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  • 2013-14 Committee

    The IET Birmingham Network organises a varied programme of activities in and around the Birmingham area. All of these events and activities are made possible by the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers. If you would like to know more about the committee, or would like to volunteer, please get in touch with any of the committee members listed below: Rob Diprose Vice Chairman Ivan Ellis Chairman Tim Boyle Webmaster John Holland School Liaison Officer Brian Reynolds Business Liaison Officer John Barnett Programme Coordinator, SEA Nirajan Sangroula Birmingham University Contact, Young Professionals Secretary Mohammed Sarki Secretary Mak Sharma Birmingham City University Contact Joanne Longton Community Relationship Manager Tafadzwa Mackenzie Kadare YP representative

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • Machine Automation and Manufacturing Engineering

    Exec Member, Lim Yew Kee, was invited by Ir. Siva Priya, Chair, Industrial Linkage Committee, Faculty of Engineering, Multimedia University (MMU) Malaysia, to deliver a technical talk to its engineering students on 16th June 2014. This event was sponsored by The IET Manufacturing Technical and Professional Network. Multimedia University (MMU) is the first private university in Malaysia, a wholly owned subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia (TM), the largest telecommunications company in Malaysia, and growing to over 20,000 students in 15 years. This Technical Talk was entitled, "Machine Automation and Manufacturing Engineering". He highlighted that current global market demand not only for reliable and quality product, but also ones managing its cost effectiveness in manufacturing processes coupled…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • PEMD TPN Management Group

    The PEMD TPN Management Group is drawn from senior industrial and academic engineers in the field of Power Electronics, Machines and systems comprising either or both of these technologies – Drives is a convenient description.   The team comprises:   ·       Bill Drury (PEMD Consultant) - Chairman ·       Mike Barnes (Manchester University)%u200B ·       Jeff Carter (Borg Warner) -       Colin Davidson (Alstom Grid) ·       Paul Huggett (KTN) ·       Barrie Mecrow (Newcastle University) ·       David Moule (TRW) ·       Volker Pickert (Newcastle University) ·       Pat Wheeler (Nottingham University) ·       Zi-Qiang Zhu (Sheffield University)

    Bill Drury
    Bill Drury

  • The IET PEMD Technical Network

    The PEMD Technical Network provides a hub or focal point for the Power Electronics community.  It aims to organise occasional seminars & webinars covering topics which are relevant to PEMD.  It will also inform of other events being organised in the world-wide PEMD community.  Whilst the network base is UK-centric, international members are most welcome.   Increasingly, provision of events via webinars will enable all to participate regardless of location.  The provision will be managed by a small organising committee.  This team has members in businesses and research organisations operating in the PEMD space thereby maintaining direction and relevance. The Technology base of the community is well defined by the following themes:   Power Semiconductors Power Electronics Machines and Drives…

    Bill Drury
    Bill Drury

  • 'Prefab' construction moves into mainstream

    With advances in computer-aided design, big contractors have embraced the use of prefabricated building components. Prefabrication — a decades-old concept for saving money and time in construction once dismissed as synonymous with low quality — is making a huge comeback in an era when advances in computer-aided design have reinvented the idea into an indispensable tool for some of the biggest commercial building projects. The “prefab” concept blossomed in the 1950s, when it became shorthand for slapped-together housing erected as quickly as possible to meet the needs of the baby boom generation. For the first time, builders used components that were assembled in off-site workshops and shipped in on trucks in order to mass-produce millions of starter homes across the country. The results were…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • High hopes for a sustainable future for Newcastle

    New innovation hub boasts one of the UK’s tallest living walls A 27m-high living wall offering wild strawberries, seagrass and sanctuary for small birds has been installed as part of the build programme for a new sustainable innovation hub in Newcastle. The vertical garden forms a key focal point at Science Central, a 24-acre development currently being constructed by Newcastle Science City, a partnership between Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University. Designed and engineered by Faulkner Brown Architects in conjunction with Land Use Consultants, ANS Group Europe, Mott MacDonald and Sir Robert McAlpine, the wall measures around 366 sq m in area and contains more than 35,000 plants. The aim was to create an example of urban sustainability in order to encourage sustainable innovation…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Meet Kerrine Bryan, Principal Electrical Engineer at CB&I - IET Woman's Network

