Latest Insights from the EngX Community

  • Building More Than Robots: How ShockSoc Rebuilt a Hands-On Engineering Community

    This academic year has been one of rebuilding, growth, and hands-on engineering for ShockSoc, the Leeds Electronics and Electrical Engineering Society. From the beginning of the year, our aim was to make the society more active, accessible, and practically useful for students across the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. We wanted ShockSoc to become more than just a society name, we wanted it to be a place where students could learn new skills, meet others with similar interests, and apply engineering concepts outside the lecture theatre. At the start of the year, a major focus was re-establishing the society’s presence and encouraging new students to get involved. Through Freshers Fair, social media, course group chats, and direct engagement with students, we worked to make…

  • Value Engineering in the Aerospace Industry: Balancing Performance, Cost, and Innovation

    The aerospace industry is defined by extreme demands: uncompromising safety standards, high performance requirements, long operational lifecycles, and massive capital investments. Whether for commercial aircraft, defense systems, or space exploration vehicles, every component and system must deliver maximum reliability while staying within strict budget and schedule constraints. This is where Value Engineering (VE) becomes indispensable. Value Engineering is a systematic, organized approach to improve the "value" of products, systems, or processes by analyzing their functions - defined simply as: Value = Function / Cost In aerospace, value is not just about cutting costs; it means delivering the necessary performance, safety, and quality at the lowest possible total lifecycle cost. It…

    Paul Lino Galutira
  • Sustainable Transport:Mapping Accessibility in UK Cities

    Mapping Accessibility in UK Cities The lecture was presented by Duncan Smith , Associate Professor in GIS and Visualisation at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA), UCL. The lecture, held on Wednesday 13th May 2026, took place at the flagship IET venue at Savoy Place, London, in the Turing Theatre. The lecture primarily covered transportation challenges that we all face on a daily basis. Transportation Challenges: Sustainability, Productivity & Health Transport is a major source of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is also vital to the economy. The talk presented these issues effectively through the analysis of tabulated data. It provided an interesting perspective on how transport accessibility impacts our daily lives. Transport is something we all rely on every…

Latest IET EngX News

  • AI, Engineering Skills and Real‑World Challenges: May's highlights on EngX

    As we wrap up May, it has been another thoughtful and wide‑ranging month across the IET EngX community. From deep dives into engineering history and emerging technology challenges to open conversations around skills, wellbeing, and global impact, members have continued to share insight, experience and practical knowledge. Here are some of our top highlights from across EngX in May. Top Discussions This Month The forums have been as active as ever, with conversations spanning cutting‑edge technology, career development, and practical engineering challenges. A number of threads explored AI and digital transformation, including discussions such as Beyond hype: uncovering the critical research axes and future trajectories of AI‑driven digital transformation and Zero Trust was not built…

  • From Space Stories to Smart Systems: April on EngX

    April on EngX brought together a thoughtful mix of emerging technologies, industry insight and personal journeys. From a closer look at how 5G networks are evolving behind the scenes to fresh perspectives on the continuing influence of broadcast media, the blogs this month highlighted both the pace of change and the importance of understanding the fundamentals. Alongside these, inspiring career stories and reflections on the history of space exploration added a more human dimension, while discussions across the forums explored automation, energy systems and real‑world engineering trade‑offs. Here’s a look at some of the content that stood out this month: Blogs worth a read Massive MIMO: the brains behind 5G networks This detailed post from Soubhagya Ranjan Mohapatra explores how Massive…

    Lisa Miles
  • March Highlights on EngX: AI Insights, Inclusive Voices and Engineering Impact

    March was a month packed with fresh technical thinking, practical guidance, and human‑centred stories across the EngX community. From deep dives into industrial AI to personal reflections from engineers shaping their workplaces, here’s your roundup of what captured attention and sparked conversation this month. AI in Manufacturing: Why So Many Initiatives Stall One of the most thought‑provoking reads this month came from Dr Paul Johnson , whose article AI in Manufacturing: Why Most Initiatives Fail & How to Deliver Real Engineering Value explores why organisations continue to struggle with turning AI investment into meaningful operational outcomes. Johnson illustrates this through a real‑world predictive maintenance example where an AI model successfully identified early warning signs…

