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  • Giving The Gift of STEM

    T his Christmas, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is joining the Big Give Christmas Challenge to raise £10,000 for the FIRST® LEGO® League Explore and Challenge Division Class Packs! From 3-10 December you will have the chance for your donation to be matched, therefore doubling the impact. To donate between 3-10 December towards our Big Give matched giving campaign and to have the opportunity for your donations to be matched; please visit https://donate.biggive.org Your generosity will help the IET provide real-world STEM experiences and life skills development through FIRST® LEGO® League to children who really want to take part in an inclusive educational programme for all. Thank-you in advance. FIRST® LEGO® League supports the next generation of engineers and innovators…

  • Join our new LGBTQ+ Member Network

    Get involved in our newly-formed LGBTQ+ Member Network and learn about the other Equality, Diversity and Inclusion networks available to you. In 2019, the IET conducted a survey which found that over 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ respondents would never consider a career in engineering due to the fear of discrimination. Despite this disheartening statistic, we know that many people from the LGBTQ+ community do indeed work within the sector and have very positive as well as sometimes very challenging experiences. Regardless, it can feel isolating being part of a minority and not having other likeminded people around who you can reliably speak openly to and share experiences with. This is why we have formed a new EDI network for IET members who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to come…

  • Unlocking the Power of Predictive Maintenance - Part 3: Assessing Predictive Maintenance Success

    In the two previous instalments of our blog series, we looked at the promises of predictive maintenance and the challenges surrounding data handling. In this third and final part, we will delve into how to assess the success of a predictive maintenance system. We will explore the key metrics for evaluating models, discuss how to gain buy in from stakeholders, consider the legal aspects and highlight additional factors to consider. Links to part 1 and part 2 are here. Measures of Success – Key Metrics Assessing the effectiveness of a predictive maintenance model is more complex than going beyond the simple definition of accuracy. It is essential to look at and evaluate how well the models predict failure without overwhelming maintenance and engineering teams with false positives. The following…

  • You name it, Loewy designed it, more or less

    On this day in (engineering) history… November 5, 1893 – Birth of Raymond Loewy, Industrial Designer Question: What do the Greyhound bus, Air Force One livery, the Fanta bottle, the Studebaker Avanti car, the Shell Oil company logo, the Sunbeam Toaster, the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 locomotive and the Skylab space station interior all have in common? Answer: Raymond Loewy. Raymond Loewy was one of the biggest names in what became known as mid-century modern industrial design, with an influence still felt in modern design's clean, functional lines. The blank paper ‘ The Man Who Shaped America ’ was born in Paris, today in 1893. His parents were Maximilian Loewy, an Austrian Jewish business journalist, and Marie Labalme, a go-getter whose personal mantra was ‘it is better to be envied…

  • Godfrey George Bayley – the life of an electrical engineer at home and abroad

    A blog by Asha Gage, IET Archivist. This is a story about an electrical engineer, Godfrey George Bayley, who began his career on the workshop floor rising through the ranks to be so highly considered by his employers he was sent abroad to Malaya and India as head electrical engineer. Understanding the route towards this achievement and the work undertaken comes from analysis of the records his daughter donated to the IET Archives. We are grateful for donations such as these as they highlight the personal story of our members on their journey from Student to Member and everything in-between. Godfrey was born on 7 January 1901. His interest in engineering started young, with is enrolment as a student at Faraday House Electrical Engineering College, London from September 1918 to August 1922…

    IET Archives
    IET Archives

  • Celebrating Black innovators this Black History Month

    Did you know that individuals from Black and Global Ethnic Majority backgrounds currently make up 9.9% of engineers in the UK, despite making up almost 30% of qualifying students on engineering courses? This suggests that there is significant work to be done within education and within organisations to attract and retain people from GEM backgrounds, ensuring they feel safe and supported to continue working in the sector. October is Black History Month in the UK, and this year, we’re highlighting some of the incredible feats of engineering that Black people have brought to the world, emphasising the importance of having diverse thoughts and experiences represented in all stages of the engineering process. From GPS technology to sanitary products and best-selling 90’s water pistol, the Super…

