IET EngX® Community Insights

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.

Grid

List

The Far-reaching Capabilities Of Particle Accelerators

Particle accelerators first caught the imagination of the public thanks to headlines around CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and scientists’ search for the so-called ‘god particle’. However, those that work in the sector understand that the capabilities of particle accelerators are much wider and far-reaching. Today, there are almost 40,000 particle accelerators around the world being used for industrial applications in sectors such as medicine, security, energy and environment. Engineers and technicians play a critical role in every aspect of these programmes, from the accelerator design engineering through to integration and installation, commissioning of new systems, operational organisation and control and also the overall project management. “The importance of accelerator utilisation…

Former Community Member
A Self-teaching Aid For The Arduino Microprocessor Board

The attached animated powerpoint slide set has been produced by Dr Peter MInns of Northumbria Network and would be useful for schools and colleges looking for an easy-to-follow introduction to the Arduino microprocessor board. It is aimed to be deliberately fast paced to fit in with the attention span of young people and could be used in a rolling slide show presentation. It will also be of use to established engineers and technicians who are not specialists in interfacing microprocessors to the real world, but need to be able to harness the Arduino's processing power in their projects.

Tom Fry in Computing
IET SA & NT Energy Dinner - Future Of Energy In SA (June 2018)

The IET SA & NT Local Network Executive committee organized "IET Energy Dinner - Future of energy in SA", and were pleased to welcome an audience in excess of 50 of Adelaide's best Engineers from diverse companies including our sponsor GHD, SIMEC Zen Energy, Promanage, Lucid Consulting, Rowland Metalworks, SA Power Networks, Scope Global, Raytheon, BAE Systems, Flinders University, Adelaide University, University of SA, and many others. Attending the event we had around 8 Engineering students who benefited from networking with their colleagues already working in many of the companies that could employ them. The keynote presentation was from Zen Energy's Richard Turner - "The economic opportunities for South Australia as it transitions to renewable energy". Richard's presentation on behalf…

Former Community Member
A Piece Of Cake. (IET London Savoy Place).

"It's all about layers" said IET's Chef Pavel Taras at the Pastry and Cake Decorating Techniques event held by the IET Savoy Place.He talked and showed how cake moulds can be glazed to create sophisticated desserts. Covered in velvet sprinkles, drizzling with goulash, smooth hot chocolate and passion glaze, Chef Pavel walked and talked the audience on the arts of cake and pastry making. His spider glaze technique demonstrated the technicalities involved - get the wrong temperature and the web will not appear. He explained that extremes in different temperatures and viscosity are how the spiders glaze effect is created. Similarly, he demonstrated the art of food spray-painting and showed how fine granules of chocolate-coco-butter droplets can be sprayed onto a cake to create an amazing layered…

Rimesh Patel
Project X At NZ International Science Festival Dunedin 2018

The Bi-Annual NZ International Science Festival is held in Dunedin during the school winter holidays and this year it is spread over 11 days with around 20 events on per day at various venues over the city. Within hours of the booking website opening, Project X was fully subscribed with young people from across the city and visitors booked in. As two firsts for Project X, this was an event outside schools and secondly organised solely by the IET with three IET member supervisors and three others from local businesses Delta and Downer. The parents dropping off children at the Dunedin Central Library venue were really excited about the event – real hand-on engineering and the enjoyment of completing a fantastic sound and lights model Christmas tree were the expectations together with a little…

Former Community Member
Technical Social Visit to Stoke Bruern and Blisworth Tunnel.

