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  • IET West Yorkshire Network Volunteer Awarded An MBE

    Jeffrey Utley MBE GCGI IEng FIET one of the West Yorkshire Network volunteers has recently been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List for services to engineering in Yorkshire. To mark the occasion we thought it might be a good idea to do a blog for the Network’s My Community page and try and find out what makes Jeff tick and what engineering means to him and what advice he’d give to young people coming into engineering.   Tell us a little bit about yourself and background I am a Yorkshireman born and bred. I was born into a South Yorkshire mining community, son of a colliery blacksmith (engineering was obviously in the blood), but moved to West Yorkshire when about nine years old.   Who or what inspired you to become an engineer/technologist? I progressed to The Salt Grammar School…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • The Professional Development Department

    As a department, we offer a range of products and services designed to assist IET members and those supporting them (e.g. employers, line managers, mentors, etc.) with managing professional development for a successful and rewarding career. We are always on hand to help with any queries about professional development.   Our products and services   Initial Professional Development (IPD) The period of professional development when working towards Professional Registration (CEng, IEng, EngTech or ICTTech) is referred to as IPD. Register for our IPD service to receive support and information and guidance along the way.  You can register for the service using IET Career Manager. View IET Initial Professional Development   Continuing Professional Development (CPD) CPD is a professional obligation…

    Kathryn Bain
    Kathryn Bain

  • Electric Motorcycle Racing and the Mighty Curtis Green Machine

    Those of you with an interest in Electric Motorcycle racing, may have come across Matt Bagshawe and Brendan Rice, as in addition to both being members of the IET Railway Network committee, they are also the two principals of the ARC EV Engineering Ltd racing team.  ARC EV are an engineering company near Derby, formed in 2009 specialising in electric vehicle design and build.   As one of the customers of Curtis Instruments   the global industry leader in motor speed control, battery measurement and related electric and hybrid vehicle system technology across all sectors, the team have been utilising an AC motor speed controller on their race winning bike.  This was the bike ridden by Richie Welsh, that last year last year competed on the Isle of Man TT circuit and in the new MotoERacing European…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Engineering The Next Generation Of Prosthetic Limbs

    Jonny Williamson discusses the design and manufacture of next generation lower limb prosthetics with the recently announced Royal Academy of Engineering research fellow, Dr Alex Dickinson.   Events such as the Paralympics and the recent Invictus Games have offered a fantastic opportunity to raise society’s awareness of people living with disabilities, however for amputees, there remain a number of fundamental challenges that need to be solved in regards to the design and manufacture of the prosthetic limbs – human interface.   That’s the viewpoint of University of Southampton’s Dr Alex Dickinson, who is working in Southampton’s Bioengineering Science Research Group to apply his past research and analysis of orthopaedic implants to external prosthetics.   A prosthetic limb is produced from standard…

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • Threats To Our Supply Chain - Material Scarcity And Its Implications For Aerospace And Other Sectors

    Critical materials are often in the news these days, due to their scarcity, the political and environmental legislation issues that all seem to threaten their availability. The Aerospace Network recently organized an afternoon seminar to address this issue and in view of their use in the manufacture of components and equipment across many sectors, not just Aerospace, a number of expert speakers covered various viewpoints. During the seminar we filmed the speakers and you can click on the links below to view the presentations: We also filmed the following interview with Phil Cutcher, Chairman of the Aerospace Network Together with an engaging panel discussion: Feedback from the event was excellent, with comments about the quality and knowledge of the speakers, the excellent panel discussion…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • IET Trinidad & Tobago LN 2015 PATW Launch

    As we have been awarded the honour of being the host country for the IET Present Around The World 2015 Americas Regional Finals, currently scheduled for July 2015, it was appropriate to have a launch event to kick-off this prestigious competition.  The newly formed Young Professional Section was instrumental in planning and executing the lauch, with the aid and guidance of members of the LN executive, however, it was clear that our YPS team did an excellent job. The morning started out quiet amidst the preparations of setting up the new IET banners, arranging the IET marketing material and ensuring that there would be no technical issues when the event started. (Ahmad, David and Anarion prepare the presentations for the launch) (Display of IET branded marketing and informative material for…

    Jason Robert Rameshwar
    Jason Robert Rameshwar

  • Running Out Of Energy?

    Richard McMahon of the Cambridge University Engineering Department will talk about the future of the UK's Electricity Supply. What is driving the shift to electricity, how will the extra power be generated and what will be the environmental side effects? With news in the media of power outages on the horizon, this most timely of talks will start at 1830 hours at CUED on Thursday 19 March. Refreshments will be available from 1800 hrs.

