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.

  • Make a difference to your community - volunteer for the Network

    Hopefully over the years you will have been to some IET events in the Mersey & Western Cheshire Network. These events are only possible due to the hard work of dedicated volunteers – but now we really need your help. Have you thought about volunteering for your local network? Here are just some reasons why we think you should. Being a volunteer for a Local Network can be a great way of: Networking with like minded people in your industry; Finding out more about all of the opportunities that the IET can bring; Developing the skills needed to achieve your goals and take the next step in your career; Keeping your CPD up to date with current hot topics in engineering. We welcome applications from professionals at any stage in their career and are looking for members to fill a variety of positions…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • 2014-15 Committee List

    The IET’s Vision & Imaging Committee is made up of a group of dedicated volunteers brought together to organise a programme of activities for engineers working in and researching the fields of Vision & Imaging. If you would like to know more about the committee or volunteer your time to help with our activities, please get in touch with any of the current committee volunteers listed below. Sergio Velastin Chairman Sergio A. Velastin obtained his Master (by research) in 1979 and his PhD in 1982 from the University of Manchester for work on machine vision systems for monitoring people and vehicles. After a postdoc in robotics and work as a research and development engineer, he returned to academia working for 10 years at Kings College London (University of London) and 12 years at Kingston University…

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • EXCLUSIVE: Interview With Atkins Nuclear Projects Director, David Whitmore

    We caught up with David Whitmore, Atkins Nuclear Projects Director after his presentation on The Challenges of Building a Nuclear Plant where he talked to us about the opportunities for students in nuclear, especially within Atkins current project in the South of France: ITER ; current hot topics in nuclear, and the opportunities available through the Atkins Training Academy . Watch the interview with David here . What are your views? We would like to hear your ideas, so please feel free to leave a comment.

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • The Challenges Of Building A Nuclear Plant

    Atkins Nuclear Projects Director, David Whitmore, recently gave a talk at EDF Barnwood on the new approaches in the UK nuclear industry that are being driven by international designs. The event was well attended by fellow professionals working in the nuclear industry who are based at EDF and Atkins, with over 140 people in attendance. Watch David’s full presentation here . What are your views? We would like to hear your ideas, so please feel free to leave a comment.

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • Professional Development Resources

    Career Manager The online professional development planning and recording tool for IET members including IPD, Professional Registration and CPD recording. View more     CPD Find out about the IET’s Policy and guidance for CPD View more   Mentoring Apply for an IET mentor, or, apply to become a volunteer mentor. View more   Training Lifeskills workshops run throughout local networks and a range of professional skills training courses including e-classes, webinars and face to face training. View more

    Kathryn Bain
    Kathryn Bain

  • Business Contracts: Alternative Railway Signalling Systems

    How do you keep trains moving when existing signal systems fail? £4 million in contract funding is available to help find a solution. The COMPASS competition is looking for innovative solutions to keep trains moving when existing signal systems fail. If your business has an idea that you think could keep rail traffic on the move, you could win a contract to do a feasibility study, develop a prototype and demonstrate it to industry experts. See here for further details on this competition which is being run by Network Rail.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Visit to Baldock radio station

    Living just a few miles away and regularly driving past, I have often wondered what went on inside the Baldock Radio Station, so when the IET MMC group were invited to visit the station I was delighted at the chance of satisfying my curiosity. Following welcoming refreshments the visit started with short presentations of some of the work undertaken by members of the Station team. It was explained that on receiving complaints of interference, the station can deploy remote monitoring systems placed around the UK together with measuring vehicles if necessary, to track the interference source. Several techniques are used to indentify the interference location, Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) and Angle of Arrival (AOA) Remote monitoring capabilities can also be utilised to check frequency occupancy…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • EPSRC Centre for Power Electronics 2015 Funding Calls

    Please find attached the details and application forms for three new calls from the EPSRC Centre for Power Electronics: 2 nd call for short term and feasibility projects Funding of up to £90k fEC for short-term projects (max 12 months) in strategically important areas that are not currently part of the Centre’s portfolio. 1 st call for early career researchers Funding of up to £60k fEC for short-term (max 12 months) projects that allow early-career researchers to develop independent research aligned with the Centre’s research. 2 nd call for cross-theme projects Funding of up to £750k fEC for cross-theme projects (max 24 months) that address research challenges in one or more of the Centre’s Cross-Theme Topics. This call is open to researchers at eligible institutions who are in receipt of funding…

    Bill Drury
    Bill Drury

  • Telescopic lens for superhero sight to help vision loss sufferers

    A telescopic contact lens capable of magnifying the image of the surrounding world could give sight back to those affected by age-related vision degeneration. Developed as part of a project funded by the US defence agency Darpa, the telescopic contact lens consists of two separate layers – one for seeing the world as it is, the other allowing the wearer to zoom in up to three times. To switch between the two vision modes is simple – just blinking with one eye while wearing special glasses. "We think these lenses hold a lot of promise for low vision and age-related macular degeneration (AMD),” said Eric Tremblay, from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne in Switzerland, who led the Darpa-funded research. Read the full E&T article online .

