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.

  • Extend Your Professional Network: Action Learning Sets

    As the Initial Professional Development (IPD) and Mentoring Manager at the IET , it may seem illogical for me to write a blog about not seeking a mentor for Professional Registration – but in doing some research around students and mentoring I came across an idea which fits in with IPD that I wanted to share.   Research has shown that young professionals, particularly those in Generation Z (those born from the mid-1990s), are a generation of self-starters who are comfortable with technology.  Given their ambition and drive, there is potential in supporting a wider pool of development than traditional mentoring allows for.   Action Learning Sets   Action Learning Sets can be formed as a small group who meet regularly to discuss and understand issues and problems around a particular task or area…

  • International Conference On Railway Engineering (ICRE) 2017

    ICRE17 returned to Hong Kong on 24-25th May 2017 The International Conference on Railway Engineering (ICRE) is held every three years in Hong Kong with the objective to provide a forum for sharing knowledge and experience; promoting collaboration among practitioners; as well as revealing recent development and applications of new technologies in railway engineering. The organiser, Railway and Transport Section of the IET Hong Kong is composed of engineering professionals from disciplines of electrical, electronics, industrial, mechanical and railway engineering. In this connection, the conference is a railway event of high regard in the industry. The conference was held on 24 to 25 May 2017 at Hotel ICON in Hong Kong and was followed by a technical visit on 26 May 2017. ICRE 2017 Theme The…

    Lynsay Callaghan
    Lynsay Callaghan

  • IET Solent Rewards Highbury College Student

    The Institution of Engineering and Technology is keen to reward success on courses that lead the way to the student becoming a Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, or Engineering Technician. Sergio Gomez who is employed by NATS and studies at Highbury College had been recommended by his course supervisor to receive an IET award for his excellent performance during the 2016/17 academic year. Sergio received a certificate to acknowledge his success, a cheque for £100 and his name engraved on the perpetual shield trophy that remains on display at the college. The award was presented by Simon Blumlein, the Chairman of the Solent Retired Members Section at Highbury College on Thursday 22nd June 2017 in the presence of engineering students and Engineering Department lecturers. Simon Blumlein…

  • International Robotics Showcase: Speaker Highlight

    Speaker highlight: Professor Tony Pipe   Professor Tony Pipe is Deputy Director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. He has 20 years of experience in carrying out research on advanced sensor-systems, medical robotics, biologically inspired robotics, machine learning and adaptive behaviour, applied to intelligent and distributed control/monitoring systems for robotics. His research foci are: innovative medical technology, safe physical Human Robot Interaction for robots co-located with humans; modelling animal brain signal processing and control structures; self-healing VLSI electronic hardware for safety-critical applications. He has co-authored over 200 internationally reviewed publications. Prof. Pipe will be speaking at approximately 09:40 on the topic of Social Care and Independent Living…

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • Behavioural Psychology In Transport – Behavioural Insights (“nudge”)

    Back in May 2017 the Automotive & Road Transport Systems Network held a seminar on this informative and interesting subject which attracted a high demand for places and covered the following topics:   Results from behavioural insights trials, and how behavioural insights and people-centred approaches are being embedded at DfT. Transport project management: behaviourally informed ways of working. Behaviour change in young and novice drivers. Behaviour Change at Transport for London. How people deal with travel disruption. Investigating customer experience on the railway. Gamification and active travel.  Delegates heard from a number of key experts in this field and we were fortunate in being able to film most of the speakers (the DfT speakers were unable to be filmed due to the general election…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Antarctica And Beyond - Predicting The Extreme

    IET Central London Evening Lecture Savoy Place, 14-Jun-2017 Speaker: John Griffiths explorer & meteorologist     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.   On a warm and sunny evening, it seemed incongruous to be transported down to the frozen wildness of Antarctica. Yet it was well worth the journey to get an expedition into meteorology in extreme environments.    What a hostile environment to operate in:  On a floating ice-shelf, over 100 km away from the nearest base and 1000 km from any other land mass With temperatures from -56 to -1 degC, 3 months of no sunshine and 3 of sun (when 24 hr shifts are possible, if so desired!), very windy …

