the university's Schulich School of Engineeringwas one of several routes students could follow to a career in the petroleum sector, including chemical, mechanical, civil engineering and others.

Typically, about40 new students would enter the program annually, but it graduated fewer than 10 last year.

The university began a review of the program and following consultations with students, alumni, faculty and industry received provincial approval to suspend it.

Sen said oil and gas isn't going away any time soon, but added it's also clear people are looking at other forms of energynot just in Alberta, but globally.

He pointed to activity in areas such ashydrogen, geothermal and renewable energy. The provincial government is also exploring small modular nuclear reactors.

Sen said resources will be allocated to exploringways to better support students who want to work in the province's evolving energy industry, including oil and gas.

The energy engineering program, which has an oil and gas component but also exposes students to renewable energy and sustainability, has been an area of growth.

Engineering is not the only department feeling a shift in student interests.

The U of C has also seen a five-year decrease inthe number of undergrads with a concentration in petroleum geology, which is offered by the department of geoscience.

But the faculty of science has seen growing interest and demand toward programs like energy science, said spokespersonGloria Visser-Niven.

The faculty is responding with courses in energy transformation and distribution, mature energy fields like hydroelectricity and nuclear energy, and renewable energy, she said.

It's also consultingwith the engineering school ondeveloping a new energy science minor program with arange of renewable energy courses and research opportunities.

"Energy education continues to evolve in response to global market forces and societal demand for lower carbon energy sources," Visser-Niven said in an email.

WATCH| Why student interest in petroleum courses is waning:

At Memorial University in St. John's, N.L., where many engineering graduates have found work in the petroleum industry over the years, there's also greater interest in renewable energy like solar, wind and tidal power.

"We're also looking at ... focusing a bit more carefully on greener technologies and these sorts of things," said Dennis Peters, Memorial University's acting dean of the faculty of engineering and applied science.

"That's where the world is going and we're recognizing the environment we're in."

According to PetroLMI, which studies labour force data across the oil and gas sector, theindustry is expected to hire a net total of 19,800 people over the next three years.

It forecasts that engineers and geoscientists will make up about seven percent of that number. That includespetroleum, civil, mechanical, mining and chemical engineers.

David Langille, who received a master's degree in petroleum engineering at the U of C, is the incoming chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Canadian Educational Foundation, a group promoting energy literacy thatoffers scholarships to engineering students.

He said young engineers today are thinking about the future and the energy transition.

"New engineers, aspiring engineers, aspiring geoscientists, are definitely trying to future-proof themselves a little bit more," Langille said.

"They're thinking, 'OK, hey, I'm a petroleum engineer now, but where else am I going to be able to work this in [to] the energy system in the future?"

Amanda Quinn wants a career in energy and sees opportunities across the spectrum.

She's entering her final year in the U of C's energy engineering program and is now on an internship at a company working on desalination technology to help provide drinking water.

Quinn, who has two sisters in oil and gas, hopes the conversation about the energy transition becomes less polarized and focused on stereotypes, and more focused on solutions.

"There's so much more technology that we can develop in the future in regards to harnessing energy," she said.

The rest is here:

University of Calgary hits pause on bachelor's program in oil and gas engineering - CBC.ca

Informa Markets Engineering West is partnering with theCalifornia Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA)to showcasemanufacturing modernization and innovation in California. Taking place August 10-12 at the Anaheim Convention Center, the event featuresestablished manufacturing show brandsMedical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West,WestPack, Automation Technology Expo (ATX) West,Design & Manufacturing (D&M) West, andPlastec West.

With total output from manufacturing in California reaching $288 billion per year, manufacturing plays a key role in California's economy. "Californias productivity growth has occurred over the last decade with largely the same amount of manufacturing workers, which shows tremendous efficiency and modernization within the sector," stated Lance Hastings, president of CMTA, in a news release. "The hard work of manufacturing employees and the production innovation of 30,000 manufacturing companies makes California a global leader in our domestic and international supply chain. CMTA is happy to support the Informa Markets Engineering West event, which has become the premier trade show for manufacturing innovation and supply chain networking.

CMTA's roster of members includes decision-makers, executives, engineers, and more from leading manufacturers such as:

"We could not be more excited to announce our partnership with CMTA and reconnect the community for the first time in the state of California since the dawn of the pandemic. We are all working toward the same goal of progressing the modernization and future of the manufacturing sector by bringing quality attendees and exhibitors together, thus facilitating the much-needed in-person connection between manufacturers and suppliers that has not been possible over the past year and a half," added Hayley Haggarty, group event director, Informa Markets Engineering West, in the statement.