Several committee Members and guests arrived early at the Boat Inn at Stoke Bruern. Early so as to avoid traffic delays at and perhaps try some local some bru-ha-ha. At noon we boarded the Indian Queen to enjoy a trip through the Blisworth Tunnel with the ship’s captain and our narrator. The Grand Union Canal was built in the late 1700’s but stopped either side of Blisworth hill so loads had to be taken by horse drawn cart over the hill. It was decided to build the tunnel which was started in 1793 and, after many mishaps, the tunnel opened in 1805. However there was no tow-path so men had to walk the barges through, laying on their backs and “walking” on the roof of the tunnel. Excellent wages - 7½d for an empty barge, 12d for a full one (that is in real money, £sd, and a family could live…

Derrick Willer
Share Your Story...inspire Another Engineer

Wherever you are in the world and whatever stage you’re at in your career, we’d like to hear your stories - which could inspire other engineers and technologists. Your story could be powerful – alerting others to opportunities within the IET and inviting them to play a bigger role in the engineering and technology community. What makes a good story? We’d particularly like to hear from you if: you’ve achieved professional success or awards, with help from the IET you’ve overcome obstacles in your career,making use of IET resources your IET volunteering experience has benefited you and/or your community you’ve used an IET product or service, or attended an IET event which has made a difference to your career. One of our stories featured Rob McLaughlan who won an award from his employer for…

Former Community Member
New Insights Into Particle Accelerators

If you specialise in particle accelerators, you’ll know there is more to their capabilities than you see in the news. The Large Hadron Collider has made headlines for enabling ground-breaking scientific discoveries. But there are many more particle accelerators – approximately 35,000 around the world – that are contributing to our scientific knowledge, as well as working behind the scenes in our everyday lives. To bring you up to date on accelerator science and its applications, we’ve pulled together a series of videos below. The future of particle accelerators Scientists and engineers at STFC Daresbury Laboratory discuss the areas that they are focusing on for accelerator research and development. How are particle accelerators currently being used? Healthcare Hear from healthcare professionals…

Former Community Member
Bradford Science Festival 19th To 22nd July 2018

This year's Bradford Science Festival that is being held at the Science and Media museum looks to celebrate the wonders of engineering. There will be a range of fantastic activities, demos and games for all the family at the museum, across City Park and at The Broadway. The IET west Yorkshire local network will be attending the festival and will be located within the Engineering marquee on 21st and 22nd of July. Please do come along to this and bring anyone who may be interested. Please contact Simon Dobson (IET WY School's Liaison) via email if you can help in any way. For more information on the Bradford Science Festival please visit their website .

Oliver Clarke
IET SA & NT Young Leaders Professional Networking Event July 2018

IET SA & NT Young Leaders Professional Networking Event took place 3rd July 2018. The event celebrate the efforts of young professionals in engineering and technology who are leading in their field. An opportunity to network with South Australia’s future CEOs and decision makers. There were 35 attendees from a mix of industries, defence, building, power generation, utilities. The night was a great success and offered a fantastic networking opportunity for young engineers. YP Leaders Networking night (YPS committee members and attendees) The IET SA & NT YPS Chairman Matthew Tripodi presented about the vision of IET “Working to Engineering a Better World” and the attendees especially the non IET members who get to know more about the IET. The feedback was very good including committee members…

Former Community Member
Main Network Group

The Surrey Local Network, which is made up of nearly 5,000 engineers and technicians in and around Surrey, is managed by two groups, the main committee that meets six times a year and an events operations group which meets on an ad-hoc basis. Meetings are normally held at the University of Surrey and everything is organised entirely by our volunteers. We also have a Retired Members Group, for more information please go to this link . IET Surrey - Call for volunteers IET Surrey is run by a group of volunteers that make all the events and activities possible. Volunteering for the IET is a hugely rewarding experience, and can present opportunities in developing networks and skills, and build up professional development experience which can be used in recording Continued Professional Development…

Mike Prewett
How Old Is Your IET?

So, have you ever wondered how old (young) is your IET? Do you know how long the IET has existed in your local area? What’s your IET’s history? Try speaking to past Chairs/members in your local network and find out when your next IET birthday is. I’d certainly like to know!I recently had the pleasure of attending IET Hong Kong’s 30th Anniversary and IET’s President’s address event. The event was attended by over 400 people and it was a great way to celebrate the IET”s birthday and legacy in Hong Kong. It was great to meet fellow IET members, young engineers, past Chairs of the HK network and business sponsors. If you know how old is your IET, or want to share your IET stories/history, write us at cc-ap@ietvolunteer.org. Some of the IET milestone birthdays in Asia Pacific: Hong Kong – 30th…