    David Blake
    David Blake

  • £500m Great Western to Heathrow rail link goes out to consultation

    The new £500m rail link from the Great Western Main Line (GWML) at Slough to Heathrow Airport has moved a step closer to fruition as the plans go out to consultation. The proposed link includes a 5km tunnel from the GWML to Heathrow Terminal 5, enabling passengers throughout the west to travel to the airport from Reading via Slough, without the need to change at Paddington. This will mean faster, more convenient journeys for passengers, saving up to 30 minutes in journey time, as well as easing congestion on the main line. Shorter, more direct journeys to and from Heathrow will also provide a significant opportunity for businesses across the Thames Valley, M4 corridor, south west and South Wales, says Network Rail. With a combined economic output of over £100bn, the new link could enable these…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Satellite Services and Applications: A vital cornerstone of modern society

    I've just come across some interesting facts about Sat Coms in an article on the ESA website which I thought I'd share:   ·         Satcoms is the largest sector in the space business; half of all launches are for communication satellites.   ·         Out of a total of 1200 satellites in orbit more than 50% were communications satellites.   ·         Owing to the larger size and complexity of communications satellites their value represents more than 67% of the value of all satellites launched in 2012. To this should be added that 87% of Ariane launches in the last three years were satcoms.   ·         Adding all stages in the satcom value chain an aggregate of around €100 billion/year was the worldwide sitcom value in 2013 and continues to grow.   ·         The top four global satellite operators…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Autonomous Manufacturing - EPSRC invite Expressions of Interest

    EPSRC would like to invite Expressions of Interest to bid into the call for research proposals in Autonomous Manufacturing. The aim of the call is to support research that addresses the research challenges that underpin autonomous manufacturing. Closing date for EOIs is 16th April.    The expected outcome of this call is a diverse set of research projects that span manufacturing applications, processes, and value sectors, that exploit novel and adventurous research for the advancement of autonomous production technologies and systems in the factory environment.   EPSRC are committing up to £10M for this call to support multidisciplinary research projects of up to five years with flexible funding that can be used for a mixture of multidisciplinary research projects, feasibility studies and networking…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • Queen Elizabeth Prize for engineering

    Global £1m prize awarded to medical pioneer. Professor Robert Langer, winner of the 2014 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Professor Robert Langer, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has won the Royal Academy for Engineering’s Queen Elizabeth Prize (QEPrize). The ground-breaking chemical engineer has been awarded the QEPrize for his revolutionary advances and leadership in engineering with chemistry and medicine. Prof Langer was the first person to engineer polymers to control the delivery of large molecular weight drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and mental illness. It is estimated that over 2 billion lives have been improved worldwide by the technologies that Dr Langer’s lab has created. Read more in Member News...

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • Help solve a real life engineering problem – enter the Young Professionals Global Challenge!

    The IET supports and organises many initiatives which benefits society. One of these new exciting initiatives is the Young Professionals Global Challenge competition , organised by the Young Professionals Community Committee (YPCC) in association with RedR UK, an international disaster relief charity which trains aid workers in the skills they need to respond to disasters effectively. The challenge is designed to test the diverse academic, commercial and technical skills of young engineers and innovators worldwide, with the aim to encourage young professionals to collaborate as a team in order to develop innovative virtual solutions for real-world engineering problems. Your brief The task is to solve a major engineering problem faced by disaster relief teams working in the field. Humanitarian…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Women of the World Festival

    The globally renowned Women of the World Festival returns to Southbank Centre from 1 - 8 March for its fifth birthday. WOW Friday focuses on women in the workplace . Come and network with some of the leading brains in business, social enterprise and leadership. WOW Saturday offers talks and debates, workshops, seminars and performances designed to feed your mind and nourish your soul . The weekend rounds up on WOW Sunday with a packed day guaranteed to engage, challenge and inspire . Read more...

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Mobile Computing And The E-Trike, Dr Michael Taylor - UCAml &IWAAL 2014

    Sponsored attendance at the UCAmI & IWAAL 2014, 2-5 December 2014, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In early 2014 I started the design of a proof of concept e-Trike that could be used for the rehabilitation of a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy (CP). This was to be a personal project where I could use my engineering knowledge and skills to improve the quality of life for wheelchair users facing rehabilitation. The aim was to create more than an electric bike – it was to create a computer controlled electrically assisted e-Trike that would enable the wheelchair user to benefit from the many physical and mental aspects of assisted mobility. The e-Trike would encourage mobility and independence as well as the development of spatial awareness and muscle strengthening. It would also improve balance…

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • The E&T Reference

    Dear Hong Kong Community members, The IET is launching a new product this year, the Engineering and Technology Reference , and we would like you to get involved. Here with it's cybersecurity features .   The E&T Reference will establish itself as an industry leading online multidisciplinary reference source, providing authoritative technical knowledge and technology solutions. Its goal is to help engineers at all levels better understand and solve their day-to-day challenges and improve engineering know-how through its growing collection of practical engineering articles and real life case studies.   The E&T Reference covers the five sectors of the IET: Built Environment, Design and Production; Energy; Information and Communications; and Transport. At present, the following areas are in development…

    Dodi Mak
    Dodi Mak

  • Additional Event - Visit To Elektra Ltd, Crawley

    Click poster to download PDF We are pleased to publish details of an additional event this March that has been organised on behalf of IET Sussex. Places are limited so please book soon if you would like to attend. IET Sussex Technical Visit - Weds 11th March Tour of Elekta Ltd, Crawley, Sussex. Free to attend. Book online here Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated state of the art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. For more details visit http://www.elekta.com/ The visit involves technical presentation explaining principles and working…

