Latest Insights from the EngX Community

  • Tactile Robotics: Why a Sense of Touch Is the Missing Piece in Humanoid Robots

    When we imagine the future of robotics, humanoid machines often take centre stage: robots that can assist in manufacturing, support healthcare workers, or safely collaborate alongside humans. Yet despite dramatic advances in AI, vision and actuation, one fundamental capability still limits what robots can do in the physical world, a genuine sense of touch. This challenge, and the progress being made to address it, is the focus of an upcoming IET Bristol Local Network event, Tactile Robotics: Past and Future , which takes place on 22 April 2026 . The lecture will be delivered by Professor Nathan F. Lepora, Professor of Robotics & AI at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, and one of the leading researchers working on robotic touch and dexterous manipulation. While the event itself promises an…

  • Hillsborough and the Engineering of Crowd Safety

    On 15 April 1989 , a football match in Sheffield became the site of the deadliest sporting disaster in British history. Ninety‑seven people lost their lives in a crowd crush at Hillsborough Stadium , during the FA Cup semi‑final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. While the disaster is often remembered through its social and legal aftermath, it is also a defining moment in the engineering of public safety, crowd dynamics and complex socio‑technical systems. For engineers, Hillsborough represents a painful but essential case study: how infrastructure design, human decision‑making and system assumptions can combine to produce catastrophic failure, even when individual components appear to function as intended. What happened – a system under pressure Hillsborough Stadium was built in…

  • Show Your Work with AI: A practical way to trust an AI answer

    AI tools now draft a growing share of the words that move through engineering organisations. Some of those words stay as drafts. Others travel into design notes, tickets, runbooks and reports, where they start to behave like reference material. The corrective point is simple. The hard part is not getting AI to produce an answer. It is making that answer reviewable, current and accountable before it is reused. In this context, “show your work” means the AI answer comes with its trail: the source, the conditions it depends on, and the check you ran. “Trust” does not mean “believe the tool”. It means “safe to reuse because another engineer can review it”. A common failure mode is unexamined reuse. A paragraph is copied forward, stripped of context, and quietly promoted from draft to policy…

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Latest IET EngX News

  • 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…

  • February Highlights on EngX: AI shifts, cyber reality checks, and conversations that got us thinking

    February on EngX brought another lively mix of thought‑provoking blogs, practical engineering discussions and broader reflections on how technology is shaping the world we work in. From unravelling sustainability terminology to exploring the foundations of AI, assessing the UK's cyber readiness and reflecting on the potential of hydro sites for pumped‑storage energy, the community continued to share knowledge and support one another. Here’s a round‑up of what caught the eye this month. Blogs worth a read ClimateTech, CleanTech, DeepTech… what’s the difference? Dr. Mohammad Harris tackled an issue that resonates across engineering and sustainability circles, the confusing overlap between terms like climate tech, clean tech and deep tech. Speaking from industry experience, he explained…

  • Innovation, Safety and Systems Thinking: January highlights on EngX

    The start of a new year always brings fresh conversations, new ideas, and thoughtful reflection, and January on IET EngX was no exception. From forward looking technical insights and policy discussions to lively forum debates and career focused questions, our community has been busy sharing knowledge and supporting one another. Here’s a roundup of some of the blogs and discussions that caught our attention during January 2026 and sparked great engagement across the platform. Blogs worth a read From racing cars to electric dreams: the origins of EV innovation One of the standout career‑focused blogs this month explored the career of Sir John Samuel from his early roots of electric vehicle innovation and tracing his journey from motorsport engineering to pioneering EV development. Personal…

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Latest Partner News

  • 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…

  • In-flight Broadband Connectivity and Experimentation for Beyond 5G Networks “AeroNet”

    This work is supported by the HORIZON-MSCA-2024-SE-01-01, Project ID 101236523 and Innovate UK. Total amount is €1.8 million for five Universities and 3 Industries in EU and UK. Raed A Abd-Alhameed, Viktor Doychinov, Vuong Mai, Ifiok Otung University of Bradford, (UoB), Organisation in United Kingdom London South Bank University (LSB), Organisation in United Kingdom Technische Universität Dresden (TDN) - Organisation in Germany University of Athens (UoA) - Organisation in Greece University of Trento (UDT) - Organisation in Italy Fogus Innovations and Services PC (FGS) - Organisation in Greece Sigint Solutions Ltd (SGT) - Organisation in Cyprus JIO Platforms (JIO) - Organisation in Estonia Fogus Innovations and Service P.C. (FGS), Athens, Greece Sigint Solutions Ltd (SGT), Nicosia, Cyprus…

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Latest articles from E+T Magazine

  • JET uses robot workforce to undertake world-first decommissioning of a fusion plant

    This article has been provided by Salvador Pacheco-Gutiérrez, head of technology at RAICo, with additional input from Nick Jones, head of decommissioning at JET Decommissioning and Repurposing (JDR). Fusion decommissioning does not have the same problems as fission. Fusion machines will create far less radioactive waste, most of which is lower-level and shorter-lived. Nonetheless, dismantling a fusion machine at its end-of-life – as is now happening at JET in Culham – is a complex task with many hazards, with many materials that need to be removed, taken apart, packaged, and stored with the utmost caution. The nuclear industry knows a thing or two about these challenges. In particular, it has spent much time exploring how robots and AI can help deal with hazardous materials, whilst keeping…

  • Geely's new EV battery sets 10% to 80% charging record in just over five minutes

    Chinese automaker Geely has unveiled a new electric vehicle (EV) battery capable of charging faster than any other current EV charging system on the market. The 900V Energee Golden Brick Battery will feature in the new Geely-owned Lynk & Co 10+ electric sedan. The vehicle’s high-voltage architecture and battery pack will enable it to charge at peak charging power of 1.1MW. According to figures released by Geely, the vehicle will be able to charge from 10% to 70% in four minutes and 22 seconds, from 10% to 80% in five minutes and 32 seconds and from 10% to 97% in eight minutes and 42 seconds. Automakers across China are racing to develop the fastest EV battery-charging technologies. Less than a month ago, BYD, the world’s largest manufacturer of EVs, unveiled battery and charging technology…

  • 430-metre-deep underground nuclear waste facility set to open in Finland

    A permanent underground repository for spent nuclear fuel is to begin operations in Finland, safely storing waste for up to 100,000 years. The facility, called Onkalo (Finnish for ‘cave’ or ‘hiding place’), is located in Eurajoki, in the west of the country. Engineered underground tunnels have been built into 1.9 billion-year-old bedrock more than 430 metres below the surface. Onkalo is expected to operate until the 2120s and is designed to contain spent nuclear fuel for up to 100,000 years. Following two decades of construction, Finnish nuclear waste management firm Posiva said the facility was set to receive final approval within months. Tuomas Pere, a geologist at Posiva, said: “The isolation from nature and civilisation on the surface is important because of the radiation caused…

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