Alice Chan
IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year

The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are annual awards which look for the best young women engineers in the UK. There are currently three prizes which are awarded at a national ceremony in London in December, covered by print and broadcast media. All of the winners will have the opportunity to attend high profile events and meet the most influential people in the industry. For further details please go to: https://conferences.theiet.org/ywe/about/enter/index.cfm

David Blake
Big Bang (near You) Venue - Doncaster Racecourse, South Yorkshire On 26th June 2018

The IET SYLN were delighted to support this annualy organised local event at the Doncaster Racecourse organised by the local STEM Hub, DEBP Ltd. Pulled together & Cordinated by our Schools Liaison Officer Layla Graham , the team on the day supporting Layla were:- Alan Chater: IET SYLN Past Chairman - acting as a 'Careers Captain' for the day and engaging with teachers, home educators, parents and schoolchidren. Linden Edwards: IET Member - demonstrating an IET exhibit featuring simple dc circuit design and assiting with the ever popular torch making. Lewis McEaney - IET North Linc's SLO providing general support on the stand Sophie Wilson - Torch making and interaction with teachers and schoolchildren Kerry Stuart - Demonstating the 3D Doodler pens which captivated a large interest with many…

Alan Chater
BCS - 'The Future is bright with the Fluid Enterprise'

Details People and Productivity through AI, Digital, Blockchain & Collaboration In this presentation and discussion, we will address the horrendous productivity gap and how it can be improved by the creation of a ‘Fluid Enterprise’ fit for the 2020’s and beyond. This talk will extoll the virtues of great leadership at all levels, providing insights into the tools and ways of working that will need to be adopted to achieve hyper productive Enterprises. It will address how people and teams strive for trust and purpose, but only those organisations that are people centric, master their data and manage their purpose will deliver huge productivity, efficiency and effectiveness benefits. Come learn how organisations without a fluid enterprise tend to fail and only dynamic and adaptive teams using…

Dooshiant Dyall
Internet Of Things TPN Committee 2018

The IET Internet of Things Network Committee organises programme of activities for IET members, engineers and members of the public. All of these events and activities are made possible by the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers. If you would like to know more about volunteering your time to help with our activities, please get in touch with any of the current volunteers listed below or the Community Manager for the network. Yew-Kee Lim Chair Mike McKean Vice- Chair Jiafeng Zhou Committee Member Vinnett Taylor Committee Member Andy Mills Committee Member Antariksh Akhave Committee Member Richard Winter Committee Member Mark McCormick Committee Member John Tan Committee Member Frank Johnson Committee Member Jaysern Pang Committee Member Jeen Khor Committee Member Teh Peh Chiong Committee…

Former Staff Member
Military Clerk Of Works - Sgt Bowes Clerk Of Works Electrical Course 62

The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Chatham has the responsibility of providing training for the Army’s future engineers. Through a partnership with Greenwich University, Holdfast and Mid Kent College, the Professional Engineering Wing (PEW) of the RSME provides the training and exposure to students of the Clerk of Works Electrical courses. The course offers a Foundation Degree in Electrical Engineering Management with modules aimed at Electrical Installation design, Facilities Management, Contract Management and Project Management. The Clerk of Work Electrical course is a 2 year full time tertiary level course which couples the modules set out by Greenwich University with key military course required by a military Senior Non Commissioned Officer (SNCO). To be considered…

Brian Dury
Robotex 2018 - A great success

Robotex 2018 in figures 871 participants and over 4000 visitors 2 days 12 challenges 85 volunteers 95 coaches 274 teams 370 robots Event Videos https://www.facebook.com/RobotexCyprus/videos/846822895529041/ Day 1 Photos https://www.facebook.com/pg/RobotexCyprus/photos/?tab=album&album_id=840426692835328 Day 2 Photos https://www.facebook.com/pg/RobotexCyprus/photos/?tab=album&album_id=841538759390788