Latest Partner News

  • Josie Harries discusses how Domino is working to increase support for women in the workplace

    Encouraging women to choose careers in STEM subjects has been top of the agenda for many years – but what fresh ideas can you introduce within the workplace to attract and support female employees? At Domino, we are committed to improving the gender ratio in leadership roles within a business to 40% by 2030. This target, endorsed from Board level down, now stands at 25%, from a starting figure of 18%. Support networks Recently we re-launched our Women@Domino global network to promote inclusion within the business and facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences, as well as networking, mentoring, events and training. Gender was also one of three key areas in our new Inclusion & Diversity strategy. The network is not limited to female employees; male colleagues are encouraged to participate…

  • Road to Engineering event introduces children to the world of engineering

    BAE System's Submarines Academy for Skills and Knowledge (SASK), Barrow-in-Furness successfully hosted the 6th Road to Engineering event which took place over three action-packed days. Over 200 children from the Furness area participated in the event which aims to inspire future careers in Engineering. This year's theme was 'Adapt and Change' following the British Science week theme. Supporting the event were the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Barrow District of Associate Engineers and the Royal Institute of Naval Architects who contributed valuable insight, merchandise and STEM packs for schools. Stephen Rowe, Project Director of Engineering Transformation said, "It was a privilege to attend the Road to Engineering event and…

  • H&MV Engineering appointed as principal designer and contractor for the Thorpe Marsh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)

    H&MV Engineering has been appointed as principal designer and contractor for the delivery of the 400 kV grid connection and electrical infrastructure for the Thorpe Marsh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) – the largest of its kind in the UK and among the largest in Europe. This landmark project, led by Fidra Energy and backed by major investment from EIG and the UK Government’s National Wealth Fund (NWF), has now reached financial close with construction commencing immediately. Located on the site of the former Thorpe Marsh coal-fired power station in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, the 1,400MW / 3,100MWh facility will be capable of exporting over 2 million MWh annually, supplying clean energy to approximately 785,000 homes. Once operational in mid-2027, it will be three times larger than…

Latest articles from E+T Magazine

  • Fusion firms target early 2030s commercial launch as CFS and Helion hit key milestones

    The race to build the first commercially viable fusion plant is on, with US firms Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) and Helion making strides this week towards getting a facility up and running in the early 2030s. Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-off CFS has announced the publishing of five peer-reviewed papers that delve into the technology behind its upcoming ARC fusion reactor and confirm the key physics that will enable ARC to continuously deliver 400 megawatts (MW) of net electricity to the grid. While relatively small in scale, ARC’s output is roughly 40% of a conventional fission reactor, so it will make a meaningful contribution to the grid once online. CFS is also nearing completion on its SPARC plant, a test unit that is capable of achieving up to 140MW of fusion power…

  • Smart glasses and AI pose growing threat to exam integrity, says Ofqual

    Gadgets including smart glasses and invisible earpieces could undermine the legitimacy of the exam system by making it easier for students to cheat, the chief of Ofqual has warned. Chief regulator Sir Ian Bauckham, who leads the body that regulates Britain’s qualifications and examinations, said that Ofqual had to “move really fast, because technology is moving fast”. The regulator’s own data showed that mobile phone and smart device offences accounted for 2,225 malpractice cases in the summer 2025 exam series, or 44.3% of all cases. It has been the most common category of cheating in every summer exam series since 2018. Devices such as Monorean Pro explicitly advertise their ability to “cheat on a test without getting caught”, incorporating miniature Bluetooth earpieces and device controls…

  • Floating 400kW solar farm powers up at Cheshire quarry

    A 400kW floating photovoltaic (FPV) array has been installed at Bathgate Silica Sand’s Cheshire quarry to supply the industrial sand producer with renewable electricity. Made up of 650 floating solar panels on North Arclid Lake, the array was installed over a six-month period by Scottish marine energy firm Nova. Developed in partnership with environmental engineering firm RSK Group, work on the project began in December 2025, with first power delivered in May 2026. Quarry operations were able to continue as normal during the entire project installation. The array, which is the size of two Olympic swimming pools, will help Bathgate Silica Sand to decarbonise its century-old quarry operations and reduce its energy bills. While conventional solar farms sometimes attract controversy because…