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.

  • The bit between the diagrams

    When I started in the electrical trade in 1996, I thought learning the job meant learning how to install things correctly. Nearly three decades later, I still believe the technical foundations matter enormously, but I have also learned that some of the most valuable knowledge sits between the drawing and the finished installation. It is the judgement to notice when something does not add up, the confidence to ask a question, and the discipline to test rather than assume. My work has taken me through domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural settings: houses, factories, farms, swimming pools and larger plant installations. More recently it has expanded into solar PV, battery storage, EV charging, heat pumps, MVHR, design review and project coordination. The equipment and technology…

  • Exploring Electromagnetics

    Have you ever stopped to think about just how much of our daily lives relies on electromagnetics? From mobile communications and wireless technologies to power systems, transport and consumer electronics, electromagnetics sits behind many of the technologies we depend on every day. Yet it's such a broad field that it can sometimes be easy to overlook just how much is happening across the discipline. That's where the IET Electromagnetics Technical Network comes in. The network brings together engineers, researchers and industry professionals with a shared interest in electromagnetics, creating opportunities to learn, share knowledge and explore the latest developments across the sector. Led by Chair, Alex Gavrilakis, and supported by a committee of IET member volunteers from around the…

  • Volunteer Spotlight: Evona Teh

    For Evona Teh, becoming a Professional Registration Interviewer felt like a natural next step after achieving Chartered Engineer status in 2019. She found herself reflecting less on the title and more on the experience behind it. What stayed with her most was the interview itself. It was not just an assessment, but a genuine conversation where someone took the time to engage with her engineering story. That moment left a lasting impression and shaped her decision to volunteer. “I wanted to be that person for others” By then, she had built experience across technical engineering, corporate strategy, academia and leadership. It felt like the right time to give back, offering candidates more than a checklist and creating space for meaningful discussions about their work and impact. Underpinning…

  • “How to Apply for CEng: From Application to the Interview”

    From “What is CEng?” to “How do I actually apply?” Today, I had the pleasure of co-delivering a practical workshop with Dr Andrew Hutchinson “How to Apply for CEng: From Application to the interview” The workshop was deliberately focused on application rather than definition. We took participants step by step through the CEng application process, with particular emphasis on the IET route, the required documentation, and—most importantly—how to prepare a Verified UK-SPEC Assessment Summary and demonstrate evidence against the UK-SPEC competencies. We used real examples and application scenarios relevant to both academic and industrial backgrounds, helping participants relate the requirements to their own professional experience. The feedback was extremely encouraging. Participants highlighted…

    Mahmoud Masoud
    Mahmoud Masoud

  • The Threat of Artificial Intelligence to the UK Manufacturing Sector: An Empirical and Policy-Oriented Assessment

    Introduction: Artificial Intelligence (AI) poses an intrinsic threat to the UK manufacturing sector. The UK and particularly, the manufacturing sector, needs to understand AI's impact on productivity, employment, skills, and international competitiveness. This needs to happen in an empirical framework to govern the actionable, descriptive measure of employability demanded by AI adoption in manufacturing. The most relevant, applicable literature on the theme is thus surveyed to construct an empirical and policy-oriented assessment. The key questions to explore are: How will AI affect the UK manufacturing sector in the future? Will productivity be enhanced leading to international competitiveness? Will there be a net displacement or creation of jobs? What skills will be required in the future…

  • Distinguished scientist, famous inventor and suffragist: mourning Hertha Ayrton in 1923

    Graeme Gooday, University of Leeds Her many friends, scattered in various places on their summer holiday, were shocked to read in their newspapers, one morning, that she had passed away on August 26, 1923, at the age of sixty-nine, leaving uncompleted much that she meant to do, but having accomplished very much more than most of us are content even to begin.’ Evelyn Sharp, Hertha Ayrton: A Memoir , 1926. p.299. [i] On Sunday August 26 1923, there was sad and shocking news from a village in Sussex: the celebrated Hertha Ayrton was no more. [ii] Two days after her death, Britain’s pre-eminent newspaper, the Times , recognised her in unprecedented terms as ‘a distinguished woman scientist’. To substantiate this the editorial noted that Mrs Ayrton (as she was conventionally known) had…