Christos Christou
The Cyprus Institute Solar Car Challenge 2018

For the 9th concecutive year The Cyprus Institute organized the Solar Car Challenge 2018, on Sunday, 24 June 2018. T he event was co-organized with the Municipality of Nicosia and the contestants offered a spectacular experience conveying the message that the environmentally friendly technology is our future for a green planet. The custom-made solar vehicles will race each other on the public roads of the Nicosia city center: Event YOUTUBE Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pD9Lp3J-4o&feature=youtu.be

Christos Christou
Mechanical Engineering Behind RF Cavities Workshop

Announcing our workshop on Mechanical Engineering behind RF Cavities - coming up in SeptemberDetails are now up online on our forthcoming workshop: Mechanical Engineering behind RF Cavities workshop coming up in September and I'm delighted to share details of two of the talks. Claudio Paoloni will present on Microfabrication processes for millimetre wave vacuum electron devices Abstract: The resurgence of millimetre wave (30 -300 GHz) vacuum electron devices is fostered by emerging applications that need power level precluded to solid state technology. However, the short wavelength poses substantial challenges for the fabrication of the metal waveguides that must assure the interaction with the electron beam. The talk will describe the most advanced microfabrication approaches for millimetre…

Joanne Longton
Have You Turned It Off And On Again?

For anyone who works in the IT industry, to be asked this question by a First Line Support Advisor when you have to call for some tech assistance, has got to be the number one most irritating things in the world…I got home last night to find that my Broadband router has died. As I work at the IET and I come from a family of IT specialists (my siblings all work in the IT industry too) I like to think that I have a pretty good grasp when it comes to most things IT related. So I set about performing all the various troubleshooting checks that you do before calling in the support team such as, checking that the power cable hadn’t dropped out, making sure my OH hadn’t switched it off at the socket without my knowledge, checking we weren’t having a power cut, moving the plug to another socket…

Lisa Miles
John Logie Baird - Media Protection And Piracy

The Multimedia and Communications TPN annual John Logie Baird Lecture took place on the 26th June. With three amazing speakers and a thought provoking Q&A, the lecture was relevant to present world problems in the media and piracy. The John Logie Baird Lecture took place on the 26th June at savoy place, it provided a great insight of the current issues in media protection an piracy. Three esteemed speakers gave the audience a chance to learn current methods of Media/data pirates and the ways in which companies are combating the problems. Peter Oggel, Chief Technology officer from Irdeto, began the evening with ' Outsmarting the Pirates' , explaining current developments in conditional access technology to counter the evolving trends in piracy. It was shocking to find out the number…

Former Community Member
Who claimed the coveted Railway Quiz Trophy for 2018?

The IET Railway Network Quiz challenged the teams knowledge of all aspects of the railway industry – in a quite demanding way! Hosted by our quiz-master Peter Sheppard, the IET Railway Network Quiz night is an annual event that takes place at Doggett’s Coat and Badge pub near Blackfriars Bridge and we supplied a free buffet which was sponsored by wsp. The quiz was an ideal event for people interested in networking with railway professionals and did not only challenge their knowledge on railway but also encouraged an enjoyable evening with peers in the industry and have some fun. We had teams from National Rail, RSSB, Transport for London, Mott Macdonald and London Transport Museum. It was all to play for with the 2017 champs from RSSB there to try for a second win, the 7 teams were poised…

Lynsay Callaghan
Sqn Ldr (retired) Ray Barrett

For those who knew Ray Barrett, a stalwart of the Anglian Coastal IET, and one of our star speakers. Our thoughts are with his family. BARRETT Raymond Terence, Sqn Ldr (retired). On June 21, 2018. Dearly loved husband, father and grandfather. He was a man respected and loved by all, who served his country and his family. Funeral service on Monday, July 9, at Seven Hills Crematorium, Nacton at 15.45 hrs. Family flowers only. Donations payable to Cancer Research UK or Macmillan Nurses, may be sent c/o. E B Button & Sons Ltd., 24 St John's Street, Woodbridge, IP12 1EB.

Alex Barrett

Welcome to the Community Insights blog!

Community Rules & Guidelines