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  • Change what you can, accept what you can’t… or influence?

    Following on from our last blog on unconscious bias , many women (not just engineers) have emailed us asking for advice. If we can’t control the unconscious bias that we face in the recruitment process or even in the daily workplace, what do we do? Do we just work harder, change our attitudes and behaviours to ensure that we get noticed, or just accept what we can’t change? A lot of popular self help books focus on the mantra “change what you can, accept what you can’t”. When your career is at stake, I would suggest that is pretty bad advice! Instead: Pre-empt the bias that you face, anticipate it, address it openly without aggression! There are many instances in the recruitment process and beyond in the workplace where people will be making assumptions about you based on your gender.You can…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Bloggers Needed!

    Hello, We would be grateful if we could have some bi-weekly bloggers, here on the Women's Network My Community page. If you are interested then please e-mail me at womensnetwork@theiet.org . The content must be relevent to the subject of women in engineering and technology. This is a great way for My Community members globally, to share what's on their mind and spark some interesting thoughts and ideas. You can e-mail the blog content to me and I will post it on the blog area of the page. There will also be the option for comments to be left, underneath each blog! Thank you, Jo

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • IET Vision & Imaging Network Best Paper Prize 2013*

    The IET Vision and Imaging Network will make awards to the best PhD and MSc projects nominated by a University Department for the excellence of work in vision and imaging technologies. MSc Prize - £100, PhD Prize - £400 For more information please download the flyer. 2013 V&I Prize flyer * Sponsored by UniEntry.org

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • IET Connect

    IET Connect is dedicated to helping past and present members of the Institution of Engineering and Technology* and their dependants in times of need. With the IET's Worldwide membership standing at over 154,000 individuals in 125 countries the needs of members are diverse. We offer information and advice, help towards the costs of care, carers' needs and disability, redundancy and employment support and financial assistance for a wide range of purposes. All support is tailored to help meet individual needs. *We also help former members of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. This is a great service that can be tailored to the individual! IET Connect are also on My Community. Why not join them to keep updated on the latest activity or visit the website .

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Future events in Switzerland

    We are looking at the following possibe events in the next 12 months or so: Horizon scanning in November Visit to a brewery - probably near Berne, together with an "open" committee meeting - second half of September Gotthard tunnel - probably visit the southern part - Ceneri, with social event in Locarno the next day - early October? Desert solar power generation Fusion Resarch Snow and avalanche research - Davos - June or August 2014 - with social event next day Please give your comments on these and other ideas you might have!

    Paul Hulbert
    Paul Hulbert

  • Resources

    Safety Resources Many areas of the IET have an involvement in safety-related work.  Here is a summary of some of the safety-related resources available online from the IET. IET.tv Video Presentations: SIL Determination Seminar 2014 - London, 11 Dec 2014 9th International System Safety and Cyber Security Conference - Manchester, 14-16 Oct 2014 8th International Confrence on System Safety, incorporating the Cyber Security Conference  - Cardiff, 15-17 Oct 2013 21st Safety-critical Systems Symposium - Bristol, 5-7 Feb 2013 How To Stop Data Causing Harm  - Safety Critical Systems Club seminar, London, 4 Dec 2012 7th International Conference on System Safety, incorporating the Cyber Security Conference  - Edinburgh, 15-18 Oct 2012 SIL Determination Seminar 2008 - 5 Dec 2008 Factfiles: EMC and Functional…

    James Inge
    James Inge

  • Post ARSR / SWICOM thoughts

    The Second Joint International Workshop on Applied Radio Systems Research and Smart Wireless Communications (ARSR/SWICOM 2013) co-organised by University of Bedfordshire and University of Manchester, took place at the University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK. The objective of the workshop is to bring together early stage researchers and engineers from both academia and industry who contribute to the on-going trends and advances in applied radio systems and smart wireless communications research, such as cognitive radio, software defined radio, smart antennas, wireless sensor networks, etc. I attended the conference on behalf of the IET’s Antennas & Propagation Technical & Professional Network, and was impressed by the standard of the papers and posters presented. From a non-technical perspective…

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Women in STEM: it's time to take ownership of being female

    Why do women feel they must abandon their female identity in order to work in science, technology, engineering or maths? Is this staement correct?