  • Digital Twins: From Concept to Critical Infrastructure

    The term "digital twin" has been around for some time, but its role in engineering and industry has changed significantly over the last few years. What was once considered an emerging technology is increasingly becoming a practical tool for solving real operational challenges across sectors as diverse as manufacturing, energy, transport, healthcare, and smart cities. As organisations continue to balance efficiency, sustainability, resilience, and cost pressures, digital twins are helping bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds. By creating dynamic virtual representations of physical assets, processes, or entire systems, engineers can gain a deeper understanding of performance, predict future outcomes, and make better-informed decisions before implementing changes in the real…

    Garima Satija
    Garima Satija

  • The IET Technical Networks and the Impact of Active Engagement on Committees - A Personal Reflection

    Prior to stepping down as Chairman of the IET Project Controls Technical Network, I had been a member of the Project Controls TN for many years. I stepped down at the end of 2025 with a view of taking a short sabbatical whilst I reset and calibrated by emerging research interests which focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how this emerging technology can be leveraged in the fields of Quality, Governance, and Assurance in the fields of manufacturing, projects, and decommissioning within the UK Military and Civil Nuclear sectors. This article presents my personal reflections and opinions relative to being active in the IET’s TNs. So what are the IET TNs? The IET Technical Networks comprise of specialist groups that facilitate technical and professional engagement among IET members with…

  • Volunteer Spotlight: Sumeet Shah

    Supporting confidence, growth and professional success through mentoring. For Sumeet Shah, engineering has never just been a career. It's been part of his life from the very beginning. A lifelong passion for engineering Growing up in a family involved in manufacturing and engineering, some of his earliest memories are of designing and building projects at his uncle's metal fabrication factory. Inspired by childhood favourites such as Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , a young Sumeet set about creating his own model aeroplane and even a pair of nunchakus. A few years later, while still at secondary school, he spent a summer helping to commission new plastic recycling equipment at his late father's factory as part of a move towards more sustainable manufacturing. Alongside…

  • The Gap Between Seeing a Problem and Fixing It

    Not by everyone, and not in full. But someone noticed. The trend that kept slipping. The number that never quite reconciled. The supplier update that felt a little too smooth. The signal was in the room. What wasn't there was a system for turning that signal into action while action still mattered. That's the gap. Not a failure to know, but a failure to act. And it's where project controls either earns its place or quietly fails to. Plenty of control functions live on the wrong side of it: measuring everything, catching problems late, producing immaculate reports on disasters they never stopped. So here are three ideas worth sitting with. Control is not monitoring. Monitoring is watching. Control is action taken to make objectives more likely to be met. Say that back to your own function…

  • Café Conversations: Navigating a Career in Aerospace

    Are you excited about a new engineering role, thinking about your next move, or simply curious about where a career in aerospace could take you? The September edition of the IET Aerospace TN’s Café is for you. Bring your career questions, share experiences, discuss challenges together, and connect. Exploring the breadth of aerospace careers Aerospace engineering offers a diverse range of career opportunities, from design and manufacturing to systems integration and emerging technologies. Yet for many engineers, understanding what these roles involve can be hard. The Aerospace TN’s Café helps bridge that gap. It's a space to hear about the skills engineers use in their work across different roles. As one attendee shared: “There are so many different areas within engineering that…

  • The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Quality of Project Management in the Nuclear Sector

    Introduction It has been eight months since I stood down as the chairman of the IET’s Project Controls Technical Network after serving on the steering committee for many years. This decision was driven, at least in part, by an increasing desire to advance the body of knowledge relating to the adoption of artificial intelligence in the field of quality, assurance, and governance in the manufacturing and project management sectors. I have a continuing interest on how such development will impact the nuclear sector. I would propose that AI’s integration into nuclear project management is not, by any means, intrinsically detrimental; rather, a nuanced and careful assessment of the integration benefits, associated risks, and effective mitigation strategies is truly warranted to ensure balanced…

  • Why Stop at the Digital Product Passport: Should Industrial Waste Have a Passport of Its Own?