    David Tabor
    David Tabor

  • International Robotics Showcase: Speaker Highlight

    Speaker highlight: Dame Mary Archer   Dame Mary Archer DBE started her career as a physical chemist and taught Chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She was chair of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for ten years and is currently chair of the Science Museum Group, Imperial College Health Partners’ Advisory Council and Cambridge Early Music. She is President of the UK Solar Energy Society and the Guild of Church Musicians, a trustee of Britten Sinfonia, iCould and the Global e-Health Foundation, and a non-executive director of Hydrodec Group plc. In 2012, she was appointed DBE for services to the UK Solar Energy Society and the Guild of Church Musicians, a trustee of Britten Sinfonia, iCould and the Global e-Health Foundation, and a non-executive director of…

  • International Robotics Showcase: Speaker Highlight

    The IET Robotic and Mechatronics network are delighted to be working with the EPSRC UK-RAS once again to deliver the International Robotics Showcase, the pinnacle event of UK Robotics Week 2017.  Over the next few days we’ll be highlighting some of the fantastic speakers and exhibitors who will be attending the event.   Speaker highlight: Professor Guang-Zhong Yang Professor Guang-Zhong Yang is co-founder and director of the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery at Imperial College London. Building on research expertise in medical imaging, sensing and robotics, he holds leadership roles in multiple centres of excellence.  Professor Yang pioneered the concept of perceptual docking for robotic control and led the development of a number of medical robot platforms. Professor Yang is also a recipient…

  • 3rd Annual Future Of Medicine Highlights

    A month has now passed since the 3rd Annual Future of Medicine – the role of the doctor in 2027 took place. Let’s look back at some of the highlights of the day… Nick Hunn ‘The best way to save the NHS is to use it less.’ The above concept has spawned much of the new Medtech industry. Nick’s presentation mainly covered wearable technology and the reasons why this hasn’t made the revolutionary changes we think it has. Watch  Nick's talk on IET.tv. Shafi Ahmed ‘Med students aren’t buying books anymore so how do we train them?’ Shafi talked about his experience in medical education and training and how we can move things forward using modern technology. He mentioned his use of Google Glass, Twitter and Snapchat to live broadcast surgeries to interact with a younger audience. Watch Shafi's talk…

    Gemma Hadley
    Gemma Hadley

  • Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank – call for volunteers for IET stand

    The IET Mersey & Western Cheshire Network are hosting a stand at the above event, which is being held at the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre from 7-9 July 2017.  The festival will take students on a Scientific Voyage from the Antarctic to the depths of Space via live experiments, science discussions and lots more see the website.    In addition to a range of STEM and career pathways literature, the IET stand will also have the following interactive displays/activities:   Build your own LED torch - a simple assembly project but at the very least shows that an LED has to be correctly polarised in order for it to function students take these away after assembly, always a popular demonstrator.   The Pump Storage Demonstrator is a device showing how during the hours of darkness when electricity demand…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Help Needed For 'fun' Event

    The last of our 'schools' events this year is at the West Sussex Scout and Guide International Camp taking place at the South of England Showground at Ardingly. We have agreed to run a number of half-hour sessions for children aged between 10 and 15 years on Tuesday 8th August and Thursday 10th August. For the first time we will be trying the IET ball-launcher activity, where pairs of children will assemble a ping-pong ball laucher and then compete to get their ball into a box. If you are available on either of these days, have a current DBS certificate and would like to help (or want further information), then please contact me at dejames@theiet.org . The event was a great success. We had four volunteers on each of the two days, so thanks to those who helped.

