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  • Christmas Tree Lights

    Each year, people are injured through handling poorly maintained or poorly designed Christmas tree lights and unfortunately it is likely to happen again this year. Until the introduction of LED Christmas lights which run at low voltages such as 12 or 24V, most Christmas tree lights were series wired and supplied at mains voltage (230V). Series wiring means that the voltage is divided across the number of individual lights, so 20 lights on the tree means each light operates at 11.5 volts. Whilst each light is running at a low voltage, the wiring has the full mains voltage applied so any contact with the copper conductors in the cable could result in a serious electric shock. Each January we pack away our decorations including the Christmas tree lights and typically we coil the cable before storing…

    Sarah-Jane Travi
    Sarah-Jane Travi

  • Professional Registration Question & Answer Session

    As part of the support and information we provide as part of the IPD service and in support of IET Advantage members, we are running a series of Q&A Sessions to answer your questions about professional registration and the process of working towards it. The sessions are designed to be informal so we can answer general queries about the process or requirements for professional registration. The first session will be run through the IET early career twitter acco unt @ietearlycareer. Please send your questions to @ietearlycareer using #IETAdvantage . We will be answering tweets from 17:00 to 18:00 on 5th December but feel free to tweet in earlier if you have a question you want answered. If you’re not on twitter then you can follow the queries and responses on the IET Advantage Community page…

    Kathryn Bain
    Kathryn Bain

  • The Life and Work of Michael Faraday

    The Life and Work of Michael Faraday Cardiff University 03 December 2013 18:30 - 20:30 A final reminder for this event, organised by the Wales South East Local Network with the History of Technology TPN. Michael Faraday (1791-1867) is one of the major scientific figures of all time. His discoveries of electro-magnetic rotations and induction laid the foundations for electrical engineering. His discoveries of the magneto-optical effect and diamagnetism paved the way for his enunciation of the field theory of electro-magnetism which became and remains one of the cornerstones of modern physics. But Faraday was also heavily involved with the practical application of science and in communicating science to a wide audience. Frank James is Professor of the History of Science at the Royal Institution…

    Anne Locker
    Anne Locker

  • The Enfield Thunderbolt: An electric car before its time

    Found this article on the web, looks as if someone designed and mass produced an electric car 40 years ago before Nissan started producing the Leaf. Reminds me in some ways of my parents old Bubble car.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • IMechE Aerospace Division Newsletter

    Here's a copy of the latest IMechE Aerospace Division's newsletter which has some interesting articles in it. See here for further information.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Professional Registration Question & Answer session

    As part of the support and information we IPD and in support of IET Advantage, we are running a series of Q&A Sessions to answer your questions about professional registration and the process of working towards it. The sessions are designed to be informal so we can answer general queries about the process or requirements for professional registration. The first session will be run through the IET early career twitter acco ... unt @ietearlycareer. Please send your questions to @ietearlycareer using #IETAdvantage . We will be answering tweets from 17:00 to 18:00 on 5th December but feel free to tweet in earlier if you have a question you want answered. If you’re not on twitter then you can follow the queries and responses on the IET Advantage Community page which contains a live feed direct from…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Metamaterials And Metasurfaces For Wideband Antenna Systems

    Future commercial and military systems will require high bandwidth performance from compact antenna systems for communications and sensing applications. The need to incorporate multiple systems onto small platforms, ranging from handsets to air vehicles, implies that antenna size must be minimised. This is particularly important at VHF / UHF frequencies where conventional wideband antennas are physically large. Metamaterials and metasurfaces have been shown to be effective technologies for reducing antenna size. Close coupling exists between the antenna and underlying surface and the assembly must be designed as an integrated structure. Early metamaterials were characterised by narrow-band phase response which limited their applicability to wideband antenna systems. However, innovative simulation…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • What's happening? IET Built Environment Sector - Dec 2013

    It’s my pleasure to share with you news from the IET’s Built Environment Sector. We are currently involved in a series of activities on ‘Future City Technologies’ beginning with a roundtable debate on water starvation, and a ‘Managing Complexity and Uncertainty in Developing Cities’ Special Interest publication. Look out for our www.theiet.org/built-environment website updates in early 2014, and the introduction of resource pages around: Building Information Modelling (BIM) Smart Cities Building Management Systems Efficient running and maintenance of heritage buildings and structures Skills required to deliver The Green Deal Follow our Sector on Twitter at: #IETSectors and IETBuiltEnv