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • Game Theory, Out Of Towners & The Magna Carter.

    Green is good, or some perceptions like to replace the ‘n’ with a ‘d’ which can only be regulated as an oversight.  You can charge your town car using electrics, drive to collect your kids and the same car tells you to go via the back route and collect your laundry because it’s just been marked as ‘ready for collection’ and calculates the new transit you need to make – or maybe the driverless car will do it all for you while you control it from your hand held and mow the lawn instead. Its how the car handles the content is its attraction to you. You are a busy person, kids, life, work, hobbies - but satisfaction is becoming technology driven. Almost impulsive but followed at face value. So with the craze about consumer technology, are we ready for more satisfaction? Clearly, technology gives…

    Rimesh Patel
    Rimesh Patel

  • Sacred Cows – Revisiting Fundamental Safety Principles

    The Railway TPN are joining together with the other Transport Networks and the Safety Network to organise an evening seminar with a Safety theme in London on Tuesday, 12 May 2015. The event to be chaired by Peter Sheppard, IET Transport Sector Chairman will consist of a keynote speech from Professor John McDermid, followed by three presentations from Simon Brown, NATS from an Aerospace perspective, Phil Blythe, University of Newcastle covering the Automotive & Road Transport view and finally Daniel Woodland, Lloyds Register Rail Ltd. Further details of this event will be uploaded to the events calendar very soon so please keep a look out on the Community page and future email newsletters.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Great Debate Series

    The Great Debates have been held annually since 2005 in the Thames Valley, organised initially by the Institution of Mechanical Enginners in 2005, then jointly by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), and the British Computer Society (BCS).  Topics covered have included: * Metals (2005) * Energy (2006, 2011, 2016) * Transport (2007, 2012, 2014) * Environment (2008, 2015) * Climate Change (2009) * Space Travel (2010) * Homes for the Future (2013) The speakers and their topics are listed below. Great Debate 2016: Can renewables meet our electricity needs? (14 March 2016) The fourth Great Debate to be held as part of Reading Science week at the University…

    Julie
    Julie

  • Wellington Committee 2015 - 16

    Chairman Darren Baxter Treasurer Darren Lowe YP Chair Quinn Ho Secretary Vacant Committee member Peter Mc Cafferty Murray Milner Roger Brady Murray Milner Kyle Nicol David Owen

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Introducing Naomi Mitchison, 2014 IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year

    Find out more about the latest winner of the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year award and what she hopes to achieve as an engineering ambassador.

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Securing Energy Resources

    Thanks to @sarahaminB for this photo of John Loughead deliving the Securing Energy Resources lecture in London last night. Did you attend? What did you think? @IETCommunities Great lecture by Professor John Loughhead on innovation in securing energy sources. #IETPower pic.twitter.com/SYeH5WrsjS — sarah (@sarahaminB) February 11, 2015 Prof John Loughhead is about to begin his lecture on innovation in securing energy resou... http://t.co/iY0UoyKRVi pic.twitter.com/k4VUeLoVsh — IET London Network (@IETLondon) February 11, 2015

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Professional Development Case Studies

    We asked a number of IET members about their career and professional development to help inform and inspire others. If you would like to share your story to feature as a case study, please email profdev@theiet.org Andrew Dodd Operations Manager I started as an Engineering Technician and moved through Incorporated Engineer and ultimately to Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the IET. Read more. David Parr Electronics Design Team Leader Engineering can be a very fulfilling career choice. You have an opportunity to improve, and make your mark on, society. Read more. Richard Briars Consultant I decided to become self-employed to both maintain or increase my income and do the project work that I enjoy. It's been tough at times, but the benefits have far outweighed the downsides. Read more. Sean…

    Kathryn Bain
    Kathryn Bain

  • Manchester Air Show Returns In July 2015

    The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will be doing a full display at the Manchester Airshow. Another reason to attend the return of the show this year. The 2015 show will be held on Sunday 5 July 2015 and there are plans to see a number of flying displays return to the skies above Manchester. The show will comprise of over 10 display acts and will last more than three hours. See here for further information and advanced tickets which will be available from Wednesday 11th February 2015.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Air Show Returns To Manchester In July 2015

    Just heard that City Airport & Heliport is reviving the original Manchester Airshow which was last held at Barton Aerodrome in 1994. The 2015 show will be held on Sunday 5 July 2015 and there are plans to see a number of flying displays return to the skies above Manchester. The show will comprise of over 10 display acts and will last more than three hours. See here for further information and advanced tickets which will be available from Wednesday 11th February 2015.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • 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

Community Rules & Guidelines