Latest Insights from the EngX Community

  • Water,Water Nowhere: The Utility We Can't Live Without

    The summer of 2026 brought record-breaking temperatures across the UK, with hosepipe bans affecting around 75% of the country. These conditions highlighted the growing importance of water as a precious resource. Yet despite its critical role in our daily lives and industrial processes, water is often taken for granted. We expect it to be available whenever we need it, rarely considering the infrastructure, energy, resilience, and cost required to ensure a continuous supply. Against this backdrop, the IET London Network's September Lecture explored one of industry's most essential but overlooked utilities: water. Presented by Aoife Kelly, Global Lead for Sustainable Design, Pharmaceuticals and Advanced Technology at Arcadis, and hosted by the Central London Network on 9 September 2026 at the…

  • This blog set alarm bells ringing!

    Guest blog by David Knights FIET David, a researcher and visitor to the IET Archives, has written this blog about an item he found in one of our collections. Having an interest in his locality and an engineering background, it was the perfect way to combine technical archives with local history. An online copy of the map provided the opportunity to take a better look at it alongside his own collection of images that include some of the fire call points shown on the map. The Borough of Acton One of the more unusual items in the IET Archives is a Map of the Borough of Acton showing the location of fire alarms and fire stations dated 1937. The collection also includes similar details of Oxford, Malden and Coombe, Eccles, Luton, Watford, and the British Empire Exhibition (1924/5). IET…

  • Brownfield Automation: How Do You Automate a Factory That Was Never Designed to Be Automated?

    Manufacturers are being encouraged to embrace connected, intelligent and increasingly autonomous production. Yet much of the world’s manufacturing capacity was installed long before those concepts existed. The challenge is therefore not simply how to build the factory of the future, but how to create it from the factory that already exists. The factory of the future may already have been built Walk through almost any long-established manufacturing facility and the reason quickly becomes apparent. A recently installed robotic cell may sit alongside a twenty-year-old CNC machining centre. Further down the line may be equipment controlled by an older PLC, a standalone inspection machine and processes that still depend heavily on manual intervention. These assets were installed at different…

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Latest IET EngX News

  • From Industrial Waste to World Cup Audiences: August on EngX

    August brought another diverse mix of ideas, experiences and thought‑provoking discussions to the EngX community. Last month’s highlights ranged from rethinking industrial waste and exploring the future of broadcasting to examining how engineers can turn insight into action on complex projects. Alongside these blogs, members continued to share expertise across the forums, tackling topics from renewable energy and EV infrastructure to AI and the future of engineering practice. Together, they showcase the breadth of knowledge and curiosity that makes EngX such a valuable place to learn, connect and collaborate. Blogs worth a read Industrial Waste Passports: can better data unlock a circular future? What if we treated waste as the start of a new value chain rather than the end of an old…

  • Curiosity, AI and the Future of Engineering - July's Highlights on EngX

    July on EngX was packed with thought‑provoking ideas, career reflections and practical engineering conversations. From exploring the decision‑making challenges behind artificial intelligence to rethinking how we design workplaces and infrastructure, the community shared a wide range of perspectives on how engineering continues to evolve. Alongside these future‑focused topics, personal career stories and lively forum discussions reminded us that some of the most valuable insights come from sharing experiences with one another. Here's a look at some of the content that stood out this month. Blogs worth a read Dead on Arrival: Why fresh produce needs a digital brain, not just a GPS This fascinating blog explored how digital twins, IoT sensors and predictive AI could help tackle one of…

  • June Highlights on EngX: Digital twins, decarbonisation and community conversations

    June on EngX brought together a fascinating mix of future-focused thinking, practical engineering challenges and inspiring community stories. From exploring how digital twins are transforming decision-making across industries to tackling the realities of decarbonising energy-intensive sectors, members continued to share insight, experience and expertise. Alongside these technical discussions, stories celebrating engineering talent, STEM education and inclusion helped showcase the people driving our profession forward. Here’s a look at some of the content that stood out this month. Blogs worth a read Digital twins in motion: why a multi-disciplinary debate matters now Digital twins have rapidly evolved from an emerging concept into a practical engineering tool, and this blog explored…

