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Got a passion for engineering and technology? Find out about studying at The Open University.
How To Build on TV
How To Build is broadcast on Sunday evenings at 8pm on BBC Two. See full schedule details.
Use the links below to see more about how ideas are taken from sketch to structure, and the challenges faced by engineers trying to solve difficult problems.
The Open University team take on design and engineering challenges
What's the tallest paper structure you can build?
The Open University
Can Adam Hart-Davis and his team build a paper tower to support a person? Read more : What's the tallest paper structure you can build?
How to damp a wobbly bridge
The Open University
Inspired by the Millennium Bridge in London, Adam Hart-Davis investigates how to damp a wobbly bridge Read more : How to damp a wobbly bridge
Making the biggest paper balloon
The Open University
Is it possible to lift a person off the ground - with a huge paper balloon? Adam Hart-Davis and the team find out Read more : Making the biggest paper balloon
Building a reconnaissance robot
Robotic hand 2 / L D M / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
An extract from Radio 4's Material World as Open University students try to build robots at the Technology In Action summer school Read more : Building a reconnaissance robot
Learn about design and engineering with the Open University
Engineering The Future
soil-net under CC-BY-NC-SA
This free unit looks at the process of design – from assessing the complexity of design as an activity, to exposing the difficulty in... Read more : Engineering The Future
Engineering: The nature of problems
Learning Space 
Used with permission
Engineering is about extending the horizons of society by solving technical problems, ranging from the meeting of basic human needs for food and shelter to... Read more : Engineering: The nature of problems
Design and Designing
BBC
This free album asks: How do you start to design a product? Can drawing techniques be learned? And why is modelling such a useful technique? Read more : Design and Designing
Engineering: an active introduction
Course
The Open University / Karen Parker
Gain laboratory and fieldwork experience and develop practical engineering skills – taking measurements, analysing data, seeking and evaluating information, modelling, problem solving and design for... Read more : Engineering: an active introduction
Structural Integrity: designing against failure
BBC
This album tells the story of the Kinzua rail viaduct catastrophe that occured in Pennsylvania in 2003 and the subsequent forensic investigation Read more : Structural Integrity: designing against failure
![Polling Station signage [Image: kagey b under CC-BY-NC-ND licence]](/openlearn/files/ole/ole_images/places/general-urban-scenes/polling-station-sign/polling station sign_0_0.jpg)
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How to build- a myth
Very disappointed that a UK engineering group (OU Eng & Tech) re-iterate the myth that wings fly because "wings are curved on top and flatter on the bottom" (OU-assocaited BBC "How to Make- A super jumbo wing" 07' 30'' from start). Plainly not true as can be observed by ability of aeroplanes to fly inverted. Aerofoils generate lift by adding rotation to the fluid: see
http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/airfoils.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_%28force%29
http://iopscience.iop.org/0031-9120/38/6/001/pdf/pe3_6_001.pdf