    Often when you ask a manufacturing site how much waste it produced last month and you will get an answer. Ask what it cost to remove and you will get that too, often to the penny, because somebody had to approve the invoice. Ask where the material came from, why it stopped being useful, and whether anything more sensible could have been done with it, and the conversation slows down. That pause is not a failure of effort. Most engineers I meet care a great deal about the material leaving their site. The difficulty is that our waste records were designed to answer financial and compliance questions, not engineering ones. We know the tonnage. We rarely know the story behind it. What our waste records actually record Waste documentation in most operations serves two purposes: showing that…

  • FIFA 2026: Record audiences, record revenues, a watershed moment for broadcast and streaming

    This year’s FIFA World Cup was the most watched sporting event in history, but not everyone had equal access to it. Funding challenges facing broadcasters, particularly public service broadcasting, have been a growing concern globally, and FIFA 2026 brought those tensions into sharp relief. The ability of public service broadcasters to secure major sports rights has been in decline for some time, driven by escalating rights fees and fierce competition. For audiences who cannot afford pay-TV subscriptions or match passes, this has increasingly meant being locked out of live coverage of the world’s most-watched sporting event. When major sports events are broadcast over-the-air, audiences can access coverage at high quality regardless of their broadband capacity or the number of viewers simultaneously…

  • Could you be a voice for Young Professionals at the IET?

    Are you passionate about supporting the next generation of engineers and technicians? Do you want to influence the opportunities, resources and experiences available to young professionals across the IET's global community? If so, the Young Professionals Committee (YPC) could be the perfect volunteer opportunity for you. The YPC's mission is to inspire, inform and influence the global community of young professional engineers, while supporting technology innovation that meets the needs of society. Through projects, networking opportunities, communications and advocacy, the committee works to ensure young professionals are represented and engaged across the IET. Recruitment for the 2026/27 Committee is now open We're currently seeking enthusiastic volunteers for a range of positions, including…

    Daisy March
    Daisy March

  • The Next Milestone for Space Manufacturing Is Trust

    Advanced manufacturing is changing how spacecraft and aerospace systems are designed, produced and maintained. WAMS 2026, the third ESA/NASA International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing, brought together researchers and engineers from across industry, academia and space agencies to discuss progress in additive manufacturing, advanced joining, process monitoring and manufacturing beyond Earth. A clear theme throughout the conference was that the field is moving beyond demonstrating what can be manufactured and towards proving that these processes are repeatable, inspectable and suitable for operational use. What the First Metal Prints on the ISS Revealed One of the most notable presentations covered the first metal 3D-printing experiment conducted aboard the International Space Station…

  • The Space Balloon That Launched a Communications Revolution

    On 12 August 1960, a giant reflective balloon orbiting hundreds of kilometres above Earth helped demonstrate something that would change global communications forever. The satellite was Echo 1, and on that day engineers successfully transmitted radio signals across the United States by bouncing them off its surface. The achievement marked the first practical demonstration of satellite communications and opened the door to the connected world we now take for granted. Today, billions of people rely on satellite technology for television, telecommunications, navigation, weather forecasting and internet access. Yet the origins of this capability can be traced back to a remarkably simple concept: placing a large reflective object in orbit and using it as a giant mirror for radio waves. For engineers…

  • Simply, thank you

    We all know, one of the great strengths of the IET has always been the people who give their time to make it better. Across our communities, volunteers bring experience and, in many cases, a sense of unsurpassable enthusiasm that creates opportunities for others and helps keep the IET relevant, welcoming and connected. Over the past few months, I’ve learnt about a group of volunteers who have been helping us think about the future of our Communities and Networks. What has been the most impressive, isn't just the quality of the ideas that emerged from the group, but the openness with which everyone approached the conversations. Individuals with different experiences and perspectives came together, challenged each other's thinking when needed, and remained focused on what will create the greatest…