As with all Informa events, Informa Markets Engineering's West event will be run according to official government and local authority guidance in the first instance, as well as any venue or location-specific regulations. In addition, all Informa events worldwide, irrespective of format or location, will follow onsite safety measures calledInforma AllSecure. These guidelines will help to ensure you maximize your time with us while feeling confident and safe.

To schedule a meeting with CMTA and inquire about membership opportunities, please register to attend the event here and reach out to Sarah Johnson, Director of Member Engagement and Business Development CMTA, at [emailprotected].

Stay connected across the Informa Markets Engineering's West event with #IMEWest and #DiscoverEngineerBuild

Also running alongside the event will be the second annual Informa Markets Engineering Cannabis Packaging Conference and Exhibition, formerly known as the Cannabis Packaging Summit.

Visitor and press registration are open.

MD+DI is published by Informa Markets Engineering.

See the article here:

Informa Markets Engineering West and California Manufacturers & Technology Association Team Up to Showcase Innovation - Medical Device and...

CALGARY -- The University of Calgary has suspended admission for its oil and gas engineering bachelor program amidst a downturn in Canadas energy sector and a transition towards a more renewable future.

In fact, enrollment for the program has hit an all-time low with only about 10 students registered over the course of the last two years.

Those existing students will still be able to complete their studies, but Prof. Arin Sen, head of the department of chemical and petroleum engineering said the university has no intention to abandon oil and gas studies.

This wasnt a decision that we made lightly and we certainly had a lot of engagement, but we had a lot of decline in the demand, Sen said.

Thats obviously something that we need to take into consideration and the other is that there's a changing energy landscape that we see here in Alberta, and even beyond Alberta you can see changes globally going on.

Sen added that the goal is to now focus on how to better train students and give students further access to knowledge, especially in the world of digital technologies.

We need to give students a chance to learn about what geothermal means, what hydrogen energy means, wind and solar, and then package that together, so when students graduate from here, they are actually stronger and will be able to better perform once they go into whichever segment of the energy industry that they end up.

The university has plans to allocate further resources to better support students wanting to work in the energy sector, including oil and gas.

The news of a suspension does not come as a surprise for Nima Macci, a former chemical engineering student who was chair of the 2021 Alberta Student Energy Conference.

She says energy firms have already rebranded themselves to students over the years and many of her colleagues are noticing a shift in the energy landscape.

Through the conference, what we saw was a lot of anxiety, kind of being associated with the idea of going back into oil and gas, or being pigeonholed into one career, especially in an industry that had kind of a precarious future, Macci said.

For the longest time we've seen oil and gas as the primary source of energy. Nowhere do I see oil and gas ever becoming obsolete in any form, but we do need to diversify and it's shifting the conversation to incorporate companies like clean tech firms, renewable energy sources as well which I think is a great opportunity.

Mitch Jacobsen graduated from the University of Calgarys oil and gas engineering program in 2015, but has since made a drastic shift in his career plans.

He started out as a water strategist in the oil and gas sector, looking for creative ways to conserve water, but realized a new opportunity in the beverage industry.

When I looked at packaging on beverages I wanted to find the most sustainable packaging, in terms of water usage fossil fuel usage carbon emissions, and that's really how we got into it.

Jacobsen stepped away from his oil and gas career in January of 2020 and founded Rviita Energy Tea.

He says his background in oil and gas engineering prompted him to create juice products made out of linear low density polyethylene and an environmentally-friendly 100 per cent recyclable aluminum and plastic layer.

I think the future of the oil and gas industry is really more moving towards those sustainable technologies, Jacobsen said.

We produce some of the cleanest oil and gas in the world so I hope this program at UofC comes back in the future because it creates so many new jobs and opportunities and it educates the next generation of engineers that need to take sustainability initiatives.

Other students like Amanda Quinn, who is currently enrolled in the UofC energy engineering program agree that petroleum engineering is still a very useful degree that her colleagues should have the option to enrol in.

Totake away petroleum engineering means you're taking away the opportunity for people to get their master's in petroleum engineering and potentially their doctorate too, Quinn said.

We need the experts on petroleum engineering to be there to help us with the transition of it, because they might know the best way of how, how we attain oil, how we process it, and how we refine it more efficiently.

Continue reading here:

University of Calgary suspends admission for oil and gas engineering program - CTV Toronto