    Former Community Member
    Former Community Member

  • Australia's Future Energy With Nigel Fine

    IET Victoria was delighted to have Nigel Fine (Chief Executive and Secretary of the IET) deliver an opening address to its members at a seminar on the perceived effects of the recently introduced Carbon Tax on the generation of energy in Australia. The seminar consisted of a panel of representatives from various stakeholder organisations in the energy industry, each delivering their interpretation of the likely effects of the Carbon Tax on their respective methods of energy generation. This was followed by an open Question and Answer session with the attendees, with the late Robert Jones acting as the Master of Ceremonies for the event. The seminar took place on October 15, 2012 at the Kaleide Theatre at the City Campus of RMIT University in the Melbourne CBD. The Master of Ceremonies for the…

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • Bristol Present Around the World Results

    The Bristol heat of the IET Present Around the World competition took place on the 15th of May - There were 7 very interesting and very well prepared presentations. There was a great diverstity of topics, ranging from the very technical, such as the use of fuel cells in aerospace, to more social with the role of women in engineering. The winner was Faraz Khan who took us on a journey into Interstellar Flights - his presentation " Propulsion Methods for Interstellar Flight " analysed all the possible methods (Nuclear pulse propulsion, Fusion rockets, Antimatter propulsion, Beamed propulsion) and quantified in detail that Intestellar flights is a possibility of the near fututre! The runner-up was Adam Hill who presented " Thermal Imaging Camera use of next generation maintenace of Aerospace Hydrogen…

    James Inge
    James Inge

  • Vale Dr Robert Jones

    IET Victoria was saddened to learn recently of the passing of one of its committee members - Dr Robert Jones. Robert was an enthusiastic member on the IET Victoria committee and was instrumental in the execution of IET Victoria's seminar on "Australia's Future Energy" when Nigel Fine (IET CES) visited in October 2012. He acted as the Master of Ceremonies on the night, and also assisted in forming the panel of guest speakers. The IET Victoria committee is grateful for his injection of ideas and determination to disseminate engineering truths to the wider public, and offers its condolences to the family and friends of Dr Robert Jones.

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • IET Local Network Prize - 2013 - RMIT University

    Anthony Leigh Lyngcoln, who completed a four year Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering) degree with first class honours in 2012, was this year's recipient of the IET Local Network Prize at RMIT. Two representatives from the IET Victoria Young Professionals Section recently attended the RMIT University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Awards Ceremony to present the IET Local Network Prize for 2013. Rowan Pattieson (Chairperson) presented the award on behalf of IET Victoria, and Sam Joy (Vice-Chairperson) was also in attendance to network with other industry donors, other award winners and their friends and family present on the night. The ceremony was held on 9 April 2013 in the Storey Hall 'Green Brain' , to recognise the academic and leadership achievements…

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • Robogals Industry Gala 2012

    The inaugural Robogals Industry Gala Night was held at the York Butter Factory from 7pm to 10pm on 23 November 2012. The formal cocktail event, organized by the Melbourne Chapter, was an opportunity to thank their sponsors and volunteers, and recognize their efforts and achievements during the course of the year. Being one of the sponsors, IET Victoria was invited to the event and was ably represented by Laval Yu, Michelle Zhao and Sam Joy on the night. The event started off with an informal session where the attendees were allowed to mingle with each other, followed by a more formal Welcome presentation by the Robogals committee. Nicole Brown (Robogals Melbourne) spoke about the purpose of the organization and how it has grown since its inception. The volunteers in the organization aim to…

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • Draft Guidance on EMC and Functional Safety

