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…

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:  …

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.

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.

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…

IET Civil Nuclear Cyber Security Event: Developments In Nuclear Cyber Security - 19 July 2017 @ The National Cyber Security Centre

I've been working with NCSC and BEIS to bring this event to fruition as the inaugural CSTPN event.  Put the date in your diaries - 19th July at the National Cyber Security Centre, near Victoria Station in London. Follow the link for further details . IET Civil Nuclear Cyber Security Event – Developments In Nuclear Cyber Security Date and Time 19 July 2017 - 10:00-16:00 Location London, United Kingdom - London-Nova South  - opposite Victoria rail station About this event The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy is the first government department to launch a five year sector cyber security strategy. This sets expectations for industry, government, and regulators in light of increasing cyber threats and significant technological change. It specifies how risks will be addressed…

CAWE from Loughborough in London!

The 5 th Colloquium on Antennas, Wireless and Electromagnetics (CAWE) was held this year at Loughborough University London campus in the Olympic Park area of Stratford. Campus is new and the impressive facilities it boasted were an indicator of this. Fun fact: the site was the former Media Centre in the 2012 Olympics.   If you’re not familiar with this event, it is an open call for research on all topics relating to the fields of antennas, wireless and electromagnetics. It is a jointly hosted event from the Antennas and Propagation, RF and Microwave and Electromagnetic networks. The broad topic range means last week (8 th June) we were treated to a number of interesting talks on a wide variety of subjects. There were a lot of Q&A’s throughout the day both after the talks and during the networking…

EMEA LNs Activity On Facebook

We want to hear from you.  Send ANY relevant content to be shared on the Facebook page via inbox message to the group. Include any @ or #'s If you are a Local Network, please get in touch with your Community Manager and we can arrange for access to be given.  Kindly note that activity taking place   in the EMEA Region is now also posted on Facebook -   https://www.facebook.com/IETEMEA Facebook being a powerful tool, is used as and additional tool   to the Engineering Communities to   provide information on the IET Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region Local Networks Activities such as Lectures, Seminars, technical visits on a range of subject. Please share the page among your Facebook Friends as to promote EMEA activities and the IET in general among engineers or people interested on

A clear choice for our November IET Lifeskills at UEA

Formula North 2017 Event

We are happy to be sponsor for the Formula North event this year. There is no career booth option this year.  Event details                       Event Report

Congratulations To Award Recipients

Many congratulations to this year’s recipient of the Stan Thurger Award - Stephanie Gilbert St. Louis, a student in the Mechanical Engineering Technician / Technology – Design and Drafting program at Sheridan College. The award was presented on 30 May at the Sheridan College in Oakville.

IoT In Elections

As the UK General Election fast approaches, I came across this article which suggests that IoT devices will soon be able to predict elections better than opinion polls.   http://www.cityam.com/266025/watch-out-pollsters-soon-internet-things-able-predict   Opinion polls have taken a bit of a bashing over the last few years, incorrectly calling the US 2016 election and in the UK where they have twice been badly wrong, even in the binary yes/no referendum of 2016.     The article posits that IoT devices will be able to listen to our thoughts and actions in the privacy of our homes, allowing pollsters to more accurately predict how we will vote (and even if we will or not) This would dispense with disparity between what we say and what we actually do, which is one of the major causes of incorrect…

CAWE 17- Got Your Ticket?

This week sees our 5 th Colloquium on Antennas, Wireless and Electromagnetics (affectionately known as CAWE). We’re excited to be heading down to the Loughborough London campus at Stratford on Thursday for what’s sure to be an interesting day of talks of a wide range of topics  There are a few places left, so make sure to book ASAP if you want to go.   Already got your registration? Take a sneak peek at some of the papers that will be presented on the day – the presenters would be grateful for any feedback you can offer!

IET President Visit - June 2017

It was a pleasure to meet with Prof Jeremy Watson and Mrs. Penny Watson. It was an enjoyable evening. Thank you for all those attending the event.

MOU Signed between Ottawa LN and KCG College, Chennai

The MOU between Ottawa LN and KCG College in Chennai was signed yesterday by the Chair of Ottawa LN David Mann and the Vice Principal of KCG College, Sumathi Poobal.  The signing ceremony took place very appropriately in the Canada-India Centre for Excellence at Carleton University with Dr Harry Sharma, Director.  An overriding aim of the MOU is to foster exchange of ideas and projects between Chennai and Ottawa and the discussions during the week, including those with President Jeremy Watson, underlined the very strong engineering foundations in both centres.  Already a project on water quality is being explored, and a second project was initiated late on Friday, again connected with water surveys and autonomous vessel development. We are hopeful that IET Chennai LN will soon be able to clear…

Visit to Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) and the National Aerospace Library (NAL) Farnborough. 25th May 2017

Trenchard House is an unassuming building on the main road from Aldershot to Farnborough.  The only unusual thing about it is that several aircraft are parked in the grounds - although in Farnborough, that isn’t totally surprising.  The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) is there, in the oldest aeronautical building in the world.  In 1906, it was a balloon factory; now it holds a colossal collection of items from the aviation history of the UK.    The Aerospace TPN visited on 25 May and heard from David Wilson a fascinating history of British aviation and the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE).  Samuel Cody’s first UK flight of 16 th October 1908, was commemorated a century later by the opening of the Cody Pavilion containing a replica of Cody’s original aircraft.  Cody’s fatal accident…

