Those events started the development and implementation of TCAS II (Traffic Alerting and Collision Avoidance Systems). TCAS is a system that tracks other aircraft by interrogating the Air Traffic Control Transponder and then calculating the time between the aircraft's closest point. If the calculated distance and time meets predetermined criteria the system advises the pilot to climb or descend to avoid a collision. TCAS is now installed on the majority of the worlds commercial aviation fleet and is an everyday part of flight operations.

This lecture will look briefly at the history of that development and the technical achievements that it required. It will then tackle the question of how well the system has worked and take a detailed look at one or two high profile failures of the system, one that nearly became the worst midair collision in aviation history. The presentation will include simulations of the system and touch on the challenges of investigating air-to-air incidents.

Andrew Rose spent 20 years working in various roles with a major UK airline, and for a number of years chaired the Airlines Electronic Engineering Committee Airborne Separation Assurance Systems Subcommittee which developed equipment characteristics for ACAS and Air Traffic Surveillance Transponders. In 2001 he set up Llanbury Consulting, through which he is still actively involved in the development and implementation of Air Traffic Surveillance and Collision Avoidance.

We look forward to you joining us for this interesting meeting.

On Friday 9th November 2007 the Hertfordshire Section of the InstMC sponsored and combined with SETPOINT Bedfordshire and Luton and two local companies to deliver another exciting full day of hands-on measurement activities for 72 Year 9 students (Key Stage 3, 13 - 14 year old) at Challney High School for Girls in Luton.

The overall title for the event was Real Life Maths and Science Day and the underlying theme was If you want to control something you must first measure it. Three 90 minute sessions were organised for each group of 24 pupils:
     * Measurement of Speed
     * Environmental Measurement
     * Medical Measurement

The activities for all those taking part included: building, testing and measuring the speed of small Wacky Racer buggies along an 20m track; identifying various solutions of liquids using pH measurements; measuring the effects of burning a fossil fuel; finding where earthquake survivors are buried by measuring their radiated heat; measuring the level of carbon dioxide in the room; discovering why penguins huddle together; measuring the constituents of the Modified Atmosphere Packaging technique used for food items; measuring the constituents of exhaled air and the level of oxygen in the blood; blood pressure and BMI measurements; and body temperature measurements using various non-invasive techniques.

Our objective in sponsoring and running this event was to show that science and mathematics are creative and enjoyable subjects, and to stimulate the students to consider these for continuing studies and, hopefully, careers. We believe this is vital to the future of our UK economy. We chose Challney High School for Girls to host the event for two main reasons: first, it has the status of a Specialist Science College; secondly it enabled us to reinforce the importance of the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to a rich ethnic diversity of 13 and 14 year old girls. The feedback received from the students participating in the event was very positive and we believe we have moved some of their views in the direction we intended.

We are grateful for the resources and help provided by Challney High School for Girls, SETPOINT Bedfordshire and Luton and the following local companies in making this event possible:
      Data Harvest Ltd.  based in Leighton Buzzard,
      Hitech Instruments Ltd.  based in Luton.
We are also indebted to Dr John Moyle for his extensive help in planning and delivering the Medical Measurement session, and to members of our committee who took part in an exhausting but very enjoyable day.

You will soon be able to view photographs from the day by selecting Our Picture Gallery from the navigation menu on the left hand side of each page on our web site.

John Hartley served a technical apprenticeship with Siemens plc in electrical and electronic engineering, following which he worked in the Process Instrumentation department. He then formed his own company, Extronics, which offers solutions and systems for hazardous areas, including the design and certification of explosion proof and purged enclosures.

We look forward to you joining us at this meeting.