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Raving Robots - First Lego League

    Congratulations are due to First Lego League team 5525, Raving Robots, whose coach David McQuiggan is an IET member (and SoCal Committee Member), who took first place Champions Award at yesterdays Regional Qualifying tournament in Venice Beach, qualifying for the regional championships on December 14th. To win the First Lego League Champion's award the team demonstrated excellence and innovation in both the Robot Game and the Research Project while embodying the First Lego League experience by fully embracing and demonstrating the core values required of the competitors. Their research project is an early warning system for local tsunami risks like strike-slip faulots in the Southern California Continental Borderland and potential landslide scenarios occuring at the Palos Verdes Escarpment…

    Richard Tregaskes
    Richard Tregaskes

  • Bradford social housing group wins national diversity award

    Bradford social housing provider Incommunities Group Ltd has been recognised for its commitment to workplace diversity. Incommunities Group Ltd was presented with the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Diversity award at a glittering award ceremony at the Science Museum, London, last night (Nov 14) by HRH The Princess Royal. Sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology the Diversity award was given in recognition for the firm’s commitment to building a skilled workforce which reflects the communities in which they work Further information...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • WISE Awards 2013 - Meet the Winners

    Congratulations to all the winners of the WISE Awards 2013 For all those of you who attended the fantastic WISE Awards 2013 event at the Science Museum on Thursday last week I am sure you will agree that the evening was an inspirational celebration of female success in STEM. The WISE Awards are about showcasing the talents and achievements of women and girls in the STEM environment and highlighting positive role models and case studies to inspire others. Further information...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Have Electric Car will travel?

    For those drivers of electric cars in Manchester, or potential owners, I came across this website the other day. Rather useful if you want to know where the charging points are in Greater Manchester. There's also an app you can download. Just need to add some more £s to my piggy bank so I can buy that Tesla car I've always wanted!

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Wanted: Schools Liaison Officer!

    Are you an enthusiatic individual who would like to work with schools and young people to promote a better understanding of the role of the engineer and the contribution engineering makes to society? Right now, the Birmingham Local Network is looking for a person to take on the role of Schools Liaison Officer (SLO) on the committee. Read more about the role here: http://www.theiet.org/volunteers/get-involved/roles-new/slo.cfm If you'd like the challenge of this role, please get in touch with the Birmingham Local Network.

    Ivan Ellis
    Ivan Ellis

  • Sony HDTV Talk

    For those of you who missed out on Sony's talk on saturday, it was to the same high standard that we saw at Sony Studio's last month. We learned about the standards, challenges and opportunities with 4K HDTV, including that Cinema and Television have different aspect ratios. We also saw a traditional HDTV video upscaled to 4K HDTV, and learned about the distribution challenges for 4K content. On one of the paused videos, we zoomed into a background building with a cellphone camera and were able to pick up what looked like somebody standing on a balcony that wasn't visible with the naked eye on the TV screen. I think all of the attendees went home having decided that they were going to be investing in 4K TV sets.

    Richard Tregaskes
    Richard Tregaskes

  • HTN Community Update - 17 November 2013

    Hello and welcome to the first of a regular series of blog posts detailing the upcoming activities of the IET's Healthcare Technologies Network. The 2013-14 session features a packed calendar, with the network hosting or co-sponsoring an even greater range of events than in previous years. Regular events such as this week's Annual Healthcare Technologies Lecture and Awards are being augmented with meetings on topics as diverse, yet relevant to the community, as: Appropriate Healthcare Technology, Medical Devices in China and Cyber Security. We are also embarking on a program of collaboration with the IMechE's Biomedical Engineering Association which will kick off with a lecture next April. The speaker will be announced soon, but promises to be someone with a wealth of experience and influence…

    Peter Bannister
    Peter Bannister

  • The IET: - Proud To Have Sponsored And Attended The WISE Awards Ceremony!

