7 minute read time.
In normal times we publish a programme booklet jointly with the IET Kent Network and the IMechE South Eastern Region. Also included are events held by the Retired Chartered Engineer Association (Sussex). For the 2020/21 season it was decided not to publish a booklet, so we have this list of events for the IET Sussex Network and links to other Networks and Institutions can be found here.


At least until March 2021 all lectures are delivered via webinar and unless otherwise stated lectures start at 7pm. We will review the situation with regard to later lectures nearer the time. Entries on our home page have links that will take you to the place where you can register for the event. If the lecture is delivered via a webinar you will then be sent a link.

 

   
Date

Location

Title

Speaker

Synopsis

Tuesday 6th October 2020

Webinar

Making the Internet Deterministic?

Stewart Bryant - Consultant to the Future Technologies Group at Futurewei Technologies and is a visiting professor at the University of Surrey

The Internet Protocol (IP) has always been a best effort service. It covers some time-critical applications well, but not currently emerging needs. For 5G and beyond we now need lower-latency, lower-jitter and lower-loss fixed and mobile communications. More bandwidth is not enough.  

Can we extend IP to provide this not only for 5G, but also elsewhere ?  Do we now need a new Deterministic IP?

Tuesday 20th October 2020

Webinar

Battery Technology for Mobility and Clean Applications

Julian Dunn - Head of Energy Storage Ricardo Automotive and Industrial

The speaker will address the technology and the issues of the subject of Battery Technology.

Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Webinar

Science and technology of Antarctica and its impact on climate change

Mike Underhill

This year in January the speaker was on a cruise visiting The Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. Mike will describe how the fascinating research  taking place there reveals new insights into the past of the Antarctic Region and how it may affect and predict world climate change in the future.  The news is not all bad!

Tuesday 17th November 2020

Webinar

Where is blockchain useful?

Adi Ben-Ari - CEO, Applied Blockchain

A pragmatic view on the real world applications of blockchain, presenting the challenges, opportunities and examples of implementations.

Tuesday 1st December 2020

Webinar

What’s a nanosecond between friends?

Leon Lobo - Head of the National Timing Centre, NPL

Resilient time and synchronisation play major roles in positioning, from the high accuracy and precision required by GNSS satellites and LiDAR to radar, cellular positioning technologies and ultrasound ranging.

In the cellular world, successive technology generations have demanded stricter synchronisation amongst network entities. Maintaining accurate time to the edges of networks is one challenge, as is resilient distribution in a network that may contain unknown or variable delays and attack threats is another.

Demands from financial services, broadcasting and power transmission are also challenging. With the introduction of 5G imminent and connected autonomous vehicles on the horizon, how will the requirements for time accuracy and availability change?

We shall explore the implications of technological advances given by the exceptionally high accuracy of quantum and optical lattice clocks, as well as the latest initiatives in timing that will help protect our critical infrastructure and enhance our quality of life.

Tuesday 8th December 2020

Webinar

Modelling and tools for flood prevention

David Bonner - Environment Agency

The Environment Agency has many responsibilities relating to the protection of the environment in England, including managing the risk of flooding from rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and the sea.  David Bonner is a Flood Advisor with the EA working on flood forecasting and emergency response.  In this talk he will explain how the EA uses technology to acquire data and help make decisions on the design of our flood defences and for our flood warning systems. 

Tuesday 12th January 2021

Webinar

Bright Spark - the art of the possible in Radar imaging

Malcolm Stevens

Thales

This talk looks at the development of the Bright Spark radar, the imagery it produces and the post-processing to further improve image quality or detect changes that are invisible to optical sensors.

Tuesday 19th January 2021

Webinar

Digital Delivery of Projects in the Water Sector

Neil Cuthbert - Regional Engineering Manager

MWH Treatment

An introduction to the application of digital tools and techniques used in the delivery of Water and Wastewater Treatment ‘Design & Build’ projects from concept through to solution development, detail design, construction and commissioning.

Tuesday 2nd February 2021

Webinar

Cancelled

 

The talk on Game Software Engineering has been moved to Tuesday 20th April.

Tuesday 16th February 2021

Webinar

Using powerful questions to develop impactful futures for powertrains

Andrew Atkins - Ricardo

“42” said Deep Thought with infinity majesty and calm ‘ Douglas Adams. Often we are told what the solution is to optimise to that to find that at a system level we have failed to create the predicted big outcomes. C.S. Lewis refers to these failure as ‘finger posts on the road to achievement’. However, are they a failure to understand the question or being too narrow in our view. The Impact factory is a Royal Academy of Engineering supported work that is looking at how we can build question asking and solution building on the curriculum. I will discuss this and then also the success we have already had in the areas of clean transport and look forward to some of the future thoughts for electric other types of powertrain.

Tuesday 2nd March 2021

Webinar

Engineering: A Vital Link in the Chain

Leigh-Ann Russell

Senior Vice President Procurement

BP

Have you ever wondered how to transition from a technical role to a commercial one? Do you aspire to learn about what it feels like to lead a global organization accountable for $30bn of spend and 30,000+ suppliers?

Come join Leigh-Ann as she recounts her leadership journey, shares key learnings from “life as a CPO”, and expresses her view on why cross-discipline integration is a key success factor for all companies.

In this talk, Leigh-Ann will also explain why “agile working” works, the future of integrated energy companies (and why it’s important!), and how engineers can blaze trails as we help the world “build back better” post COVID-19.

Tuesday 13th April 2021

Webinar

Powering a Low Carbon Future with Direct Current Technology

Jingyi Wan and Gaurav Mendiratta of Mott MacDonald

We see rapid growth in renewable energy. High voltage direct current (HVDC) systems enable the integration of renewables into power networks, the transfer of power over long distances and the connection of grids. In addition to providing these vital connections, HVDC converters utilise ever-developing power electronic technology. The presentation will introduce the development of and outlook for future applications.

Tuesday 20th April 2021

Webinar

Forty years of game development

Guy Davidson, Creative Assembly

Since the release of Pong in 1972, the games industry has proven to be a resilient industry that has surpassed music, film and television combined in the revenues it generates. In this talk, Guy Davidson will take the engineer’s perspective of how things have developed from simple TTL devices attached to cathode ray tubes to sprawling 10 million line C++ codebases, and how the role of the engineer has kept pace with it.

Tuesday 11th May 2021

Webinar

Electromagnetic fields- Risks to Human Health and Control Measures

Alexandros Gavrilakis - Senior Design Engineer

Network Rail

This talk will initially provide an update on the current research and legislation regarding the risks of electromagnetic fields on human health. It will then showcase the risk management process followed by the railways, and discuss how it can be useful in  other industries, both existing and new (such as 5G etc.)

Tuesday 18th May 2021

Webinar

5G networking in vehicular applications

(Joint meeting with IMechE Automotive Division Southern Centre)

Maxime Flament

Chief Technology Officer

5G Automobile Association

This talk will focus on the technological challenges and opportunities related to the introduction of 5G connectivity in vehicles around the world. It will describe what exist today and what the forthcoming 5G mobile networks bring in addition to the point it makes it an undeniable eventuality for the vehicle manufacturers.

Tuesday 8th June 2021

Webinar

Introducing 5G

Ker Anderson

Head of Radio and Performance

Vodafone

5G, what it is all about, how it differs from 4G and how it will change the world around us. 5G is a game-changer for us all, up to 10 x faster than 4G and with ultra-low latency; it opens up a completely new world of possibilities for the Mobile user but also with Internet of Things. Holographic calls, driverless vehicles, all those ideas of the future are suddenly made possible today thanks to 5G.