Reflections On The IEEE Robotics Competition

First, here is a report from Timothy Sears who is one of the twelve children that the Ottawa LN sponsored for the Lego Robotics competition:   Section %u2160: Before the IEEE competition Not long after the FLL competition, coaches Frank and Robert had a drag race. This got the us excited about doing the IEEE challenges. Next came a few robot tutorials about wheels, chassis, etc; these were helpful because they helped to introduce our newer team members to LEGO MINDSTORMS. They also helped our more seasoned team members to consider what is needed for different robotic tasks.  We picked teams and then we went into competition mode the week before Easter Saturday.    Section %u2161: At the IEEE competition Dragrace Teams A and B got 2 nd   and 3 rd   place in the dragrace. Getting to second and…

IET Faraday Challenge Singapore 2017

IMDA (Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore) has invited the IET Singapore to organise Faraday Challenge on 29th and 30th April 2017 at Sands Expo and Convention Centre. In this two-day event, IMDA aims at educating the public about the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) as a vital nation-building element. This year, the chosen topics for Faraday Challenge was adapted are Communications Challenge and Table Tennis Server Challenge, for Saturday and Sunday respectively. The Faraday Challenge was kickstarted by a fun ice-breaking game to bond the 20 participants of ages 9 to 12 years old. Then the participants were drawn randomly to form 4 groups, with a facilitator in each group to provide guidance and advice to the participants. Afterwards…

Building Trust in an IoT Enabled World

On Tuesday evening the Ottawa LN hosted a conference on CyberSecurity and we captured all the talks on video. Here is a preliminary pair of videos of the talk by Professor Jeremy Watson, President of the IET: https://youtu.be/yM897jskL1Q https://youtu.be/YGEogl5xw60 Videos of the remaining talks will follow as soon as we can edit them.

CM Blog: Visit to Malaysia with a special guest from UK: David Houssein

Volunteer Training Session by David 20 May 2017 UTAR On Campus Group President with David David shared about TPNs and CPDs at the volunteer training session for both the Main committee and YPS, about 30 volunteers joined the training.  There was a good discussion about TPNs and the hot topics of Malaysia:  Oil and Gas, energy, renewable energy and Railway (high speed train).  Two Malaysia volunteers who joined the Control and Automation TPN shared about how the Network collaborated with TPN.  Their upcoming event will be a Student Competition that will take place in August.  After the session, the Malaysia volunteers have a better understanding of TPNs, how it works and the possible ways of collaborations between LNs and TPNs.   Thank you UTAR On Campus group committee for the venue and event…

Cyber Law; An Intellectual Medley Or Acts Of Enforcement.

The ISO standards are one of the strongest examples of facilitating people, process and technology to create governance models.  What is not seen in the ISO standards is the ability to actively promote the need to examine big-data for commercial use, innovation for competitive edge or influence of policy. These standards, just like most technology standards are not a Law, just a tool to aid in regulation. The concept of Cyber Law itself is still maturing. When flight companies have major technology break downs, the Law of commerce enforces consumer protection. So what does the concept of Cyber Law enforce. To answer that, we need to understand what is Cyber? As an analogy, Tax comes about when a business transaction takes place, without a buyer and a seller, you cannot Tax. Similarly, Cyber…

Ottawa LN sponsors three teams at the IEEE Ottawa Robotics Competition.

In three years the IET sponsored group of Lego Robotics enthusiasts has quadrupled in size (from three members to twelve!).  This year three teams entered the IEEE Robotics Competition, pitting their skills against over 120 other teams with all kinds of amazing talents. Our teams entered a nifty robot in the SUMO wrestling match.  Here is a link to show how they did:  http://bit.ly/BackStreetSumo.  There was an interesting fault in one of the three rounds when it looked as if the robot was bemused by the iPhone the referee was using to time the match, and we lost that round and conceded the match. And two of the teams entered the DragRace.   Getting to the second and third place was a fantastic achievement.  Here is the photofinish of the final race: http://bit.ly/BackStreetDragRace  The scoring…

50 Years On A Local Network Committee

At our Ottawa LN AGM on Wednesday the 24th of May, 2017 we celebrated 50 years of service by Colin Billowes. Colin's name is the first on our plaque of Presidents since 1967 which in Colin's honour is now named the Colin Billowes Presidents Plaque. Colin has been an active member on the committee in all of his terms. Those who know him will tell you that he always comes up with good suggestions, will work to make them happen and can ask the really awkward but always relevant question when needed! Colin also works with our younger members, offering support and mentorship and when they help him when computers dont work, he gives thm real credit but he also wants to know what went wrong. On the 50th anniversary AGM, Colin gave the meeting a good and humerous description of a his work in Tanzania…

By keeping a record of your goals, you're more likely to complete them - but, How Smart Are Your Goals?

As we head toward the middle of the year, you'll find yourself thinking about the plans for the next few months - you might be thinking about a Summer holiday or looking forward to a particular sporting event - but how many of you can say that you're putting as much thought into your career goals? I've mentioned in a previous blog the importance of recording your development (for which we recommend  Career Manager ).  By keeping a record of your goals, you're more likely to complete them.  The very act of committing them to paper (or in this case adding them to Career Manager) will act as a reminder of what you want to do and allow you to keep track of your goals as you progress. If you want to be even more certain that you'll achieve your goals then you should aim to make them smart. SMART…