  • The Six Serving Men of Functional Safety and Artificial Intelligence

    Six Honest Serving Men of AI Functional Safety Foreword: This blog focuses on UK based safety regulation and serves as a precursor to the “Safety of AI: what are its special needs?” Webinar in November. “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.” - Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories (1902) One problem facing safety engineers in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is information curation. Due to a lack of centralised regulation, the speed at which information is produced, and the sheer quantity of redundant information that that leaves behind, I spent a lot of my “reading time” validating the information that I came across. When legislation is elusive, opinion seems to fill the gap. And in an emerging…

  • When the Soviets sent a mission on one of the hottest dates in the Space Race

    On this day in (engineering) history… October 22, 1975 - The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus. A hot, overcast, though reasonably bright, October day. The sulphuric acid clouds are so thick the Sun casts no shadows. Don't worry about sulphuric acid rain because surface temperatures of 485°C (the hottest in the Solar System and easily hot enough to melt lead) evaporate it long before a drop hits the ground. All of this contained in an atmosphere thick enough to crush a submarine. This is Venus, where the Soviet Venera 9 probe is about to land. Cloud system on Venus, captured using ultra-violet observation. Source: Wikimedia Commons A hot planet in the Cold War During the Cold War, the Space Race became one of many substitutes for hot superpower confrontation…

  • Back to school isn’t so bad, after all

    Being an IET Education Volunteer can be busy, fun, and educational for more reasons than you think, says Karyn Sansom, IET Education Volunteer... I'm Karyn Sansom and I am an IET Education Volunteer , something I have been doing for the last six years. As an IET volunteer, I help promote a better understanding of engineers and the vital contribution engineering makes to society for young people aged 4-19. My Role as a Volunteer My work involves includes attending career and science fairs, engaging with students, parents, carers, and teachers. I distribute engineering leaflets covering topics such as career paths in Engineering and demystifying the various types of engineering disciplines. Alongside that, I lead hands-on activities, encouraging students to apply their classroom science…

  • Volunteering with children: STEM education and building the next generation of engineers

    At Fairfield Control Systems, our extensive work in the engineering sector places us in an excellent position to help encourage the engineers of the future. We do this by volunteering in STEM education with the IET. In our work, we specialise in designing, installing, commissioning, and servicing industrial control solutions and industry 4.0 technologies. This covers instrumentation, control and automation systems. At Fairfield Control Systems & working with our sister company, Fairfield Engineering Solutions we have recently upgraded, maintained and continue to provide support to the famous Falkirk Wheel, the only boat lift of its kind working in the world. The work we do as volunteers in STEM education is hands-on, which places us in classrooms or community settings and allows us to create…

  • Did you know IET Education has a wealth of teaching and learning resources suitable for both Primary and Secondary aged children?

    In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) offers a treasure trove of learning resources designed to inspire and educate the next generation of engineers and technologists. These resources are not only comprehensive and engaging but also aligned with the curriculum, making them invaluable tools for both teachers and parents. A Wealth of Resources at Your Fingertips IET Education provides a wide array of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) resources suitable for various age groups. These resources include: Primary Teaching Resources: Tailored for students aged 4 to 11, these resources cover fundamental concepts in science, maths, and engineering. They include interactive activities, lesson plans, and classroom…

  • A Guide to Inspiring Young Minds: How to Give an Engaging STEM Talk to School Children

    Alexandra Knight, Founder and CEO of STEMAZING gives us her top tips on how to give an engaging STEM talk to children... In today's rapidly evolving world, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is more critical than ever. Meeting STEM professionals in a school setting helps raise awareness and aspirations of STEM careers for young people and builds the confidence of teachers with these subjects too. This is a vital part of the solution to plug the STEM skills gap and drive greater diversity in our future STEM workforce. There is so much to be done, and we need to scale up our collective efforts to make real impact. I’m super passionate about encouraging more STEM professionals to engage young people in schools to open children’s minds to exciting career paths…