    The IET working group on EMC for Functional Safety has drafted some practical guidance to complement the EMC for Functional Safety Book and IEC 61000-1-2. The approach taken is to suggest techniques and measures that will improve the operational resilience of a safety system to EMI, similar to the approach taken in IEC 61508 to deal with other systematic faults and failures. In fact, many of the techniques and measures are drawn from those in IEC 61508, but presented in terms of their usefulness in mitigating the effects of EMI. The first draft intended for public comment is available in the IET Safety Community files area at https://communities.theiet.org/communities/files/47/2613 (you need to be logged in as a member of the community to access this URL - registration is free). The working…

    James Inge
    James Inge

  • IgnIET : Kick-start 2013 With The IET!

    The IET Victoria YPS organised its 2013 launch and volunteer recruitment event for university students on the 21st March 2013 at RMIT. The evening started with a presentation by Rowan, the YPS chairperson, about the IET and the benefits of joining. He answered the 6 W's questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How about the organisation. It was followed by other volunteers from the committee about their own experience and gains through volunteering and involvement with the IET such as the PATW competition, the Toyota Site Visit and Network 2011. The final part of the schedule included a list of potential events that can be run this year and in the future that the attendees can be involved with and start volunteering. After the presentation, the participants were given the opportunity to interact…

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • A mighty maze of mystic magic rays…

    “I’m such a geek…” I hear myself saying it quite a lot but I really am.. I was lucky enough to be invited to a special behind the scenes tour (or a ‘behind the, behind the scenes tour ) of the new BBC Broadcasting House last week, and while some of my fellow attendees were in awe of the various celebrity newscasters and weathergirls that could be seen around the building, the highlight of the visit for me was being shown the rack of hard disks containing the music collection for the BBC’s radio stations… GkF (Geek Factor) of 3 methinks? Sooo… the conversation when I got back went a little like this: “So did you see Huw Edwards?” “Umm… nope. But I saw inside some of the sound studios! Went down to the basement to look at all the communications equipment sending audio and tv signals all over…

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • Victorian PATW winner creating 'sound bubbles'

    Kyle Slater, past PATW winner and IET Victoria volunteer, was recently featured in The Melbourne Magazine in an article titled "City of Ideas" , to discuss a current side project of his, involving the formation of "sound bubbles" . You can read the full article on The Age's website . Kyle won the 2010 IET Victoria Present Around The World competition with his "soundBeam" invention (a device that transmits highly-directional sound waves on ultrasonic carriers) and went on to win the Australian and overall international competition at the IET's home in London. He is currently studying for a PhD in epilepsy research, as well as working on the Bionic Eye project with the Bionics Institute .

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • Photos From Asia-Pacific Community Volunteers Conference

    Michael Russell and Sam Joy recently attended the first annual Asia-Pacific Community Volunteers Conference in Hong Kong on November 10 and 11, 2012. Their contributions as active volunteers in the IET Victoria and YPS committees in 2012 were rewarded with nominations to represent Victoria at the event, including an all-expenses paid flight and accommodation package to Hong Kong. The conference is an opportunity for volunteers all over the Asia-Pacific region to get together, meet each other and share experiences, as well as to get the latest updates about the new initiatives being introduced in the IET for the benefit of its members. Check out the photostreams on Flickr below... looks like a great time was had by all (including a lot of hands in the air and holding hands ) Asia Pacific Volunteers…

    Rowan P
    Rowan P

  • Volunteers Required for @Bristol Live Labs

    The IET are currently helping to fund a project with @Bristol to develop engineering challenge activities for schools. These will take place in 'Live Lab', @Bristol's practical science space. Volunteers are now needed to piloting these challenges over National Science and Engineering Week, 18-22nd March.@Bristol are looking for engineer 'experts' to support the activities, working alongside the At-Bristol team. Activities will run on each day of the week, from 10:00-14:30ish. They aim to run sessions on the hour and half hour, from 10:00-14:30, with a max of 20 students in each, c200 students a day The activities will be aimed at KS2 (Junior School) students, poss some for KS3. They are based around the theme of flight and there are three different sessions that will look at plane design, the…

