Sacyr's Blog

COVID-19 has put the focus squarely on biosecurity. Against the backdrop of social distancing and quarantines to curb the spread of the virus, technologies that were already seen as holding great promise (and threatening) to revolutionise transport and mobility are now gaining ground. Will the pandemic hasten the era of robots, drones and autonomous cars? We analyse this effect, focusing on the case of driverless vehicles.

From the imminent challenge of preventing Venice from sinking any further by means of a complex hydraulic system, to the futuristic and luxurious idea of artificial islands, reclaiming land from the water has been an engineering dream since ancient times. One of the great success stories of recent history is the Dutch plan to protect its lands from the advance of the sea.

The birth of the microprocessor, in the early 1970s, sparked legal battles, conceptual challenges, and a veritable race for the jump to personal computers. The order of a Japanese calculator company was responsible for bringing this technology to market, until then classified as a military secret, which has been key to the evolution towards today's digital society.

Achieving a greener car goes beyond the zero-emission car (electric or hydrogen). Alternatives such as new sensors for more efficient driving, cleaner combustion engines or less polluting production, already apply improvements to current vehicles to achieve more environmentally friendly mobility.

Life underground is not, exclusively, science fiction, nor is it necessarily cramped, chilly or gloomy. Thanks to engineering and architecture, we have more and more solutions to make the subsurface habitable, creating impressive subterranean structures that are also key to a sustainable future.