    David James
    David James

  • IET PSB Academy On Campus And Myanmar

    Myanmar(Burma), officially called the Republic of Union of Myanmar, was once colonized by the British. The English people brought their technology, railways and built ports which led to the growth of economy which led to Myanmar, becoming the richest country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar got independence from 4 Jan, 1948. Then, coup d'état followed, which was joined by unsystematic governance later. The country turned from best to worst and it shut itself off from the world until 2011. British rule in Myanmar in 19th Century. Credits: alchetron.com Then, in 2011, the country opened up to the outside world which led to many transformations, especially in telecommunication industry. This further led to tremendous increase in usage of the internet in the country, opening more doors for the foreign…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Leading The Charge Conference 2017

    Toronto LN is sponsoring the event.  If you are a member of IET and are interested in attending, please send an email to iet.toronto@theiet.org by 19 June 2017 for discount tickets . Event Details

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • IET BRUNEI NETWORK ORGANISED TALK ON THE ARCHITECTS, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND QUANTITY SURVEYOR (APEQS) ORDER 2011

    IET Brunei Darussalam recently organised a talk on the Architects, Professional Engineers and Quantity Surveyor (APEQS) Order 2011. Dr. Dayang Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abd Razak, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Development, gave a presentation on Continuous Professional Education (CPE) requirements of BAPEQS. Next was a talk was presented by the Registrar and Secretariat, Brunei APEQS about BAPEQS organization, professional requirements for architects, engineers and quantity surveyors.  The talk also touched on the requirements for registration, who should register, how and where to register, as well as the benefits of being a professional and the legal requirements to register by practicing professionals.  The talk was attended by about 25 engineers from IET members, consultants, oil…

    Siong Tang
    Siong Tang

  • Leading The Way With IET Singapore’s Life Skills Workshop

    Like Skills Workshop:  Leading & Developing Successful Teams The rooms was at its full capacity, with everyone listening intently while jotting down notes on the margin of their booklets. A familiar sight at our IET’s technical talks and seminars. This event, however, was slightly different. Here the participants are delving into a topic seldom associated with engineering: Leadership. In a world that increasingly place emphasis on collaboration and teamwork in the workplace, engineers are finding that technical expertise alone is sufficient. IET recognises this growing need for engineers to develop “soft” skills like communication and leadership, and Singapore Network is among the first to kickstart the series of Life Skills Workshop Our lively Local Trainer, Morgan, introduces the attendees…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • PATW SW June 13th Final At Fundamentals

    Congratulations to all three of our candidates in the South West PATW Final and to our prize winner Mrs Alex Pickering from IET Devon & Cornwall for her presentation 'The Crash of the smiler rollercoaster’. Johnathon Jackson for ‘TSR-2, The bomber that barely flew’  and to Michael Agyeman for ‘Building Information Modelling’.

    Paul R
    Paul R

  • Ethics for Engineers – Professional Development Course

    • If you help build a technology that is then used by others in questionable ways – are you responsible? •  What should you do if you suspect a colleague to be working outside the bounds of their competence? •  If there is a conflict of interest between your voluntary and professional roles, how should you act? If you can relate to any of the questions above, then our Ethics for Engineers course can help you! This one day course, which is based around UK-SPEC competence E, will provide you with the expertise to deal with those listed about, plus many other ethical dilemmas. Our Ethics for Engineers course will teach you how to: •  tackle difficult situations within your workplace with confidence •  make and assert decisions, which you can then justify using ethical principles •  understand…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • IET BRUNEI NETWORK ORGANISED A TALK ON THE ARCHITECTS, PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND QUANTITY SURVEYOR (APEQS) ORDER 2011

    IET Brunei Darussalam local network has organised a talk on the Architects, Professional Engineers and Quantity Surveyor (APEQS) Order 2011. The talk was presented by the Registrar and Secretariat, BAPEQS on Saturday, 20 th May 2017 at Radisson Hotel.  The talk briefed on the BAPEQS organization and the professional requirements for architects, engineers and quantity surveyors.  The board is chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Development and it also touched on the requirements for registration, who and why to register, how and where to register, and the benefits of being a professional and the legal requirements to register by practicing professionals.  In addition, a presentation on Continuous Professional Education (CPE) requirements of BAPEQS was also given by Dr. Dayang Nor…

