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  • Engineering and the Royal Family

    By Anne Locker From Royal patronage to serving Presidents, and from Honorary Fellowship to engagement with engineering and technology, the history of the IET and the engineering profession is intertwined with that of the Royal Family. As we celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, here some highlights of that history from the IET’s Archive collections. A version of this blog appeared on the IET’s website in May 2023. Royal Charter In 1921, the Institution of Electrical Engineers (later the IET) was awarded its first Charter. It was granted by George V on 15 August 1921, and the King also agreed to act as the Institution’s first royal patron. Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II also acted as patrons. First page of the IEE’s Royal Charter, 1921 Royal Presidents The…

  • Uncovering pieces of the past- archaeology at Savoy Place

    By Asha Gage, IET Archivist In 2013 the IET’s London home, Savoy Place, underwent a major refurbishment project to adapt the building to the needs of modern-day events and its members. As part of this a condition was stipulated that an archaeological investigation was to be undertaken on the site. This was carried out between October 2013 and November 2014 by MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology). The current building was built between 1886 and 1889 to serve as an examination hall for the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons. This is the modified building that the IET now occupies but the area of The Savoy has seen multiple transformations from the 13 th century, most notably a palace, hospital and military barracks. Savoy Place 1908 A site of many transformations…

  • Easier said than done?: decarbonising our airports

    Removing carbon from our airport infrastructure and aviation can be done, but ultimately requires a rethink of aircraft design says Dr Arnold Gad-Briggs UK airports consume a huge amount of energy, approximately 200 terawatt hours for the industry as a whole in 2019 according to research undertaken by EGB Engineering UK. This was pre-pandemic and at the height of what was then unrestricted flying. The challenge will be to remove of all of the carbon from the production of this energy. An airport as conventionally designed is for aircraft to land and take off and the functions and facilities that are provided to them to allow that to happen, primarily involves the use of energy and aviation fuel. Energy is needed in the form of electricity or natural gas to for heating or to fuel several…

  • Electrical Safety Awareness Month

    It’s Electrical Safety Month and the IET is keen to remind the industry of the risks you need to always consider when working with electricity. How many times have you heard - “If only we had switched it off it wouldn't have happened” or “But we never followed the procedure. It would have taken too long!!!” All electrical incidents can be upsetting, and every associated injury causes suffering and some with life-changing effects. However, it is so often the case that simple steps could have prevented the incidents. Many people are exposed to electrical risk and many of them do not have an electrical background or sufficient electrical knowledge to minimise the risk. Those people include, cleaners, equipment operators, maintenance fitters and managers for example. To these categories can…

  • Engineering the engineers of the future

    A rising star of Engineering’s future is engineering the engineers of the future We often forget that ‘Jack of all trades but master of none’ continues, ‘but oftentimes better than a master of one.’ Yun Hang Cho exemplifies this within engineering, although he wouldn’t tell you himself. One look at his history and we see what this really means. His background is in mechanical engineering, and he is currently a research engineer at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre . Yun also kicked off the Sheffield Space Initiative which creates opportunities for hundreds of aspiring Engineers/Scientists to work on real hands-on space projects with NASA, DLR, ESA, among others. He loves to work across different fields, something that drew him to the Institution of…

  • IET Malaysia Prestigious Lecture & Award Dinner 2022: Recognizing Industries in the Engineering and Technology Sector

    In February 2023, more than 300 people attended the IET Malaysia Prestigious Lecture & Award Dinner 2022 The Prestige Lecture and Award Dinner (PLAD) is a prominent annual event organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology IET Malaysia Network. It was attended by 300 guests including Yang Berhormat Tuan Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI), Charles Hay MVO, British High Commissioner, captains of industry, academics, alongside chairmen and women of Engineering and Technology Institutions. The ceremony, at Kuala Lumpur’s Aloft Hotel, was opened by a message delivered by the IET’s current President, Professor Bob Cryan. Up for grabs at this year’s PLAD22 awards were: Outstanding Industry Captain Award, Industry Excellence Award, IET…

