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Do LEOs Dream Of ‘The Grand Tour’? – The Satellite Systems & Applications Network Certainly Do!

Following on from our World Space Week event which focussed on the theme of ‘Remote Sensing Satellites for Global Sustainability’. If you couldn’t manage to get along to the event, then don’t forget to catch up with our filmed presentations from Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, Senior Strategic Geospatial Global Advisor and Director, Location International Ltd and Ralph Cordey Earth Observation Key Account Manager at Airbus Defence and Space. Chris Brunskill, Chairman of the Satellite TPN recently attended the Space UK 2017 conference and together with my colleague Natalie Sullivan has filmed some videos which we’ll share with you in the community group area as soon as they’ve been edited. The TPN are currently working on their penultimate event of the 2016-17 session which is a joint event with…

Deborah-Claire McKenzie
On the Road with the Automotive & Road Transport Systems Network

Just recently in May, Dr John Walker, one of the Network Executive Team volunteers organised an extremely popular seminar, joint with ITS(UK) on Behavioural Psychology in Transport in London. This event sold out before we’d fully advertised it, the power of social media! As a result of the excellent feedback we had from delegates and the high demand for the event the Network are planning a follow-up event in October 2018. You can catch-up with the presentations here as they were filmed for iet.tv The Network’s next event will be a workshop on Connected Corridors on 13 July 2017 at IET Austin Court, Birmingham and will be joint with Highways England. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to hear about the latest developments on this project and also give Highways England your feedback…

Deborah-Claire McKenzie
International Robotics Showcase: Speaker Highlight

Speaker highlight: Professor Andrew Blake Professor Andrew Blake is Research Director at The Alan Turing Institute. Prior to joining the Institute in 2015, Professor Blake held the position of Microsoft Distinguished Scientist and Laboratory Director of Microsoft Research Cambridge, England. He joined Microsoft in 1999 as a Senior Researcher to found the Computer Vision group. In 2008 he became a Deputy Managing Director at the lab, before assuming the directorship in 2010. Before joining Microsoft Andrew trained in mathematics and electrical engineering in Cambridge England, and studied for a doctorate in Artificial Intelligence in Edinburgh. He was an academic for 18 years, latterly on the faculty at Oxford University, where he was a pioneer in the development of the theory and algorithms…

Gemma Hadley in Robotics
Aerospace Network The Skies Are Not The Limit!

During the past few months the Aerospace TPN have taken advantage of the warmer weather to organise some technical visits. Bob Darby one of our volunteers organise a couple of visits the first one in May to Farnborough Air Sciences Trust and the National Air Library, with the second one in June to the TAG Airfield . Bob has written a couple of blogs which I’ve highlighted so you can catch up with what they covered. Its now a busy time for the Aerospace TPN in terms of professional awareness activities and Ray Smith and David Lindley, Vice Chairman and Chairman respectively of the TPN, have recently attended a safety day at the DE&S, MOD Abbeywood to promote the IET/TPN. Ray together with Lee Murton, Chairman of our Aerospace Young Professionals Group also went to a special event at the…

Deborah-Claire McKenzie
International Robotics Showcase: Speaker Highlight

Speaker highlight: Dr Sandra Wachter Dr. Sandra Wachter is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Data Ethics and Algorithms at the Oxford Internet Institute and a member of the Ethics and Philosophy of Information research cluster. Her research focuses on the legal and ethical implications of Big Data, AI, and robotics as well as governmental surveillance, predictive policing, and human rights online. She also worked at the Alan Turing Institute and the Royal Academy of Engineering on topics such as connectivity, AI, and autonomous systems and is policy advisor for governments and NGO’s on regulatory and ethical questions concerning emerging technologies. Dr Wachter will be speaking at approximately 10:10 on the topic of fairness, accountability and transparency in AI and robotics. Make sure you…

Gemma Hadley
And The Winner Is.....

Railway Quiz 2017 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 Ricardo Rail. 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 AECOM, Apollo Train Control, CPC Systems, Network Rail, Ricardo, RSSB, Transport for London and London Underground. With a full house, 47 attendees and 8 teams, it…

Lynsay Callaghan
How Do We Cool The Tube?

The IET Railway TPN had the pleasure of introducing Sharon Duffy, Head of Station Systems Engineering, LU Crossrail and Stations, to an audience at IET London: Savoy Place to hear about how LU are looking to Cool the Tube. The Cooling the Tube programme was established in 2005 to mitigate the problem of increasing temperatures across the London Underground network, and to ensure the continued safe operation of trains. With plans for line upgrades and increased services through the introduction of new, faster trains that will use more energy and create more heat, there is a need to find effective methods of controlling temperatures. Over a decade on, this session covered what London Underground has achieved and what future plans are in development, including the opportunity for waste heat to…

Lynsay Callaghan
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…

Kathryn Bain in CEng
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
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…

Joe Dunn in Aerospace
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
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
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
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…

Gemma Hadley in Robotics
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…

Gemma Hadley in Robotics
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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