This is an article published in the Spring 2018 edition of the Hayling Island U3A newsletter....

Since the last Newsletter, we have been treated to three fascinating but very different talks. The first was on the subject of encryption where the history of the technology was covered from elementary codes used by our ancestors leading up to the sophistication of the Enigma machine and the brilliant analyses that were applied to break the code, a state secret that remained secret for many years after the conclusion of the war. We are eagerly awaiting Encryption part two that will deal with the modern techniques of private and public keys. The talk is still to be scheduled so watch this space.

The second talk was on the science of business analysis that is now being applied in companies to resolve complex situations and to identify the best policies for future growth and survival in a very competitive world.

Our third talk was about Gunpowder Engines and covered the history of man’s attempts to create mechanical movement from gunpowder since the 16th century. Virtually all were failures but an amazing revelation was that many aircraft engines and even modern torpedoes have been started with a controlled gunpowder explosion! One remarkable coincidence was that one of the pioneers in the early 19th century was an ancestor of one of our members!

The S & T Group meets on the 4th Weds of each month at St Patricks Church Hall at 2.30 pm. Any member of the U3A is welcome to attend for a contribution of £2 or alternatively, one can join the group for a fee of £5 which lasts for around 8 months. Until now, we have relied upon our own members to give talks as many have great expertise having spent a lifetime in various fields of Science and Technology. But we have now reached the stage where most members have already presented and so we are liaising with all the other S & T groups within the Southern Central Network of the U3A to explore the possibility of exchanging speakers.

Paul Chapman

This is an article published in the Winter 2017 edition of the Hayling Island U3A newsletter...

Whenever you see a container on the back of a lorry, have you ever wondered whether it has come from some exotic place around the world, what is inside it and what is its destination? Probably not, but the answers can all be found in a master programme that controls every aspect of a containers journey from its origin through to the final delivery point. The detail is astounding from the allocation of a specific container, to which lorry is to bring it to a dock, the position on the dock, its location on a ship, possibly the transfer to another ship, the order of unloading to a specific location and finally the lorry to take it to the end customer. When one considers the millions of containers on the move, the thousands of container ships sailing the seas and the multitude of ports around the world the enormity of the software programme that controls the operation can only be imagined. But this was the experience of Dinos Theophanous who gave a fascinating talk on the subject in September.

In November Maurice Winn gave us a detailed account of how the new container terminal on the Thames was designed and constructed from a green field site to a complex operational system.

On a different scale, but no less challenging, Bryan Bowen in October talked about the complexities of the Microsoft Access programme and how it has been applied to the Hayling Island U3A membership. It is this programme that ensures that you receive your local and national newsletters/magazines and allows us to claim back income taxes through gift aid.

Every meeting of the Science and Technology group is advertised at the monthly meeting and is open to all for a small nominal fee towards the cost of hiring the hall.

Paul Chapman