    Article in full: https://communities.theiet.org/communities/files/77/6202

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Refurbished House Tests Four-in-a-block Retrofit

    A project is demonstrating retrofit solutions for some of the most energy inefficient homes across Scotland and the UK. The newly-built Refurbished House, which has been constructed at the BRE Innovation Park @Ravenscraig , in Scotland, is a recreation of a ‘four in a block’ building, with two apartments on the ground floor and two on the first. Developed specifically for retrofit, the project has been delivered by BRE Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University and Historic Scotland. It is designed by Kraft Architecture and Hannah Read Consulting Engineers and constructed by contractor Cruden. The house enables robust assessments to be made of cost effective upgrading solutions for walls, windows, roofs and services for this building type. There are estimated to be 265,000 of the ‘four in a block…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Capita Symonds to lead flagship project in urban regeneration scheme

    Image of the week: BBC Wales headquarters, Cardiff Article in full: http://www.building4change.com/article.jsp?id=2441#.U8edmZRdXkY

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • LGBT survey: E&T hears from the engineering industry

    Does your sexual orientation affect your progression in the workplace? Are your colleagues accepting of your sexuality? Is it irrelevant to your role or should you be out and proud in the office? We asked E&T ’s LGBT engineering community to share their experiences of working within the industry. Read more...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Impacts of Summer Weather on the Railway infrastructure

    With the weather forecast for this weekend showing some storm systems heading the way of the UK, I thought this article on the Network Rail website was interesting.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Could you be the UK's Best Young Railway Researcher?

    The Rail Research UK Association (RRUKA) and the IMechE Railway Division are looking for the UK's best young railway researcher. More information on this award and key dates can be found here.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Technical talks delivered at Asia Pacific University, Malaysia

    Exec member, Lim Yew Kee, was invited by Assoc. Prof Ir Dr. Vinesh Thiruchelvam, Head of Engineering School, Asia Pacific University (APU) Malaysia, to deliver Technical Talks to its engineering staffs and students on 18 th June 2014. This event is sponsored by the IET Manufacturing Technical and Professional Network UK. APU is a private university and is within the Asia Pacific Institution of Technology (APIIT) Education Group and is one of Malaysia largest education groups addressing all levels of education. APU having well-established engineering programmes with international partnerships. There is another new additional to APU’s faculties having a new ultra-modern campus to be opened in 2015. The Technical Talk was entitled “ Pneumatic and Hydraulic Engineering ”. In this talk, an overview…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • Taranis - the most advanced aircraft ever built

    BAE Systems were highlighting the news from the latest flight tests on their Taranis Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle at Farnborough this week. This aircraft is roughly the same size as the Hawk used by the RAF's Red Arrows team and is designed to be the prototype for a combat drone - capable of long range strikes in hostile territory. Further information on Taranis, appropriately named after the Celtic god of thunder and the Neuron combat drone being developed by Dassault Aviation can be found here.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Who wouldn't mind going to work in this office?

    Wing Commander Andy Green is the lucky chap who gets to sit in this rather exclusive office, the finished cockpit of the Bloodhound car, he's planning on using to make an assault on the world land speed record in 2015 and 2016 in South Africa. In addition to the cockpit, the upper chassis panels are now almost complete for this car that will be capable of reaching 1,000mph, powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine. Andy shares his experiences on designing the cockpit here and it makes interesting reading.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • LGBT Survey: E&T Hears From The Engineering Industry

    Does your sexual orientation affect your progression in the workplace? Are your colleagues accepting of your sexuality? Is it irrelevant to your role or should you be out and proud in the office? We asked E&T ’s LGBT engineering community to share their experiences of working within the industry. “A lot of employers take the stance: ‘why should we care what you get up to in the bedroom?’. But really the question is; if you’re not comfortable at work can you perform at your best?” Chris Edwards is client group manager at LGB rights charity Stonewall, which helps companies achieve best practice in terms of sexual equality. In an attempt to address the perception that engineering is more LGBT-discriminatory than other industries, E&T recently conducted a survey into the experiences of lesbian…

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • Stratford City - Bouygues wins 42 storey east London tower

    Bouygues has won a deal to build a 42-storey Manhattan Loft Gardens scheme in Stratford, east London. The brief was to 'build the most exciting tower ever built.' View the video and find out more at: http://www.manhattanloftgardens.co.uk/stratford-city/

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Li-Fi: Wi-Fi Of The Future?