  • The IET Cambridge Network hosts a talk by PervasID on Advanced RFID Tracking Technology

    On 26th April the IET Cambridge Network hosted an engaging and informative talk by Dr Sabesan Sithamparanatha , co founder and CEO of PervasID Ltd at The University of Cambridge Engineering Department. Sabesan founded PervaseID based on his PhD research into RFID technology and he’s gone on to grow the company into a global business serving the healthcare, industrial, security, retail and logistics sectors. He told us about his entrepreneurial journey with PervasID and explained the main advantages of its cutting edge technology over conventional methods. The company is at an important stage in its development, now working with several global clients and we were very glad Sabesan was able to make the time to share his experience and insight. To find out more about our events visit…

  • What Engineers and Policymakers need to know about the ChatGPT Revolution

    Is the engineering profession on the brink of a major disruption? With the rise of ChatGPT and other AI-powered technologies, engineers are set to benefit from unprecedented levels of productivity. AI-literacy and transparency are critical to getting it right . ChatGPT is not the only, nor the first artificial intelligence (AI) system that can mimic human text production. It belongs to a class of large language models (LLMs) which generate text by calculating the probability that one word follows another in a given context. Google, Meta, and Microsoft have each released their own LLMs, and the further development of these technologies is moving more rapidly than ever before. By 2030, most of us will be using ChatGPT-like systems as digital ‘assistants’ in our daily working lives – this…

  • Who was Professor Peter Wells?

    On May 3rd, the IET's Healthcare Technologies Network is holding an evening lecture at IET London: Savoy Place titled 'The Peter Wells Memorial Lecture 2023: Ageing Science and Technology: is it possible to live longer than 120?' . This lecture is the latest in a series of annual events hosted by the Joint Biomedical Engineering Group and held in honour of the late Professor Peter Wells, but how much do you know of him him and his work? Read on to learn more. A British physicist and engineer, Wells is widely recognised for his contributions to the field of medical ultrasound. He began his career as a researcher at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom, where he focused on the application of ultrasound in medicine. His pioneering work paved the way for the use of ultrasound…

  • Pumping cash into electrified heat, is it worth it?

    As a novice to the ins and outs of electrified heat, I have been surprised by the recent boom in news stories about heat pumps. So, I wanted to explore further into the pros and cons of these heat-creating machines. First things first, let’s clarify what they are. Heat pumps harvest heat energy from the ground (GSHP) or air (ASHP), and either use it immediately as space heating or store it in a medium for later use as domestic hot water or space heating. This is exciting as you get more power out than what you put in. The UK Government hopes to install 600,000 heat pumps annually by 2028, offering each household a £5,000 grant towards the cost. The heat pump’s intention is to reduce your energy bills. Worldwide, the International Energy Agency predicts that heat pumps could slash carbon…

  • Activities to celebrate the King’s Coronation in schools and at home will be in full swing this term!

    The Coronation of King Charles III is going to be an event to remember. Not many of us will remember the last King’s reign so we have created some STEM inspired activities to keep primary aged children busy over the 4-day weekend and help prepare for this momentous occasion. Design place settings for the lunch table or make bunting to hang around the room. Think up delicious recipes to inspire children to work together and design recipe books of their dishes for an unforgettable royal tea party. Then craft beautiful crowns to wear during the day to make everyone feel like a King or a Queen. Find Coronation activity ideas and join the celebrations while inspiring numeracy and design and technology skills with your 4–11-year-olds. We have Coronation activities for KS1 and KS2 mapped to the…

  • IET Cambridge Network at the Cambridge Festival 2023

    A team of volunteers from the IET Cambridge Network did a great job of educating and entertaining visitors of all ages to our stand at the Cambridge Festival 2023. Over the weekend of 25th and 26th March we had hundreds of visitors, who saw demonstrations of energy generation and electromagnetic induction, did experiments with magnets and plasmas and made their own LED torches to take away. It all went very well, leaving many smiles on the faces of our visitors, some of whom, we hope, will be inspired to explore engineering and technology in the future. Some of the team can be seen in the photo but many thanks to all the volunteers who helped to make the event such a great success this year. The Cambridge Festival is an annual celebration of science, arts, and culture that takes place in…