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Latest Partner News

  • Josie Harries discusses how Domino is working to increase support for women in the workplace

    Encouraging women to choose careers in STEM subjects has been top of the agenda for many years – but what fresh ideas can you introduce within the workplace to attract and support female employees? At Domino, we are committed to improving the gender ratio in leadership roles within a business to 40% by 2030. This target, endorsed from Board level down, now stands at 25%, from a starting figure of 18%. Support networks Recently we re-launched our Women@Domino global network to promote inclusion within the business and facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences, as well as networking, mentoring, events and training. Gender was also one of three key areas in our new Inclusion & Diversity strategy. The network is not limited to female employees; male colleagues are encouraged to participate…

  • Road to Engineering event introduces children to the world of engineering

    BAE System's Submarines Academy for Skills and Knowledge (SASK), Barrow-in-Furness successfully hosted the 6th Road to Engineering event which took place over three action-packed days. Over 200 children from the Furness area participated in the event which aims to inspire future careers in Engineering. This year's theme was 'Adapt and Change' following the British Science week theme. Supporting the event were the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Barrow District of Associate Engineers and the Royal Institute of Naval Architects who contributed valuable insight, merchandise and STEM packs for schools. Stephen Rowe, Project Director of Engineering Transformation said, "It was a privilege to attend the Road to Engineering event and…

  • H&MV Engineering appointed as principal designer and contractor for the Thorpe Marsh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

    H&MV Engineering has been appointed as principal designer and contractor for the delivery of the 400 kV grid connection and electrical infrastructure for the Thorpe Marsh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) – the largest of its kind in the UK and among the largest in Europe. This landmark project, led by Fidra Energy and backed by major investment from EIG and the UK Government’s National Wealth Fund (NWF), has now reached financial close with construction commencing immediately. Located on the site of the former Thorpe Marsh coal-fired power station in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, the 1,400MW / 3,100MWh facility will be capable of exporting over 2 million MWh annually, supplying clean energy to approximately 785,000 homes. Once operational in mid-2027, it will be three times larger than…

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Latest articles from E+T Magazine

  • Bentley unveils 2.7-tonne luxury EV with 16-minute charging time

    British luxury automaker Bentley has launched its first fully electric vehicle (EV), the £173,000 Torcal SUV. The Bentley Torcal marks the brand’s first foray into the EV market in its 107-year history. Though renowned for its iconic W12 and V8 combustion engines, the Crewe-based manufacturer maintains that its shift to an all-electric lineup hasn't sacrificed performance. In fact, it claims that it’s the most powerful Bentley ever built. With 876 horsepower and 1,350Nm of torque, the Torcal will accelerate from 0–60 miles per hour in just 2.8 seconds. As Bentley is owned by the VW Group, the Torcal has been built on the same EV platform as the Porsche Cayenne Electric. The high-voltage battery consists of 192 lithium-ion pouch cells in series, running at 800V nominal, with a total…

  • Implantable devices able to connect via electrical pulses passed through tissue

    A network of wearables and implants are able to connect using the body’s natural conductivity to send signals, according to a study. The human body does not easily allow traditional wireless signals such as Bluetooth or NFC to pass through. This has limited how much implantable sensors and actuators are able to communicate with each other as well as wearable devices. Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology in the US have removed these limitations by using body tissue’s natural ionic conductivity, enabling these devices to work together. Each implant is programmed to respond to electrical pulses of specific voltage and length passed through the tissue from one device to another, allowing them to be selectively activated. They also can be programmed to coordinate so data from multiple…

  • Scottish-built hardware to power German research rocket

    Scottish space tech firm Aurora Avionics has seen its technology integrated into a German research rocket due for launch in October. It marks the first time that the Edinburgh-based firm will have its PF1 computer system launch into microgravity onboard the German-developed MAPHEUS mission. Aurora engineers have worked with the Mobile Rocket Base (MORABA) team at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) to integrate its experimental prototype system with the MAPHEUS-17 research rocket. Its hardware including a camera, service module and supporting equipment was installed and tested within a day. “Seeing our technology being integrated into a major German research system is an exciting moment – not only for our firm, but for the wider Scottish space industry,” said Myles Bax, commercial lead…

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