This blog features posts from and about the EngX community. Want to contribute? Read our blogging guide to help you get started.
(YPS executive (L-R): Greg Manohar, Faheema Baksh, Joshua Durham, Anarion Mason and Ian Callender) Greg Manohar Chairman Joshua Durham Vice Chairman Anarion Mason Treasurer Faheema Baksh Secretary Ian Callender Member
DSP is one of those engineering concepts that is used every day by the entire globe - way beyond the modern digital channels that took to main stream. Radio airwaves, or analogue signals were the first to have DSP applied. DSP has the ability to take a signal, like a radio channel and digitise it. The algorithms used are sophisticated and based on mathematics. By taking a samples of a signal and applying quantisation techniques, a digitalised signal can be produced. Most commonly used in digital audio components like mp3, medical imaging or mobile phones. As the world of IoT begins to shape, the need for quicker, smaller and less power process intensive methods that are cheap to produce are required. The Cadence IoT IP subsystem includes a Tensilica DSP along with analogue and digital sensor…
"Time of Your Light" is a joint electronics initiative between the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Peak 2015 Scout & Guide jamboree. Our goal is to inspire thousands of young people to discover the excitement of engineering and technology. We will deliver an engaging, hands-on soldering activity over five days of camping at Chatsworth House Estate, Derbyshire, 26-31 July 2015. Read more about it here
The clock is ticking for Trike, find out how to decide on the best replacement in time for the ban commencing 21st April 2016. As of 21 April 2015, the clock officially started ticking for Trichloroethylene or, as it is more familiarly known, Trike or TCE. From that same date in 2016, Trike cannot be used without special authorisation by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). Don't miss this webinar, on Wednesday, 1st July at 2pm , which will detail all you need to know about the upcoming changes: Understand the latest legislation developments surrounding TCE and alternative cleaning solvents; Learn about practical implications if you are a user today; The viable alternatives to Trichloroethylene (and other traditional solvents); The pros and cons of each of the alternatives; Advice of next…
Our latest event by FARO, presented by David Southam gave a full demonstration – see the clip here;
Attached are snapshots of comments from attendees who participated in the workshop “Making Continued Professional Development (CPD) work for you” during a PATW event. Participants are young adults.
The Railway Network recently organised an evening seminar in Derby that covered railway signalling research from the 1970s through to present day. The audience heard from two speakers: Roger Short covered the various research projects he had worked on when he was employed by the British Railways Board. Some of the projects mentioned were The Wiggly Wire, Advanced Passenger Train and its tilting system for high speed trains, TACT and BRATO Train Control Systems, through to the Radio Token Block and Train Detection. Andy Heath from Transport for London covered 50 years of signalling and train control development on the London Underground system and some key points from his presentation were: The Victoria Line was the world’s first fully automatic passenger railway in the 1960s. In 1960 there…
What does community mean to you? According to the dictionary its: "a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common" So what relevance does this have to the IET? Well, the IET manages a number of communities based on technical and geographic areas. For example there is the South California Local Network that brings together engineers from that area of the world. There is also the Robotics and Mechatronics Technical Network that is a hub for engineers working in these areas. One of the IET's aims is to facilitate the dissemination and sharing of knowledge so that engineers and technicans are better equiped in their professional lives. Our communities are key in enabling this especially in areas of the world where there is no staff presence. To illustrate…
The Aerospace Network recently held an event in Toulouse and a combined team of volunteers/staff i.e. Li-Anne Nixon, Bob Darby, Tom Quinn, David Lindley and John Turton were there to deliver this activity. Although David suffered a 3 hour delay at Gatwick the rest of us got there OK. We arrived in cloudy and humid weather, warm compared to the disappointing June in England, but unusual because in my experience Toulouse usually enjoys a very pleasant climate. We all met on Friday morning at DSNA (the French air navigation service and hosts for the meeting) to get things set up. This was mainly Tom and Li-Anne’s effort. Li Anne and Tom shot a few “hot topics” videos in the pleasant courtyard garden of DSNA and we then went down to the lecture hall to await arrivals. John Turton started off by…
I would like to remind those of you who are in Paris this month that the Institutions' (ICE, IET, IMechE, IStructE) joint social evening will be held next Thursday 18th June 2015 from 19h00 at Carr's bar and restaurant, 1 rue Mont Thabor, Paris 1 (Métro Line 1 Tuileries) . Spouses,partners and friends welcome. This regular event takes place the 3rd Thursday of each month. There will be an optional group dinner from about 20h30.
A few weeks ago one of the University of Canterbury's What If....? talks was of interest to engineers: "What if... we all drove electric vehicles?" It was a very interesting lecture, and has now been uploaded to YouTube. If you missed out on seeing it, click here to watch it online.
Do you want to learn more details of the 3rd amendment to Wiring Regulations? Join us in Slough on Wednesday 17th June will provide answers. See below for details and to book (or just turn up on the evening).
