Viewpoint: Teaching art to engineering students

Letters this month include discussion on: Late payment of fees, the CM exam pass mark, the recruitment market and the Institution's Structural Awards 2014 event.

Student Sally Jones put in the effort to organise to undertake a year of her study in the United States. She tells Jackie Whitelaw it was one of the best decisions she’s made so far.

This work presents a new semi-active friction damper device, based on piezoelectric technology, for the anti-seismic control of civil structures. The proposed device presents an original conceptual layout, characterised by a compact and easy allocation of the piezo actuator which is installed inside the piston of the damper. Theoretical performances were validated by means of experimental tests carried out on a physical prototype, loaded through a hydraulic test machine.