Welcome to the Community Insights blog!

This blog features posts from and about the EngX community. Want to contribute? Read our blogging guide to help you get started.

  • Active And Passive RF Seminar 2018 - Speakers

    The Active and Passive event is less than 2 weeks away! This event will provide a look into latest breakthroughs and developments in the area of RF and Microwave technology with a series of talks and a poster session.We have an exciting line up of speakers for the event:   Jaspal Singh Bharj received the M.Sc. degree in Microwave and Modern Optics from University College London and the Ph.D. degree in solid state efficient amplification and linearization for telecommunications from the Kings College University of London in 1979 and 1999, respectively. Since then, he worked at Marconi Space where he designed state of the art Receivers and SSPAs for space. In 1986 he worked for ESTEC as a senior RF payloads system engineer, in 1992 he returned to Marconi Space as a group leader for satellite…

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • London Calling!

    The 12th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation was held last week in the ExCeL Centre in London, UK.   The conference was the biggest ever with over 1500 delegates and over 40 exhibitors. As always the conference was a mix of invited talks, poster sessions, exhibition and social events, all of which contributed to a very successful event! I got the chance to sit in on some of the talks and look at some of the posters – there is lots of interesting research happening in the areas of antennas and propagation at the moment.   The IET was in attendance with the exhibition stand – the stand was busy every day and I loved talking to so many of the delegates throughout the week. We had lots of fun give-aways – as always the sweets and mints were a hit (ran out on the first full day!) as…

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • Cambridge Sustainable Technology

    Cambridge Sustainable Technology Meetup is a group for people interested in the technology involved in sustainable development, e.g. renewable energy, electric vehicles or precision agriculture.   A lot of the emerging products in these areas-  whether it's electric bikes or smart meters - can be improved upon by individual engineers and make for great projects. Previous sessions with the group include a a workshop for building a Raspberry Pi based agricultural sensor, and a demonstration on building e-bikes; later this year there will be workshops exploring the use of machine learning in the energy industry.   The link to the group is here: https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Sustainable-Technology-Meetup/ Please contact Boyuan Xiao: boyuanxiao@gmail.com if you have any questions or ideas for

    David Blake
    David Blake

  • Not Just A Telly On The Wall:The AV Tech Revolution At IET Savoy Place

    We had an appreciative audience in the Kelvin Lecture Theatre at Savoy Place for the April IET Central London Evening Lecture to be enlightened by Kevin Madeja of Snelling Business Systems on the AV systems that illuminate and entertain. The refurbishment of Savoy Place was a major undertaking and the results are superb. The IET and Snelling are justly proud of their achievements which have been recognised with several awards. Did you know that the BBC do live TV broadcasts from the roof - watch out for Carol's weather forecasts with the London Eye in the background!  Kevin split his talk to cover the key components of the AV system:- Projectors: We had a reminder of AV in the 70's - chunky and low resolution - to now. The current projectors are based on 3-chip digital light processing (DLP…

    David Tabor
    David Tabor

  • Midlands Power Group Event - Future Operability Challenges

    On 12th April 2018, the Midlands Power Group were delighted to welcome Beth Warnock, System Performance Manager at National Grid to deliver a talk on the future challenges of operating the transmission network as the nature of power generation changes into the future.An audience of around 40 delegates were treated to an insightful view of the rapidly changing world of electricity generation and how these changes impact on the operability of the power system under both steady state and fault conditions.  The rapidly increasing volume of non-synchronous and non-despatched power generation in the form of wind and solar and the increasing amount of battery storage devices, coupled with the reducing number of large mechanically coupled generators is causing the transmission system operator (National…

    David Swanson
    David Swanson

  • Toronto Local Network PATW 2017-18

    Congradtulations to Diego Valencia Garcia to be PATW Toronto LN 2017-18 winner. Good luck to your next level competition in Ottawa in the summer. Congradtulations also go to John Morrison to be the runner-up.  It has been an issue in the last couple of years for Toronto LN as to who would organize the PATW. As the one who is determined to make sure that the event happens this year, I am happy to see that the 2017-18 Toronto PATW final was the outcome of a team work. We have Ashish helped booking a venue in Toronto, Nan prepared a PATW flyer to notified McMaster University students, Alyssa prepared a PATW flyer distributed to other universities, Timothy offered to coordinate with refreshments, and Prof. Bob Dony offered to be a judge. However, we have no entries responded to us except from those…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Electromagnetic Compatibility

    The IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society UK and Ireland Chapter are holding an EMC event at Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre on Wednesday18th April 2018.Roy Ediss of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society UK and Ireland Chapter, has invited IET members to attend the forthcoming event to be held at:   Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre, Houghton Bridge, Station Rd, Amberley. West Sussex.   On Wednesday18th April 2018. Details of the event can be found in the attached file.