  • We all have our cheese moved

    Change is something we all experience, yet few of us truly welcome it. Whether it's a new role, new technology, organisational change, or an unexpected challenge in life, our first instinct is often to resist. We become comfortable with what we know. We build routines, develop expertise, and find confidence in familiar surroundings. Then one day, something changes. For many years, one of the books that has stayed with me is Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson. It tells a simple story, but one with a powerful message: change is inevitable, and our success is often determined by how we respond to it. Like many people, there have been times in my career when I wanted to fight back against change. I wanted things to stay the same because the familiar felt safe. Looking back, I realise…

  • BEYOND A SINGLE CDE: Why ISO 19650 governance automation must be designed for platform diversity

    When we talk about a Common Data Environment (CDE), it can sound as though everyone is working inside the same type of system. My recent survey experience suggested something very different: the standard may be common, but the digital workspaces behind it are not. Why I looked at the platforms behind the process I have been exploring how automation could support information governance aligned with ISO 19650. During that work, one practical question kept returning: before we automate a review, approval or information-sharing process, what platform are people actually using to carry it out? ISO 19650 describes the information-management workflow that a CDE should support. In practice, information containers move through controlled states such as work in progress, shared, published and archived…

  • William Morris Mordey

    Guest blog by Alex Mordey Look at almost any electrical device in your home. The phone charger, the kettle, the television, printed or moulded beside the voltage figures, you will find a small wavy line: ∿. The alternating current sinusoidal wave (or Sine wave). It is one of the most reproduced symbols on earth, stamped onto every mains appliance ever manufactured, and almost nobody knows its origin. It was proposed in a single sentence, one evening, in a lecture theatre at the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1889, by a self-taught telegraph clerk named William Morris Mordey. Ninety six years later the same Institution sat on the British committee that wrote his symbol into law. The AC Sine wave is only the most visible of his legacies. Behind it sits a body of work that helped build…

  • Curiosity, Courage and a Life at Sea: Exploring the World while building an Engineering career

    When I spoke with Leroy Osbourne FIET, CEng, MSc , for our 'My Engineering Career' blog series, I expected to hear about warships, sonar systems and a successful engineering career spanning the Royal Navy and industry. What I didn't expect was a story full of curiosity, adventure, resilience and lifelong learning. From a young boy fascinated by electricity and aeroplanes to a Chartered Engineer, IET Fellow and engineering leader, Leroy's journey demonstrates that there is no single route into engineering. In fact, some of the most rewarding careers begin with simply asking questions and refusing to stop learning. "I just wanted to know how things worked" For Leroy, engineering wasn't a carefully planned career choice. It was the natural outcome of a childhood spent being curious. Growing…

  • Engineering the Adaptive Workspace: From Asset Maintenance to System Strategy

    Managing change in modern engineering requires a radical shift in how we look at infrastructure . For generations, the focus has been on maintaining physical buildings. Today, the true challenge lies at the intersection of workplace strategy, data-driven insights, and human centric design. As the former Head of Research and Insight at the Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management (IWFM) and now working at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) within our Local Networks, I have spent my career tracking how disruption shapes industry. The biggest disruption we face today is not a specific technology, but a fundamental change in the purpose of our workspaces. The Evolution of the Workplace The traditional office environment is no longer just a physical structure where…

  • Exploration vs Exploitation

    Reinforcement Learning (RL) is the branch of machine learning where an 'agent' (the actor, in an environment) learns by trying an action, observing the result, and adjusting its behaviour accordingly to achieve its goal. It is not unlike teaching a dog a new trick: the dog hears a command, tries something, and a treat either arrives or it does not, and over enough repetitions the dog works out which action gets the reward. This creates a hard engineering problem, because the agent has to decide how much to stick with actions that are already working versus how much to keep testing other options. This is a concept known as the 'exploration-exploitation trade-off'. Understandably, when you don't know what you don't know, it's tricky knowing how well you're doing and if you should change tactics…

Community Rules & Guidelines