    The IET are proud to have attended and supported the WISE Awards Ceremony, last night! Virginia Hodge, Trustee, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) presented the WISE Diversity Award, sponsored by the IET to recognise organisations reaching women and girls from diverse backgrounds. The evening was inspiring and exciting and was made even more special by the presence of the Princess Royal. The IET even managed to win a prize, consisting of a rather large bottle of champagne, for winning the ''Women in Engineering Quiz'' We won out of 39 tables of 9 or 10! We are very proud of ourselves and hope that you will be too. Whilst we couldn't save champagne for you all, we made sure that we took a picture to share with you!

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Would all drivers please hand in their keys. Your time is up...

    My role as a Community Relationship Manager for the IET involves a lot of travelling to visit and meet with my volunteers. Most of which is by public transport but on the odd occasion I have to use my beautiful car to drive to where I need to be at the time I need to be there. Yesterday’s jaunt was off to visit my volunteers in the IET Surrey Network at the University of Surrey in Guildford. This of course involves a lot of sitting in traffic on the London Orbital Car Park, otherwise known as the M25... And although the in-car stereo provided some form of entertainment whilst sat stationary, watching my fellow travellers and staring at the brake lights of the car in front, I found my thoughts (which quite often go off on a tangent) turning to a number of driving/car related topics: 1. Can someone…

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • Northern California Kickoff

    On Saturday 3 members of the Southern California Local Network went up to San Jose to try and restart a Local Network in Northern California. With 24 attendees in total including two guests, we enjoyed a talk on Nano-Technology folllowed by an animated discussion on the lessons learned from the restart of the Southern California Local Network, and how things have changed for the better since the Northern Californa Local Network was last active. With multiple volunteers for committee positions, and several people discovering that their co-workers were also IET members, both in Northern California and in Southern California things look like they are off to a promising start.

    Richard Tregaskes
    Richard Tregaskes

  • Everybody is a Genius..

    Everybody is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid.

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Royal Aeronautical Society event: book sale and lecture

    Interested in aviation history? The Royal Aeronautical Society will be holding its annual Aerospace and Aviation Book Fair at its London headquarters on 11 November. This event will be followed by a free lecture on the early history of the Royal Flying Corps. For more information and to register, please go to http://aerosociety.com/Events/Event-List?date=11/11/2013

    Anne Locker
    Anne Locker

  • Origins of the IET

    What has Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent got to do with the founding of the IET? Quite a lot, actually. The IET was originally called the Society of Telegraph Engineers and was founded in 1871; it became the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1880 and then the IET in 2006. The first President of the STE was Sir Charles William Siemens, who lived in Tunbridge Wells from 1874 until his death in 1883. Among Siemens group of esteemed friends was Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851 – 1925). Salomons lived on the family’s estate at Broomhill Tunbridge Wells and from an early age was interested in science and mechanics. After he had finished his Natural Sciences degree at Cambridge he started a series of popular scientific lectures for the general public in Tunbridge Wells. These included demonstrations…

    Brian Dury
    Brian Dury

  • A Day In The Life Of Female Engineer Apprentice Beki Davies - Huffington Post

    Name: Rebecca Davies Age: 20 Job Title: Fourth Year Electronic Engineering Apprentice Company: MBDA Training: Higher Engineering Apprenticeship Women's Network: IET Member and Role Model Further information...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • How To Build A Professional Registration Application 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. 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 selected 'Apply for CEng, IEng, EngTech or ICTTech now!' you will need to 'Select a Registration Category'. You should select the category that you wish to apply for. 4. Most members should select their desired category from the Standard Registration Route. If you have been advised…

  • What's so special about LinkedIn?

    I must confess, I am a regular user of LinkedIn for my professional networking and wonder why I don't come to the IET more frequently... perhaps because it is always a little quiet on here... Any thoughts on how we can promote the MyCommunity forums would be much appreciated. We A RE the leading professional institution, so what do we need to do to be the #1 networking media for Engineers and the wider business community? If I don't get at least 10 replies we are missing the point somehow.... grrrr. Kind regards Lee Wood MSc CEng MIET

    Lee Wood
    Lee Wood

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