    David James
    David James

  • 4 Ways The Media Industry Can Fight Piracy

    With piracy a major and growing problem for the media industry, how can we go about combatting it?   Revenues lost to piracy will reach nearly $52 billion by 2022, according to a report from digital TV research . And this just covers revenue lost on TV episodes and films, not other sectors such as sports or pay TV.    In its  report on trends in 2018 , digital platform security provider, Irdeto outlines the increasing threat that operators face from piracy.   According to Mark Mulready, Vice President Cybersecurity at Irdeto: “Live sports rights can be a key differentiator for pay TV operators and broadcasters, who pay large licensing fees to acquire the rights to broadcast such events in their regions.   "However, operators and broadcasters could experience subscriber churn and reduced advertising…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • New for 2018 - IET Volunteer Core Values Awards

    It's always good to recognise people for a job well done, especially when they give their services and time for free!   The IET relies on volunteers from around the world to inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community. All our volunteers make an amazing contribution and it’s important to recognise the efforts of those special people who go the extra mile, week after week, so we are delighted to announce a new way to acknowledge their achievements.   Our Volunteer Core Values Awards programme recognises the contribution made by IET volunteers who consistently demonstrate our core values – integrity, excellence and teamwork – through their volunteering activities. So if a particular volunteer (or team of volunteers) has impressed you, please don’t keep it to yourself, because…

    Julie
    Julie

  • New for 2018 - IET Volunteer Core Values Awards

    It's always good to recognise people for a job well done, especially when they give their services and time for free!   The IET relies on volunteers from around the world to inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community. All our volunteers make an amazing contribution and it’s important to recognise the efforts of those special people who go the extra mile, week after week, so we are delighted to announce a new way to acknowledge their achievements.   Our Volunteer Core Values Awards programme recognises the contribution made by IET volunteers who consistently demonstrate our core values – integrity, excellence and teamwork – through their volunteering activities. So if a particular volunteer (or team of volunteers) has impressed you, please don’t keep it to yourself, because…

    Julie
    Julie

  • New For 2018 - IET Volunteer Core Values Awards

    It's always good to recognise people for a job well done, especially when they give their services and time for free!   The IET relies on volunteers from around the world to inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community. All our volunteers make an amazing contribution and it’s important to recognise the efforts of those special people who go the extra mile, week after week, so we are delighted to announce a new way to acknowledge their achievements.   Our Volunteer Core Values Awards programme recognises the contribution made by IET volunteers who consistently demonstrate our core values – integrity, excellence and teamwork – through their volunteering activities. So if a particular volunteer (or team of volunteers) has impressed you, please don’t keep it to yourself, because…

    Julie
    Julie

  • Meet Our Community Members - Ryan Marsden

    Our online community is growing and I thought now was a good opportunity to start showcasing some of our amazing community members. For this post, I'm handing over to Ryan Marsden - Ryan works for BP Azerbaijan - Global Projects Organisation (GPO) and recently became Chartered. Below, Ryan tells us his story. My name is Ryan Marsden, I am proud to call myself a Chartered engineer with the IET. After completing a Computer Aided Engineering (Mechanical) BSc degree at the Anglia Ruskin university I gained a full scholarship to study Engineering management (Masters of Research) at Cranfield university. On completing my master’s degree, I joined Bechtel on their graduate development program. Bechtel is an international engineering and construction company which is still owned by the Bechtel family…

