Technological advancements are conducted at accelerating rates in all areas of human activity, with air travel being no exception. In order to design aircraft that are faster, safer and very importantly more efficient, multiple solutions can be investigated. This thesis looked in particular at the structural side of aircraft innovation, and more specifically at the use of composite materials (both thermoset and thermoplastic) in comparison to aluminium, in an attempt to build lighter structures. The aim was to generate a comparative study using a wing rib as a case study and investigate the environmental sustainability of these structures using a life cycle assessment. The project was conducted in collaboration with GKN Fokker Hoogeveen, and the case study used was that of rib 14 within the Wing of Tomorrow project, initiated by Airbus.
The investigated material flows included a sheet formed aluminium rib, a machined aluminium rib, prepreg manufactured epoxy CFRP thermoset rib, RTM manufactured epoxy CFRP thermoset rib, and lastly an out of autoclave consolidated (hot press consolidated) PEKK CFRP thermoplastic rib. The results indicated that the machined aluminium in this application consumes the highest amount of energy and as a result has the highest carbon dioxide equivalent emissions as well, whereas the lowest values are seen for the sheet formed aluminium rib. The composites fall in between these two, with the thermoplastic having the third highest energy consumption and emissions from all materials considered. Lastly, a discussion was conducted on the potential of thermoplastic composites and their recyclability for the aircraft of the future, as well as future steps in the movement towards more sustainable aviation.

Laparoscopy was shown to be highly effective in improving patients healthcare outcomes in comparison to traditional open surgery, ensuring faster healing, reduced scarring of the tissue and reduced pain. Laparoscopy has a great technological complexity, causing difficulties which make it of great interest to the engineering community. This research investigated whether colour filtering provides a better contrast during laparoscopic surgery, allowing for easier identification of tissues and vessels. A video of a gall bladder removal surgery was first carefully analysed for key moments when the hepatic vessels, gall duct and gallbladder vessels were visible. Three different reference images were selected from the original video and twelve different RGB (Red, Green, Blue) ratios were used to create new colour enhanced images for each of the selections in Darktable.