    James Inge
    James Inge

  • How to Stop Data Causing Harm

    This Safety Critical Systems Club seminar, held on 4 Dec 2012 in London, aimed to address the safety issues concerned with data-driven systems. Presentations from the day are now available for viewing on iet.tv . The seminar has led to a follow-on series of workshops. For more information, see the SCSC website . Read on to see the list of video presentations available. Speaker Title Alastair Faulkner, Abbeymeade Limited Introduction – Standards and Industrial Practice Paul Ensor, UK Hydrographic Office The Safety of Data and Information Systems Alan Simpson, Ebeni Aeronautical Information – How confident are we it’s correct? Ian Bingham, Logica (now part of CGI) Safety Data in National Infrastructure Projects Mark Nicholson, University of York Topics in Dataware Safety Mike Ainsworth, Altran…

    James Inge
    James Inge

  • The Elevator Pitch...

    Last Tuesday I was in the offices of 123 Buckingham Palace Road waiting for a meeting with the Chairman of the London Network. While sitting in their rather lovely reception area, speaking with Sarah the receptionist and looking in envy at the brightly coloured and fun offices of Google on the third floor, I found myself watching the rather nice looking glass lifts (or elevators as they are also known) in the central atrium area and wondered: "Why is it that the fundamental basics of lift mechanisms haven’t changed that much since they were first introduced?"Last Tuesday I was in the offices of 123 Buckingham Palace Road waiting for a meeting with the Chairman of the London Network. While sitting in their rather lovely reception area, speaking with Sarah the receptionist and looking in envy…

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

  • Def Stan 00-56 available for review

    The MOD 00-56 Core authoring team would like to invite system safety specialists and relevant Industry organisations to review a draft version Def Stan 00-56 Issue 5 parts 1 and 2. Def Stan 00-56 review packs can only be obtained from the MOD editor. Each review pack is intended for the designated reviewer only, but a Company/Organisation can nominate a co-ordinating reviewer. The cut off date for comments is the 22nd February 2013, but early returns would be appreciated. Def Stan 00-56 is the UK Defence Standard giving Safety Management Requirements for Defence Systems. The current version was published by the Ministry of Defence in 2007. It is being updated to take into account recent developments in procurement and safety management practice. Update 4 Mar 13: Def Stan 00-56 Issue 5 Part…

  • Young Engineers' Competition - Western Aerospace Centre

    See "more" for some info on a local competition for young engineers, closing date for abstracts is the end of this month. I've also uploaded the flyer into the Files area of this website. -- Russ. Dear All, Please can I bring to your attention an exciting opportunity to support the Professional Development of Young Engineers in the South West. The Western Aerospace Centre is running it annual prize competition for Young Engineers. The purpose of the competition is to encourage the ongoing professional development of Young Engineers by entering a competition to deliver a presentation on any aviation related topic. Selected finalists will be invited to give a 20 minute presentation at the competition evening scheduled for April 2013, in front of a panel including engineering directors from the…

    Russ Haines
    Russ Haines

  • Soap gets in your eyes…

    I’m very wary of electric showers. Water, electricity and a human body in a rather ‘vulnerable’ state, all in one space at the same time, is a recipe for disaster in my eyes… Needless to say, when my electric shower started playing up this weekend I was none too pleased and didn’t relish the thought of having to fix it. The shower came with the house and, unlike my own practice of keeping them, the previous owners did not keep the instruction manual. However a quick search on the internet came up trumps with the full installation and service manual (in 0.41 seconds to be precise by using the correct descriptive search terms) which became my Sunday afternoon reading material. A quick read of the manual and it seems that the shower simply needed a purge and a reset. The water company had just…

    Lisa Miles
    Lisa Miles

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