  • Lift-off at UK Students for Exploration and Discovery in Space Conference

    The UKSEDS National Student Space conference is an annual event held in spring each year. It aims to bring together student space communities from across the UK and involves keynote presentations from leading international organisations including ESA, NASA and beyond. Although the event was held on the weekend, it was clear that both students and industry were more than willing to participate. Over the two-day event, I was delighted to meet many old and new friends. Back at university, I had setup several space programmes for students, and it was great to see those same students now successfully working in industry. At the same time, I was also surprised to see the range of companies present including some that were not specialised in the space industry (e.g., MTC). The diversity of people…

    Deborah-Claire McKenzie
    Deborah-Claire McKenzie in Space

  • Empowering Patients in Scotland with Access to their Health Data

    Scotland is experiencing substantial health disparities, where certain populations are more prone to poor health outcomes compared to others. This problem is influenced by a broad range of factors, including access to healthcare services, socio-economic status, genetics, and lifestyle. Currently, there is a well-documented health inequality gap, with individuals living in the most deprived areas having a life expectancy that is on average 8 years lower than those living in the least deprived areas (Scottish Government, 2022). In order to tackle this issue, a multi-faceted approach that leverages technology and data is required. In this article summary, I will delve into the key findings of our IET policy roundtable in Scotland on health inequalities and digital solutions, focusing on three…

  • From under the sea to the edge of space: the work of Oliver Heaviside

    By Anne Locker Early life and career Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925) was a telegraphist, self-taught mathematician and reclusive figure. He never attended meetings – he nearly turned down a nomination for Fellowship of the Royal Society over the requirement to come to London in person – and was frequently at odds with the engineering establishment, mathematicians and (in later years) the Gas Board. But his work informed our modern understanding of electromagnetism and telecommunications. He reformulated Maxwell’s equations, pioneered the use of operational calculus and made breakthroughs in coaxial and distortionless signalling. He also has a layer of the ionosphere named after him. He did all this by challenging engineering and mathematical orthodoxy, stating that mathematics should be…

  • If you could go behind the scenes of any engineering company, which would it be and why?

    This event is where we join forces with organisations across the UK to showcase engineering and technology behind the scenes to children and their families, giving them the chance to discover first-hand the range of incredible careers out there – all in the hope to inspire more young people to pursue STEM in the future. Whether children are into sports, music, fashion, flying, healthcare, or improving our climate, we want children – and their parents – to understand that there is a place in engineering and technology for them. So to give as many families and schools the opportunity to attend, we’re now holding activities over the course of an entire WEEK – hence the name change to 'Engineering Open House Week', and we would absolutely love to have your company on board this year to inspire…

    Former Staff Member
    Former Staff Member

  • North Devon Robotics Challenge 2023

    The North Devon Robotics Challenge 2023 is an event for Year 7 students at schools in the North Devon area. The event is sponsored by The IET, and supported by The North Devon Manufacturers Association, Firefly Robotics Educational Charity and STEM. This is the first time the event has been run, and the plan is to extend the event further in forthcoming years, initially throughout the IET Devon and Cornwall area. The event is for teams of four pairs of students, who are presented with challenges, which they work on in their schools over a six week period, before coming together to compete against each other at a central location. The North Devon area has a lot of small engineering companies, but engineering does not have a high profile in the area, and the result is that the engineering…

  • What would it take to complete a modern construction project on time and on (let alone under) budget?