    Laurence Tondelier
    Laurence Tondelier

  • Asian manufacturing event a first for TPN

    The IET Manufacturing TPN held its first public event in Asia in October, focusing on the latest technologies and challenges facing Malaysia’s current and future engineers.    The event, proposed by Manufacturing Network Executive Member Lim Yew Kee and approved by the committee, was entitled Product Advancement with Research and Development Technology. Over the course of the day, a variety of speakers took to the stage to discuss topics as varied as additive manufacturing in 3D printing technology, simulation and modelling of circuit breakers for electrical applications and green and sustainable energy for building.   With the sector moving forward so quickly, this event was a chance for people to come together to find out more about the advanced manufacturing techniques being developed. …

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • Gambling & Technology

    A few months ago I researched the Betting industry boats a market value of £5.6 Billion as published by the British Gambling Commission . The gambling commission, promotes the Gambling Act of 2005 and categorises an online casino as 'remote gambling' activity.   My research analysed specifically Online Casino websites; WebQual was used to highlight how sites provide functional value for the business and its consumers in terms of quality and customer perception. The Amit and Zott model was used to discover how sites promote value creation within a chosen business Model. I concluded that with the right marketing, user base and innovative product range, online casino is a very interesting industry that can house the latest technologies and techniques in online business.   The swot analysis, Porters…

    Rimesh Patel
    Rimesh Patel

  • 16th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS-15) Call for Papers

    8th-10th September 2015               The University of Liverpool, U.K.                    taros2015.csc.liv.ac.uk   TAROS (Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems) is aimed at the presentation and discussion of the latest results and methods in autonomous robotics research and applications. TAROS offers a friendly environment for robotics researchers and industry to take stock and plan future progress. TAROS 2015 will be held at the University of Liverpool and will include an academic conference, industry exhibitions/talks, robot demonstrations and other satellite events. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) are sponsoring an invited public lecture. There will be paper prizes sponsored by Springer, the IET, and  the Ulrich Nehmzow Best Student Paper Prize.   TAROS welcomes senior…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • ENDESA Power Grid Control Centre Visit

    On the 15th January 2015, the IET Barcelona Local Network visited the ENDESA Power Grid Control Centre, located in Barcelona.   Our host received us with a warm welcome and explained to us the operations of the centre. This control centre is responsible for the supervision and control of the Catalan power grid, divided into three areas, namely the Occidental, Central (Barcelona) and Oriental. It´s main purpose is to control the distribution from the power stations to the final customer, guaranteeing the continuity and quality of the power delivered.   The control centre has the responsibility to maintain in operation the High voltage (>36KV) , the middle voltage (36KV-1KV), verifying that the grid is able to supply power to users and acting upon any reported anomalies in order to isolate the…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • The IET Hong Kong Dragon Boat Team 2015

    The IET Hong Kong Dragon Boat Team   Dragon boating is one of the fastest growing and most exciting water sports you can participate in Hong Kong, and the events are widely covered by public media both locally and internationally. It’s believed that the Institution’s participation of the events will facilitate a positive interaction with the community on one hand and provides a platform to foster sportsmanship and team development among members on the other!   Established in 2005, the IET Hong Kong dragon boat team has been racing in Hong Kong waters including Stanley, Shatin, Sai Kung, Tai po and Mui Woo over the past years and is in the process of recruiting new members for races scheduled in 2015!   This year, the IET Hong Kong dragon boat team plans to participate in the Mui Woo race and…

    Dodi Mak
    Dodi Mak

  • Manchester Network Volunteers Video

    Following on from the Manchester Network Volunteers Workshop last year, the committee worked with staff during the afternoon and evening to produce two short videos, which showcased some of the committee and what inspired them as individual members to volunteer for the IET.  The first video can be viewed by clicking here.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • BG TT Developing Employees

    Both Gerald Mendes and myself had the honour to represent our Local Network in the second discussion with representatives of BG TT, Kathy Ann Baynes and Jason Look Yee.  As the Lead HR Advisor in Learning and Development, Kathy Ann provide us with a clear understanding of the BG group process in developing people into competent and successful members fo the BG family.  Their process focuses on the entire realm from STEM to Internships to Graduate Training Programme to Employment. Their current focus is on the work experience route vs the training route and this was an area in which our LN was asked to identify areas of collaborations and provision of resources to work with BG TT's development of their personnel.  This avenue was a perfect identification for the IET Professional Registration…

    Jason Robert Rameshwar
    Jason Robert Rameshwar

  • CANCELLED ==> Porsche Museum Visit (31st. Jan. 2015)

    I am sorry to inform you that our visit to the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, which was planned for the 3st. January, has been cancelled . The museum has told me that they are hosting a large event on this day and will therefore have to close earlier than usual, making a tour at 15:30 not really feasible. Given the late notice I decided not to accept an alternative start much earlier in the day. I had booked the tour in November and was only told yesterday of the "event" in the museum and its consequences. I am, needless to say, more than irritated by the museum's actions. For those of you who had registered I will inform each of you separately by mail in the next few days. At the moment I am unsure whether the event will be held on a different date. If you have an opinion on the matter please…

    Howard Gray
    Howard Gray

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