In April and May 2015, Joe Dunn (IET Solent Network) hosted three interactive workshops on Wireless Network Security at the University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton, and Southampton Solent University to IET and BCS attendees. The workshop covered: The IEEE 802.11 standard including MAC addresses, WEP and WPA2 Wireless network vulnerabilities including MAC spoofing, the "FMS" attack, and brute-forcing Preventative measures including changing SSIDs, long passwords, reducing broadcast power, and instating VPNs Following a 30 minute lecture and 15 minute demonstration, attendees were 'let loose' on two example wireless networks in order to gain a better understanding of how to protect their own networks from common vulnerabilities. The event has received very positive feedback including…
IET Central London monthly lecture by Mark Edgington of Incendiary Blue Wed 10th June, Royal College of GPs, Euston In this interesting, informative and, yes, fun talk, Mark reminded us of why a good user interface design is so important and then gave some pointers on how to get it right. Just how do we live through all the frustration that everyday devices and systems subject us to? From the earliest days, designers have thought about human factors in the use of a device - sadly, often not well enough! Examples of poor UI's are common: look at most lifts, remote controls, road signs and self checkouts (one example even needed a sticker to explain an overlooked function). Some could be accused of being deliberately confusing... A fact: Any system or function must benefit the user or it will…
Mauritius Network Committee Members 2015-16 President – Ismael Essackjee Vice President – Sarupanand Kinnoo Treasurer – G. Sreekeessoon Secretary – Chandracoomar Pugo
The PATW 2015 Local Competition has been held on Friday 05 May 2015. 13 participants have presented their projects and the winner is Miss Jaya Sujeewon with her presentation on "An autonomous Greenhouse Automation System with GSM Control". She will be representing Mauritius at the Regional Finals in Abu Dhabi by end of July 2015. She also receives a 1 year free subscription to the IET, a cash prize of £150 and a winner certificate. Winner 2015 - Miss Jaya Sujeewon The Runner up of this PATW 2015 for Mauritius is Miss Shameema Mulung for her presentation on "The Internet of Things and Smart Home Systems". The runner up shall receive a 1 year free subscription to the IET, a cash prize of £100 and a runner up certificate. Runner up 2015 - Miss Shameema Mulung Audience and Judges
What do you do with thousands of boulders and materials from an open cast coal mine - turn it into an astronomical landscape - Crawick Multiverse Crawick Multiverse is a major land restoration and art project in Dumfries and Galloway , utilising landscape art to transform a former open cast coal mine into an outdoor space that can be enjoyed by future generations. Crawick Multiverse is a stunning representation of exciting discoveries and theories of the universe. This world-class landscape art design links the themes of space, astronomy and cosmology, creating a truly inspiring landmark that will appeal to everyone from art enthusiasts and scientists to the wider community. Opening Summer 2015 http://www.crawickmultiverse.co.uk/
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the electricity network company in Northern Ireland, has become the first company in Northern Ireland to be accredited by the IET for its Engineering Professional Development Scheme. NIE joins only 124 accredited schemes in the UK to receive this accolade which was awarded following a rigorous assessment and audit. IET Accreditation is an internationally recognised benchmark awarded to high quality programmes that provide an ideal preparation for aspiring professional engineers. NIE has embarked on a formal programme of encouraging and supporting more NIE employees to become IET members and Chartered Engineers. Accepting the award, Nicholas Tarrant, Managing Director at NIE, said: "Engineering is integral to our business and this accreditation demonstrates…
Hi all, As only a couple of people have registered for tomorrow’s WebEx, the committee has decided to postpone the presentation for a while. Once a new date has been confirmed, another invite will be sent out. Thanks, Allan
Hightlight of this year event includes a lecture by Professor Nigel Schofield which attracts about a hundred young adult audience. Lecture details...
The event took place on 30 May. It revives after 2013. It was a great success with competitors from McMaster University, Ryerson University,Sheridan College and Mohawk College, Let us know what you think of the event by commenting below. Event Flyer Event Report
We are gearing up for the latest review of CPD Returns and it’s not too late to opt in to the 2015 Review Cycle. The background to this is as follows: In October 2013, The Engineering Council announced an aspiration that by January 2017 all Professional Engineering Institutions will have introduced a Policy of random reviewing of Professionally Active Registrants’ CPD Returns. The IET’s Board of Trustees have now agreed that we should meet this aspiration, extending it as a benefit to all IET Members. As an IET Member you have already committed to keeping your knowledge and skills up-to-date through planned Professional development as part of our Rules of Conduct . The only change, therefore, is that from January 2017, you may be chosen to have your previous year’s records reviewed. To help…
You may already be aware that the Engineering Council have released an update to the UK-SPEC and ICTTech Standards. From 20 April 2015, the new editions have been implemented by the IET; this includes new level descriptors for each of the competence statements within IET Career Manager which were launched as part of the recent service release . New to Career Manager or just starting out? If you are new to Career Manager, or are just starting to undertake Initial Professional Development (IPD) then nothing will change for you and you can start a review against the latest version of the competences. You can view the guidance on how to do this at: www.theiet.org/cm-training or log in and work your way through the on screen guidance in the quick launch tool. Already using Career Manager for IPD…
For those who were able to attend this talk on the 6th June, they treated to an excellent session presented by Kristen Facciol who flew in from Montreal to talk about Canadarm2 and other Space based Robotic Systems. The original Canadarm was the robotic arm attached to the space shuttle, but to help with the space station assembly and maintenance Canadarm 2 (or more properly the Space Station Remote Manipulator System) was developed. At 17m long with 7 joints it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supports astronauts working in space, and services instruments and other payloads attached to the ISS. It is also responsible for capturing the free-flying space vehicles such as the SpaceX Dragon which want to dock to the Space Station. Attached to the SSRMS is Dextre which allows robotic…