  • Because it’s not just students who benefit from education outreach

    Bosch became a UK FIRST® LEGO® League National Partner as a way to celebrate the company’s 125th anniversary, but it’s stayed for the benefits – to both the business and the engineering community… Bosch was built on strong philanthropic principles and has always been particularly passionate about promoting STEM to the next generation, it’s taken a gold-standard approach to STEM engagement through IET programmes and an ongoing education partnership with the institution. Last year, the company hit an auspicious milestone – 125 years of UK operation. To celebrate this rare achievement, it chose to become a FIRST® LEGO® League National Partner. This entailed working with the IET to host a number of FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Tournaments for 9 to 16-year-olds and…

  • Meet the winners of the IET Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards 2024

    The Healthcare Technologies Network is delighted to announce the winners of the IET Healthcare Technologies Student and Early Career Awards 2024. The IET Healthcare Technologies Network is keen to encourage and support the work and research of academics and newly qualified professionals in healthcare, medical and biomedical engineering arenas. Our award winners for the J.A Lodge award will be present in person and the William James will be supplying a recording of their work at our Annual Healthcare Lecture on Thursday 28 th November at IET London: Savoy Place. Our Keynote for the evening is Professor Mandic, Professor of Machine Intelligence - Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering - Faculty of Engineering ,Imperial College London speaking on ‘Hearables: Real World Applications…

  • Exploring Intelligent Healthcare with Quantum Computing

    Congratulations to Book Editors, Dr.Abhishek Pandey Kumar, Dr. Ashutosh Kumar Dubey, Vincenzo Piuri and Joel Rodrigues and to all of the chapter contributors on the publication of this new IET book: Exploring Intelligent Healthcare with Quantum Computing About the Book Classical computers encode information in binary bits that can either be 0s or 1s. In a quantum computer, the basic unit of memory is a quantum bit or qubit. These qubits play a similar role in terms of storing information, but use physical systems, such as the spin of an electron or the orientation of a photon, to do so. In situations where there are a large number of possible feature combinations, quantum computers can consider them simultaneously, speeding up the data processing time. In healthcare, where there are often…

  • How a father and son kept the Industrial Revolution on the rails

    October 8, 1829 - Stephenson's The Rocket wins The Rainhill Trials Your business is booming, demand for your product is growing by the day. You produce it with the latest technology, but technological wonders end when it leaves the factory gate. The product must travel by horseback, in horse-drawn wagons or canal boats pulled by horses. What to do? You ask the best brains in the country to produce the best locomotives in the country and test them at the Rainhill Trials - where one machine is far ahead of anything else – the 'Rocket.' The 'Rocket', photographed on display at The Science Museum (now displayed at Locomotion in Shildon, County Durham) Source: Wikimedia Commons The Problem By the 1820s, the Industrial Revolution drew people in ever greater numbers from the countryside…

  • The IET Media Technical Network goes to IBC 2024 in Amsterdam

    The IET Media Technical Network gets extremely active every Autumn since we relocated our traditional John Logie Baird lecture to IBC that takes place in Amsterdam every September. This year we put together three sessions that covered three distinct areas of interest to the Media technology industry, each of which has been recorded for those who were not able to attend, covering Strategies for TV and Video Platforms, Content Cyber Security and AI/ML in Media Revisited. Here I am introducing the three sessions. www.ibc.org/.../11804.article The three sessions are mostly available for on demand viewing, so please do have a watch. Strategies for TV and Video Platforms www.ibc.org/.../11728.article Content Cyber Security - Under siege, defending against cyber threads…

  • What my IBC takeaways tells us about the state of media technology today

    Working in the TV and Video business, collectively referred to as Media (although technically that includes print and web as well) is a place that I entered back in 1997 after a good number of years doing research in computerised control of rock crushing equipment (which included AI/ML techniques of the day - long story, short version was that compute power and techniques were not quite what they needed to be), a stint entering the Corporate and Secure networking arena (it used to be a lot more than the Internet), and then answering one of those 'advert' things you found in something called a 'weekly industry newspaper' (the now defunct Network Week if you wanted to know). I came quite quickly to attending IBC, what used to be referred to as the International Broadcasting Conference, in 1998…

