The Concorde Is Gone, but Supersonic Travel Is on Its Way Back

May Shek

May Shek received her B.S. and Honors Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston in 2002. She Immediately upon her graduation, she joined Shell in 2002 where she has held various position with increasing responsibilities: Process Technical Support to Olefins (2002-2004), Control Systems Support to Heavy Olefins and Aromatics (2004-2005), Economics and Scheduling Coordinator to Olefins, Heavy Olefins and Aromatics (2005-2007), Refinery Planner/Supply Chain Optimization Planner in Shell Canada (2007-2009). In early 2010, she has recently returned to Houston after her Shell Canada assignment in Calgary.

Shek currently works as the Investment Planner/Asset Coordinator for the Deer Park Refinery. She has been active with campus recruiting since 2004. Since 2008, she has been on the advisory board of the CEP magazine. She is currently serving as a board member on the Engineering Alumni Association at the University of Houston. Besides working and volunteering, May enjoys playing the piano and practicing pilates. Since her stay in Calgary, she has been bitten by the running bug. She likes to run medium distance races (5k, 10k and Half Marathons). Readers can contact May via e-mail or the social networks below.

Longing for the days of glamorous supersonic travel aboard the Concorde but can't quite reconcile the need for speed with your greener side? The European firm EADS, maker of the Airbus line of planes, unveiled a possible solution this week at the Paris Air Show. The company revealed plans for a supersonic craft known as Zero Emission Hypersonic Transport, or ZEHST, which would run on algae-derived biofuel and reach a speed of Mach 4. At that speed, a flight from Paris to Tokyo would take about 2.5 hours. The drawback? It might not be ready for a few decades. Long wait aside, it's impressive to see what fellow engineers continue to come up with. Check out the video in the panel at right. If you'd like to read more about the aircraft, check out the article in New Scientist.

What are some of the challenges that this technology may face?

Photo: EADS

Comments

Submitted by May (not verified) on Fri, 06/24/2011 - 22:53

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Very true. I wonder what safe guards are in the plans for this type of plane. Reliability and maintenance is also another concern.