    Joanne Longton
    Joanne Longton

  • Route to Professional Registration

    Saturday, 31 st March 2018. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Brunei recently conducted an IET Membership Talk entitled Route to Professional Registration. The talk was attended by individuals with technical background from the government as well as from private sectors.   Mr. Lim Sam Lee, the International Professional Registration Advisor (IPRA) for IET Brunei, gave a presentation on the benefit of joining the professional organization and the route to apply for IET Chartered Engineer (CEng). There was also a demonstration on how and where to register as an IET member on the IET website.   By registering as a member of this professional organization, one will then be listed on the Engineering Council Register of Professional Registration. This will give an individual recognition…

    Siong Tang
    Siong Tang

  • Battery Energy Storage Systems : 27th March : High Wycombe

    A talk on battery energy storage systems recommended to other LNsThe audience of IET and CIBSE members Richard Govier (Socomec Limited) talked knowledgeably about current and future battery storage systems.  He particularly looked at how modern, high-energy-density, battery systems are used to provide resilience for renewable energy sources.  This resilience is being not only for private use but also to support the National Grid.  Richard also looked at the newer technology such as redux flow batteries.

    Andrew Dodd
    Andrew Dodd

  • Touring Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne Manufacturing Facility In Long Beach, California

    The IET  SoCal LN  organizes 60-person tour of Virgin Orbit's Long Beach manufacturing plant to learn about its vehicles, the LauncherOne rocket and its 747-400 flying launch pad, dubbed Cosmic Girl.   I think one of the highlights for the  SoCal LN  event calendar this year will be the March 17, 2018 visit to, and tour of, Virgin Orbit's headquarters located in a 180,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Long Beach, California, adjacent to a taxi way at the Long Beach airport. Nearly 60 members and ther guests lined up ,on a cool Saturday morning, to pass through security and assemble in the main production area.  For the first time, we had more attendees under 45 (~36) than over 45 (~23), including 24 school children under 18, a testament to the interest in STEM activities and rockets…

    David
    David

  • A Snickers Day

    In the UK, Snickers bars used to be called Marathons and this is what the March Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting turned out to be for some of us.  March is one of the three days when the main boards and Council meet before the BOT so for yours truly and a lot of others the day starts at 1000 and finishes at about 1930 for a much-needed dinner.   The format of the day is that the main board meetings, whose members are also Council members, start at 1000 and continue until 1445 allowing a 15-minute break before the formal, full Council meeting which starts at 1500.  The Trustees leave at 1700 to go to the BOT meeting until 1930 when dinner is served.  Council continues with a feedback session and a networking dinner. At the March meeting, all of the main boards are looking to consider what amendments…

    Virginia
    Virginia

  • Local PATW Competition 2018

    Once gain we held the annual PATW competition, this year at the University of Sheffield's Arts Tower building. We had a record 'eleven' contestants presenting a wide range of varied topics which they were either interested in or involved with as a project within the course they're taking at University. All the presentations were very impressive and delivered to the 'three judges' this year being - Alan Chater Immediate Past chairman & Brian Heathcote the Hon Secretary from the IET SYLN and Peter Ingham the Immediate Past Chairman of the IMechE Yorkshire Region. The winner this year was Nathan Edge, who's an Engineer with Rolls-Royce and presented a talk on Nuts and Bolts: Fasteners in Engineering, highlighting the significance and integrity which these often under-appreciated items play as…

    Alan Chater
    Alan Chater

  • Dr Feng, CEng: Making A Difference To Engineers In China

    During his own personal CEng registration journey, Feng Deng-Chao was invited to train as an IET Professional Registration Interviewer (PRI), so that he could go on to support other professional engineers in his region.  Dr Feng Deng-Chao CEng is a distinguished research fellow in China Institute of Industrial Technology in China Science and Technology City and an associate professor at the North China Institute for Aerospace Engineering, where he has worked as the Director of the Integrated Application Lab of remote sensing, GNSS and GIS for close to a decade. A graduate of Tianjin University, he completed his PhD in 2008 for research in fields including flight safety in low altitude airspace, the construction of a three dimensional aerial corridor and pattern recognition technology.  The…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Industry 4.0: Cyber Security Resilience And GDPR, 14-Mar-2018

