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  • Timber fire door - installation, repair & maintenance

    Correctly installing fire doors and doorsets and their on-going repair and maintenance is critical to the safety of building occupants. Fire doors play a vital role in containing fire and the spread of smoke in the event of a fire. The importance of good installation cannot be overemphasised. Poor installation can mean that an otherwise well-manufactured door fails to provide the required performance in the event of a fire. The installation of a doorset is as much a part of the fire resistance test as the doorset itself. Therefore, any alterations to the method of installation must be covered by a test report, an assessment report or an extended field of application report. Repair and maintenance of a life-safety device such as a fire door is imperative. Generally, after handover, this responsibility…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • How can a Professional Registration Advisor help?

    I recently spoke with David Parr, one of our PRAs, who told me his one piece of advice to all candidates applying for professional registration is: “Always have your application looked over by a PRA.” Professional registration advisors (PRAs) are volunteers with detailed knowledge of the professional registration requirements who give their time to instruct registrants and potential registrants to advise on the presentation aspect of making a formal application for CEng, IEng, EngTech and ICTTech. With some simple preparation you can ensure that you can not only get their advice on your application but can also make the most of the assistance they can give. When to contact a PRA? Whilst you can contact a PRA at anytime, it is best to seek advice when you think you might be ready to apply. You…

  • Opportunities in Power Electronics

    Keynote by Bill Drury from the EPSRC Power Electronics Centre 2014 Conference looking at the impact, opportunities and some issues facing Power Electronics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xREkgv9qkqA&list=PLVBsQFhtOizQRV8iZUqkbhJSjCztRHd92&index=3

    Bill Drury
    Bill Drury

  • Interview with Lord Browne

    Carbon chief: Lord Browne | In-depth | The Engineer http://t.co/fdT7mAghsW — Joanne Longton (@IETJoanneLongt) July 22, 2014

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • PEMD 2014 Captured On IET TV

    Follow the link to the PEMD Presentations on IET TV: http://tv.theiet.org/search.cfm?syear=&schan=&stext=pemd&page=1&utm_source=Adestra&utm_campaign=Energy%20Sector%20Newsletter%20June%202014&utm_medium=Newsletters%20-%20Sector%20News&utm_content=Energy%20Sector%20News&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Ftv.theiet.org%2Fsearch.cfm%3Fsyear%3D%26schan%3D%26stext%3Dpemd%26page%3D1&utm_contact=15533095 A list of papers is attached to help find the paper you are looking for.

    Bill Drury
    Bill Drury

  • Withington Girls' School compete in Faraday Challenge Final

    A school from Manchester was one of the three top teams to compete in the 2013-14 Faraday Challenge Day season . Withington Girls’ School took part in the trip to the National Final on 20 June 2014 at the STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. At the Final, along with two other teams they competed to win up to £1,000 for their school. Students from the top teams also received a special treat day as part of their prize on 19 June 2014 where they were given exclusive tours around the STFC facilities including the Mars Yard where they were able to control some of the robots; ISIS - Seeing the Invisible; and the RAL Space Centre where they were tasked with building a rocket out of spaghetti and marshmallows!

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • E-VECTOORC Consortium's Final Dissemination Event - Gaydon

    Phil Barber, a member of the ARTS TPN Executive Team would like to invite all community members to a free event that the E-VECTOORC consortium are organising in Gaydon next month. The Consortium are holding their final Project Dissemination event at the Heritage Centre, Gaydon on Thursday, 28 August 2014. There will be a detailed technical discussion of the successes and learning from developing a four wheel electric drive test vehicle, using individual inboard switched reluctance motors. The EU funded co-operative project has demonstrated the advances in vehicle capability due to this configuration, and lessons learnt from the difficulties in implementing this technology. Further details on the event can be found here . Please register for the event by Monday, 18 August via Aldo Sorniotti

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Who will Build HS2? - Learning from Best Practice Around the World

    Transport Times have organised a one-day conference on HS2 on Thursday, 11 September 2014 and will examine best practice in planning, financing, civil engineering, signalling and rolling stock. The keynote address will be provided by Transport Minister Robert Goodwin MP and Simon Kirby, Chief Executive, Construction at HS2 will provide an update on how the project will progress. Further details of the event can be found here . The IET is a member of the Railway Engineers Forum (REF) and members of the REF qualify for a 10% discount on teh conference. To access this please click here.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • 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

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