Dr Glynne Bowsher is currently designing a steam-powered car to set a new world land speed record. This is just the latest in a series of similar projects that he has worked on; after the first he was accused of having been ‘bitten by the bug’, and history seems to have shown this to be true. Jon Severn spoke to the man who is working against the clock in more ways than one.

People who are not engineers often ask what engineering is. The answer, of course, is that engineering is what engineers do. And what are engineers? People who do engineering - or perhaps engineers are better described as problem solvers. Solving problems is not the exclusive domain of engineers, but it is a crucial aspect of engineering - and the key to Dr Glynne Bowsher's enjoyment of the profession.

Having worked in industry for many years, Glynne Bowsher was asked to design the brakes and power hydraulic systems for Thrust 2, the jet car that Richard Noble used to set a new world land speed record with an average speed over two runs of 633.468 mph (1019.468 km/h) on October 4, 1983. Bowsher was present in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, that day, together with Ken Norris, Thrust 2 Team Manager and co-designer with his brother Lewis of the Bluebird record-breakers – car and boat –- for Donald Campbell. After Thrust 2’s success, Ken Norris told Glynne Bowsher: “Now you are bitten by the bug.”

Bowsher denied it at the time, but readily accepted the position of chief mechanical designer for Richard Noble's ThrustSSC, which subsequently became the first car to break the sound barrier, achieving 763.03mph (1227.98 km/h) and establishing a new outright world land speed record. Other record attempts that Bowsher has been involved with to a greater or lesser extent include the Quicksilver 500 wheel-driven car, the Quicksilver world water speed record challenger, a 300mph rocket bike for Richard Brown and, the main project on which he has worked for more than five years as chief designer, Inspiration, a steam-powered car that is being built to set UK and world records.

“There is something about the sheer excitement of record attempts," he says. "I love engineering, thinking on my feet and solving problems - even the unexpected ones. And there is something unique about record challenges; having to make engineering decisions and see them through to demonstrate that they work.”

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Busy schedule

After a development programme that has been far longer than anticipated, the project is now on course for Inspiration to run in July or August of 2005. “This means that I am currently working the equivalent of six days per week preparing working drawings for components to be manufactured,” according to Bowsher. He is also ready to tackle any problems highlighted by the test programme that is scheduled for a number of critical components – such as the burners, boilers and alloy fuel tank - prior to the car being assembled and tested as a whole.

Critics are sometimes sceptical about record attempts, suggesting that they do little to advance technology or, indeed, achieve anything other inflate the egos of the individuals involved. Bowsher comments: “In the 1920s and 1930s it was true that lessons were learnt and everyday vehicles benefited. However, with jet-powered cars that is not really the case any more. Even Inspiration has little in common with any possible steam-powered road car; for example, there is no condenser and recirculation system, which means that all of the water carried is consumed on each run.”

Nevertheless, Bowsher believes that some technologies used within Inspiration could have wider applications. “The burner and boiler design are highly unusual, so there is potential for them to be used elsewhere if there is a need for a compact, lightweight boiler without a high-pressure air feed.” In addition, Charles Burnett III, the driver and one of the main sponsors, has a passion to advance environmentally friendly vehicles on land, water and in the air. Because Inspiration is powered by LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, or propane), there may be spin-off developments that could lead to weight reductions for pressurised fuel systems, which could easily benefit vehicles, boats and aircraft. Indeed, one of the aims of the project is to create interest among the next generation of engineers and designers to work toward cleaner and safer forms of transportation, both public and private.

Education is also an important element of the project, but Bowsher is doubtful that Inspiration or, indeed, record challenges in general, attract many young people to engineering today. He comments: “The UK government seems to have no interest in engineering, technology or manufacturing. With so few members of parliament having any technical qualifications - and them probably doing nothing technical on a day-to-day basis - it is no wonder that engineering and manufacturing are so badly neglected. Young people in the UK would be better going in to accountancy than engineering.”

While this may be a fair comment, it has to be remembered that many engineers started their 'careers' at an early age. How many readers of this magazine remember dismantling toys to see how they work? How many readers spent hours creating structures and mechanisms with Lego and Meccano? The truth is that engineers tend to be ‘bitten by the bug’ at a very early age, finding that this type of problem-solving is, in some ways, addictive. Furthermore, even a two-year-old wants to build the next Lego tower to be taller than the last one. There is something in human nature that makes us want to break records, and engineers are nature's problem-solvers, so some people will always find the combination of engineering and record breaking to be irresistible. Glynne Bowsher says that he will retire after the Inspiration project, but he adds: “I will not mind lending a hand on particular projects if asked.”