    Siong Tang
    Siong Tang

  • IET PSB Academy On Campus and Myanmar

    Myanmar(Burma), officially called the Republic of Union of Myanmar, was once colonized by the British. The English people brought their technology, railways and built ports which led to the growth of economy which led to Myanmar, becoming the richest country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar got independence from 4 Jan, 1948. Then, coup d'état followed, which was joined by unsystematic governance later. The country turned from best to worst and it shut itself off from the world until 2011. British rule in Myanmar in 19th Century. Credits: alchetron.com Then, in 2011, the country opened up to the outside world which led to many transformations, especially in telecommunication industry. This further led to tremendous increase in usage of the internet in the country, opening more doors for the foreign…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • CCAP Meetings - Taipei and HK

    It's been a busy few months for CCAP - we had a meting in Taipei at the end of April, where we met some of the Taipei LN volunteers, and learnt about their successes and challenges. We also discussed a whole range of things - what does diversity and inclusion mean for the different countries with AP, the upcoming regional Communities Volunteer Conference (CVC), the CCAP Strategy document, and various sundry things like challenges to becoming a member in Myanmar.  A few weeks ago the Finance Committee met in Hong Kong to discuss the Local Network budget submissions. That's right, it was money time. As is always the case, we don't have an infinite pot of money, so had to make some hard choices and decisions, but hopefully most Local Networks (LNs) will be reasonably happy. Letters will be going…

    Karla Smith
    Karla Smith

  • Do you have an interest in Remote Sensing Satellite Systems?

    Earlier this session the Satellite Systems & Applications Network hosted two excellent speakers on the topic of Remote Sensing Satellite Systems for Global Sustainability and I'd like to draw your attention to the presentations in this blog which are well worth watching.  The speakers from  the technical and commercial sectors outline how satellites are assisting in the management of the Earth’s natural resources and future trends in remote sensing systems.   Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, Senior Strategic Geospatial Global Advisor and Director, Location International Ltd demonstrates how geospatial information is assisting around the globe to provide greater insights into global sustainability and its societal impact.  There’s some interesting points that Vanessa makes during her presentation:  …

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Women in Engineering ‘High Flyers’ – volunteers needed

    The IET Aerospace Network are supporting the above event which is being held at the Shuttleworth Collection, Biggleswade on Friday, 23 June 2017 from 4pm – 7pm.  The focus  of the evening  which is part of the International Women in Engineering Day is an activity driven careers event to encourage/engage year 9-13 students with a mix of exhibitors and Further/Higher Education establishments. Ray Smith, Vice Chairman of the Aerospace Network will be manning an IET stand but is looking for local members in the area to come and help him out, especially female engineers in view of the focus.  If you are able to help Ray it would be appreciated if you could please  email him here  by Monday, 19 June.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • Women in Engineering ‘High Flyers’ – volunteers needed

    The Aerospace Network are supporting the above event which is being held at the Shuttleworth Collection, Biggleswade on Friday, 23 June 2017 from 4pm – 7pm.  The focus of the evening which is part of the International Women in Engineering Day is an activity driven careers event to encourage/engage year 9-13 students with a mix of exhibitors and Further/Higher Education establishments. Ray Smith, Vice Chairman of the Aerospace Network will be manning an IET stand but is looking for local members in the area to come and help him out, especially female engineers in view of the focus.  If you are able to help Ray it would be appreciated if you could please email him here by Monday, 19 June.

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

  • TAG Airfield Tour - Farnborough

    Tuesday 6th June started very wet following torrential rain the night before. I wouldn’t have blamed anyone for opting out of travelling to Farnborough Airport for this very interesting and informative visit organised by the Aerospace Network.  TAG stands for “Techniques Avant Garde”. The Wikipedia entry indicates the range of high-end technology and other activities with which TAG is associated – business aviation, motorsports, hospitality, consumer products and real estate. One very well-known luxury brand is the Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer. Aviation and motorsport are two other expensive activities. The visit was hosted by Tony Knight, who has more than 50 years association with aviation in Farnborough, from engineering apprentice to managing the changeover of the aerodrome from MOD to civilian…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie

Community Rules & Guidelines