    Mexican software development company Sisoft has succeeded in wirelessly transmitting internet data at 10Gbps using Visible Light Communications (VLC), a technology that can illuminate a large space, such as an office, while at the same time providing high-speed mobile internet connectivity to devices that come into range of the light spectrum. Sisoft was able to transfer data at speeds of up to 10Gbps across a light spectrum emitted by LED lamps. In April this year, E&T reported how Scottish researchers had achieved 1.1Gbps using the same VLC technology. Sisoft was able to transmit audio, video and Internet data across the spectrum of light emitted by LED lamps Read the full article on the E&T website

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • Turbocharger Research Institute PhD programmes - Apply by 31st July

    The TRI are pleased to offer 2 fully funded PhD programmes in the following areas: •Turbocharger compressor stage design for performance and manufacture/assembly •Turbocharger turbine stage design for performance and manufacture/assembly Read more...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • How To Send A Professional Registration Application To a PRA For Review in Career Manager

    This guide has been designed for members who have achieved a number of years' experience and are ready to apply for professional registration and complements our previous blog: “ How To Build A Professional Registration Application In Career Manager ” 1. All IET members have access to Career Manager, our online professional development planning and recording tool. Simply visit our website www.theiet.org/career-manager and log-in to enable the Access IET Career Manager button. 2. Select Professional Registration from the Quick Launch Tool on the homepage. Select Apply for CEng, IEng, EngTech or ICTTech now! 3. Once you have completed all of the mandatory fields on the registration checklist, the IET strongly recommend that you send your application form to a professional registration advisor…

  • How to cope in a neurotypical world

    @BDAdyslexia written a new blog on advice for adults with #dyspraxia & #dyslexia how to cope in a neurotypical world http://t.co/WJA3cGf0wS — %u2728Rosie%u2728 (@marvelousmollie) July 12, 2014

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • World’s Next Tallest Buildings To Clean Air For China

    A "thermal chimney" that accumulates heat from the sun will be incorporated into the center of the taller tower. It will then extract air from across the lakes and apply it to lower the temperature in the buildings. Subsequently, the air will be filtered and blended back into the environment but cleaner than before. A similar process will be done with the water, cleansing it and putting it back. In the taller tower, a kaleidoscope powered by a wind turbine will be a distinct addition to the structure. The integration of photovoltaic panels will help generate electricity for the building and the district. The smaller tower will highlight the world's tallest vertical garden, also referred to as "green wall", which ascends to the top of the building. Enormous celestial orbs where restaurants and…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Control & Automation Conference - Uniting problems and solutions

    The IET Contol & Automation TPN exec team were very pleased to support the Control and Automation Conference back in June 2013, which aimed to unite problems faced by industry with available and potential solutions. This call for paper conference focused on the challenges faced by engineers in delivering effective control systems on time and to budget. Technical papers were delivered over two days as oral presentations and poster displays in the following sessions: Network technology Process control and optimisation Power systems Control techniques Instrumentation and asset management Robotics The conference was chaired by Paul McKenna, Glasgow Caledonian University, and the keynote speakers included: Steve Pavlosky, Product General Manager Control and Communication Systems, GE Intelligent…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • UK INDEMAND Centre Futures Workshop

    How organisations and individuals along the supply chain might interact in new ways to deliver a high level of wellbeing with significantly reduced levels of materials, energy and carbon emissions. When: 24 July 2014 Time: 09.30 - 14.00 Location: Royal Academy of Engineering, London Workshop title: UK INDEMAND Centre Futures Workshop Express your interest in participating via: Research Administrator, Robin Styles at indemand@leeds.ac.uk

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

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