    IET Central London Evening Lecture, Savoy Place, London, 14th March 2018. The audience in the Turing Lecture Theatre   appreciated the  talk given by Shadi Razak, the Chief Technology Officer of CyNation, a top cyber security company.    We are entering a new world: the world of things, and the boundaries are blurring ... Prepare to be scared, very scared; ask the right questions, put up our defences and  adopt the concept of cyber safety. Important note: These are the author's personal recollections and interpretations, which are likely to suffer from errors and selectivity. There is no endorsement from the IET or the speaker.   Data is the new oil: we're all fountains of data and it's valuable.  There's been a move from products to services, with the providers holding billions of items of…

  • The IET Kent Local Network Thanks Dungeness B For The Site Tour And SMR Lecture

    27 IET members were welcomed to Dungeness B for an Exploring Electricity tour followed by a lecture on Small Modular Reactors organised by Jins Arambankudy for the IET Kent Local Network on Wednesday the 21st of February.  The site tour was fully booked, and the talk was attended by an additional 20 personnel.  Alison Prentice, Visitor Centre Co-ordinator at Dungeness B Visitors centre, is working with the IET Kent Network to make the Exploring Electricity tour a regular event in the future in the IET local programme run for its members, in addition to hosting an IET promotional event to encourage more IET membership from Dungeness employees.  The IET Kent Network would like to offer a big thank you to Manus O’Donnell, Head of Development at EDF Energy for kindly accepting the IET request to…

    Brian Dury
    Brian Dury

  • The Importance Of Determining Device Identity In A Secure Online World ( IET Kent Network ).

    Almost like watching an episode of MacGyver, Professor  Gareth Howells, Professor of Secure Electronic Systems at the University of Kent, UK and Founder and Director of Metrarc Ltd described a very sophisticated cyber platform and described how components of any system can be broken down using mathematical understanding. Once the variables of digital features are known ( my favourite was the pulsing of an antenna signal to identify antenna variations ) normalisation and calibration are the vital next step to help baseline digital device activity. This involves analysing device features in different dimensions to create a baseline of default behaviour. It’s this behaviour that is further mapped to eventually allow authentication to occur. A typical smart device can go through many changes and…

    Rimesh Patel
    Rimesh Patel

  • The IET Healthcare Technologies Student And Early Career Awards – 2017 Winner’s Story: Anas Imtiaz

    Winnning the J A Lodge Award in IET Healthcare Technologies has helped to recognise Anas' research into sleep disorders.  It has motivated him to continue his work, creating wearable devices for sleep monitoring and diagnosis and helped to shorten the time to eventual diagnosis of sleep disorders. This research is having an impact and improving people's lives. Intelligent wearable devices can be used for monitoring and diagnosis of sleep disorders if they can automatically detect sleep abnormalities. This requires designing low-complexity algorithms and low-power systems capable of operating for extended periods of time. This work explores the development of one such algorithm, for automatic sleep staging, and its subsequent implementation as an ultra-low power system-on-chip. Syed Anas Imtiaz…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Amazing Opportunity For Biomedical Engineering Students To Gain Recognition From The Healthcare Technologies Community

    Winnning the J A Lodge Award in IET Healthcare Technologies has helped to recognise Anas' research into sleep disorders.  It has also personally, motivated him to continue his work, creating wearable devices for sleep monitoring and diagnosis and helped to shorten the time to eventual diagnosis of sleep disorders. This research is having an impact and improving people's lives. Intelligent wearable devices can be used for monitoring and diagnosis of sleep disorders if they can automatically detect sleep abnormalities. This requires designing low-complexity algorithms and low-power systems capable of operating for extended periods of time. Anas' work explores the development of one such algorithm, for automatic sleep staging, and its subsequent implementation as an ultra-low power system-on-chip…

  • AWE Educational Collection Visit

    Visit to the AWE Educational Collection on the 12 th   February This was a unique opportunity for the small group of visitors to see what is probably the only physical historic collection of the UK’s nuclear weapons through the ages. The event included both multimedia presentations and a guided tour of the museum. The UKs nuclear development program started with the Frisch–Peierls memorandum which was the first technical exposition of a practical nuclear weapon. It was written by expatriate German physicists Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls in March 1940 while they were both at the University of Birmingham during World War II.   The museum has a copy of the document to peruse as the start of the history. The memorandum contained the first calculations about the size of the critical mass of fissile…

    Andrew Stickland
    Andrew Stickland

Community Rules & Guidelines