    Here is a rhetorical question, what would it take to complete a modern construction project on time and on (let alone under) budget? We should ask ‘why this happens so infrequently in projects large and small and how it can be corrected?’ A little background There was a time a construction project, be it a bridge, a stadium, a palace or a canal required basic materials such as wood & stone and not much else, because the technology for lifts, mechanical ventilation, electrical lighting and remote sensing didn’t exist. Now, a complex project such as an underground railway, a hospital or an airport terminal is not merely a building, it is intelligent, its constituent parts talk to each other via digital communications; if there is a campus of buildings, they will interact with each other…

  • IoT in Defence

    The Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed the way we live and work in many different ways, and the defence industry is no exception. One of the most significant advantages of IoT technology in defence is its ability to enable real-time monitoring and analysis of large amounts of data. This can be used to detect and respond to threats faster and more effectively, providing a critical edge in combat situations. IoT-enabled sensors may be used to detect enemy movements or incoming attacks, allowing forces to react more quickly and effectively. IoT also offers the potential to improve logistical operations and supply chain management. Sensors may be used to track the location and condition of equipment and supplies, allowing better planning and allocation of resources. This can help reduce…

  • Inclusive thinking? Pass it on!

    Join in with our latest campaign – crowdsourcing tips, insights and hacks for making inclusion easy to embed into our everyday lives. Just over a year ago, we called out to the engineering and technology community – asking you to share your thoughts on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in our sector, whether good, bad, or somewhere in between. The feedback we got was that, while most people understand the need for and benefits of increasing inclusion – they sometimes don’t know where to begin, or feel like it can be quite an uphill battle to implement new processes in the workplace. Visit our website to share your thoughts and feature in our campaign – and help spread the word by sharing it on your socials. And why is inclusive thinking important? It’s critical for success …

  • Our Easter resources have had a makeover!

    Get Easter off to a cracking start with our fantastic resources designed for both primary and secondary-aged students. To give you even more reasons to be hoppy, these resources now also include a step-by-step activity guide for families to follow as well as some brand new bonus games including crosswords, wordsearches and mazes which can be enjoyed both at home and in the classroom. For children aged 4-11 there’s a graphics project to design a pop-up Easter card. Or you can let their creativity flow as you use papier mâché and a balloon to make an Easter egg to decorate or help link words or numbers on cracked eggshells. Make an amazing bunny pop up card Make a papier mâché Easter egg Match eggy words or numbers Older teens can enjoy chocolate and egg themed activities including…

  • From Policy to Practice: Discussing the Spring Budget 2023's Impact on Healthcare Engineering and Technology

    The Spring Budget Statement 2023 brings forth several implications for the healthcare sector, creating potential opportunities for engineers and technology specialists. Let's examine what these announcements signify for us and how they may shape the future of healthcare in the UK. Healthcare technology innovation : With the streamlined approval process for medicines and medical technologies, and an additional £10 million allocated for expediting cutting-edge medical technology approvals, innovation in healthcare technology is set to surge. Moreover, the enhanced R&D tax credit could incentivise healthcare technology and engineering companies to invest more in R&D, spawning new healthcare technologies, products, and services. Medical device regulation: The Spring Budget Statement 2023 directly…

  • How can people heat their homes sustainably, economically and effectively?

    With the backdrop of high energy prices, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), ably supported by colleagues from the University of Strathclyde, invited politicians of all hues to discuss this topical question on 21 February 2023. Patrick Harvie, Holyrood Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, and a panel of MSPs were keen to air their views on how to resolve an issue that’s foremost in the minds of many people across Scotland. In a keynote speech Patrick acknowledged the scale of the challenge to hit ambitious climate targets, and highlighted the £1.8bn investment in green heat and energy efficiency by the Scottish Government to stimulate the market. He estimated that it would cost £33bn to make all Scottish domestic homes net zero by 2045. It’s a daunting figure and task, that…

  • New STEM activities for the spring months

    We have been working hard with some new collaborators over the last few months to bring you some new teaching resources for children to do at home or in the classroom. Digital literacy skills are essential for daily life more so now than ever before! Take young learners on a journey to improve their use of computers and technology today as building blocks for the future with our digital literacy collection created with the assistance of Archives of IT. Animation: make moving pictures (theiet.org) Audio editing (theiet.org) Coding games (theiet.org) Digital painting (theiet.org) Create your own digital photography art (theiet.org) The Bugatti Trust Museum and Study Centre have also benefitted from having 2 new resources produced for them looking at gear trains for primary students…

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