  • Broadcasting in a tough environment

    As a former Head of Engineering at Sri Lanka’s national broadcaster TV Rupavahini, Amal Punchihewa has experience in challenging environments... Brief intro My name is Amal Punchihewa (pronounced 'poonch-i-have'), and I'm currently an advisor and consultant to the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development. It is an intergovernmental organisation formed in 1977 for the Asia Pacific region by the United Nations. Between 1997 and 2001, I was the Head of Engineering at Sri Lanka’s national broadcaster, TV Rupavahini. Ambition I decided I wanted to work at national TV when I graduated from my degree. Unfortunately, when I completed my bachelor's and graduated in 1985, was no vacancy, I had to wait three years. But I patiently waited and began working for an IT company. As IT…

  • The promise of Generative AI for Media and Entertainment

    Just about a year back, the IET’s President’s address was delivered by Dr. Gopichand Katragadda on the topic “The key to delivering a resilient future”. Needless to say, AI and the recent advancements in generative AI were a recurring theme during the engaging session. At this event, I had the privilege of being a guest speaker and I chose to talk about the AI driven transformation of the Media and Entertainment sector. Predictably, as a passionate AI technologist, I painted a particularly optimistic picture of the potential of generative AI for the media industry. A year since then, with my recent visit to IBC, the premier broadcasting, media and technology show, I’ve been mulling over whether generative AI has delivered on its promise. Bear with me, while I walk through my musings! There…

  • Understanding the Electromagnetic Spectrum for Freeview Television and Telecommunications 5G Mobile

    Originally back in the 1960’s the Ultra High Frequency electromagnetic spectrum for Analogue Television transmitters was 470 to 863 MHz. Since then Digital Terrestrial Television “Freeview”, known as DVB-T, has taken over which is now compressed into 470 to 699 MHz. The remaining 700 to 863 MHz is progressively filling up with Telecommunications 5G receiver-transmitter masts for newer 5G mobile telephones and other fast data services. Near me in Leamington Spa in Warwickshire in England in UK there are new 5G masts built and one existing mast has had its antenna arrays replaced. But there may be a problem that will slowly creep up on us still using Digital Television equipment. I have a Freeview set top box Manhattan T1 and a Freeview recorder Panasonic DMR-BW880. When scanning for channels…

  • The best of IET and IBC 2024

    We’re delighted to announce the publication of The best of IET and IBC 2024 from this year's International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam. After a brief hiatus we’re thrilled to once again showcase the groundbreaking research presented at IBC. These papers have been selected by IBC’s Technical Papers Committee for being novel, but also topical, analytical, well-written and which have the potential to make a significant impact upon the media industry. 327 papers were submitted this year, and after a rigorous selection process this publication features the ten papers deemed by the judges to be the best. We’d like to extend a huge congratulations to all authors included in this year’s publication, particularly Joshua Maraval, Nicolas Ramin and Lu Zhang who won IBC’s Best Technical…

  • Musical pamphlets in the Silvanus P. Thompson collection

    Ella Mulliri is our guest blogger this month. She worked with us in the IET Library and Archives over the summer and brings her knowledge of composition and music generally to looking at the pamphlet collection of Silvanus P. Thompson. Ella is a Londoner-adopted Italian with a background in music and the arts. She studied harp, singing and music reading for most of her childhood and later picked up the guitar and keyboard. Her experience at The LSE Women’s Library ignited her love for academic libraries and archives, which has since been a constant in her professional life. “Music resonates in so many parts of the brain that we can’t conceive of it being an isolated thing. It’s whom you were with, how old you were, and what was happening that day.” -David Byrne Both scientists and musicians…

  • From Engineering to Executive: An Engineer’s Journey to the C-Suite

    We meet Philip Clayson BEng(Hons) MBA CEng FIET in the next of our 'My Engineering Career' blog series. Phil tells us about his career in the telecoms and broadcasting industry, the importance of personal networking and some of the large organisations and projects he's worked on... Who I am, where I have been I am Philip Clayson, a Chief Information and Technology Officer, (CIO & CTO) with a career across several interesting sectors,…TV, telecoms, emergency services and energy, with leading companies including News Corporation, Oracle, BT, TalkTalk, SSE and Sky What caught my attention As a child, I used to enjoy experimenting with electronic circuits, writing software, and authoring small games, I was inspired by creating and building with technology. I chose my GCSEs and A levels…

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