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Impulse To Innovation

Impulse To Innovation

Written by: IMechE I2I
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 News, Views and all things Engineering from the IMechE. Every first Monday of the Month. Contact us at Podcast@imeche.orgCopyright IMechE 2023 All rights reserved. Politics & Government Science
Episodes
  • Season 5 Episode 11: Improving the World Through Expert Engagement - A Review of the IMechE's Year of Events & What's in Store for 2025.

    Season 5 Episode 11: Improving the World Through Expert Engagement - A Review of the IMechE's Year of Events & What's in Store for 2025.
    Dec 23 2024

    One of the many ways members benefit from being part of the IMechE is through its events and webinar programme.

    Conferences, lectures and webinars (often generated by the divisions and groups) help to deepen members’ understanding of the latest engineering trends, technical reports and thought leadership as well as providing excellent ways to network and build business relationships.

    As we draw to the end of 2024, Helen caught up with Head of Programmes, Frances Shaw to chat about the year’s events, what impact they have had on members, and whats in store for 2025.

    Useful Links:

    IMechE Events Page

    Volunteer Events Programme

    Sponsorship Opportunities

    Learning & Development Courses

    That’s all for 2024.

    In fact that’s all from the Impulse to Innovation podcast as we will not be returning in the new year.

    It has been a pleasure over the last 5 years to share the exciting developments and innovations across the world of engineering. We have reached over 109 countries, produced 51 episodes and gained over 1000 followers. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with us and perhaps the show will return again in another format in the future.

    So on behalf of myself, Syed Ansar our wonderful AV engineer and the whole Podcast Team at ImechE HQ, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year wherever you are in the world.

    Helen Meese, Podcast Host

    We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this episode. If you would like to get in touch, email us at podcast@imeche.org

    You can find more information about the work of the IMechE at www.imeche.org

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    36 mins
  • Season 5 Episode 10: Augmenting Our Workplace - How Virtual Engineering & Immersive Simulation is Revolutionising Our Industry

    Season 5 Episode 10: Augmenting Our Workplace - How Virtual Engineering & Immersive Simulation is Revolutionising Our Industry
    Dec 10 2024

    Virtual engineering is a process by which engineers can combine the world around them with a digitally-generated environment, allowing them to visualize an object or location from a totally new perspective.

    Credit Advanced VR Research Centre (AVRRC), Loughborough University

    While the fundamentals of virtual technology and simulation have been around for some time, particularly in first-person computer games, the application of this technology in the engineering setting is less familiar to most. Yet virtual and immersive simulations have, and are, revolutionising the engineering industry.

    Virtual engineering systems are allowing engineers to evaluate product design and customer requirements without the need for hardware or prototype samples and are becoming increasingly common in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

    These data-driven simulations enable designers to accurately determine how best to integrate new components into a vehicle before fabricating and testing them, ensuring more efficient and effective products while reducing costs and improving safety.

    These virtual processes are however only as good as the digital and mathematical tools and algorithms that drive them, and the design and calibration of these tools requires expert knowledge from across a wide array of engineering subjects.

    Credit Advanced VR Research Centre (AVRRC), Loughborough University

    Helen's guest is Professor Roy Kalawsky, Royal Academy of Engineering and Airbus Research Chair in Digital and Data Engineering Information Systems at Loughborough University. In addition, Roy is also the Director of the Advanced VR Research Centre and a Fellow of the IET and RSA.

    Roy is a pioneer of virtual engineering and has lead the development of numerous VR and AR systems, having established the UK’s first VR lab during the early 1980s. As well as working for BAE Sysems in his early career, he has been involved in highly classified projects for NASA, the US Navy, McDonnell Douglas, Dassault Aviation, the MOD and many others.

    His research experience spans the fields of next generation modelling, simulation and visualization and he has undertaken work in the development of digital-twins, co-simulation and machine learning. Whilst his primary research focus is in the aerospace sector, he has achieved important developments in healthcare and other sectors.

    Useful Links:

    Loughborough University Advanced VR Research Centre (AVRRC)

    Virtual Reality in Engineering Blog

    We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this episode. If you would like to get in touch, email us at podcast@imeche.org

    You can find more information about the work of the IMechE at www.imeche.org

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    34 mins
  • Season 5 Special Episode: 9% Is Not Enough - Exploring the Intersectionality of Race & Careers in Engineering during BHM

    Season 5 Special Episode: 9% Is Not Enough - Exploring the Intersectionality of Race & Careers in Engineering during BHM
    Oct 31 2024
    This episode features a conversation that explores the intersectionality of race, careers in engineering and joy. These are big topics on their own and become highly amplified and sometimes harmful, when one’s self-identities and protected characteristics intertwine. Today, we’re going to approach them with care and mindful intention as these are themes that we don’t often get to share in this way. My name is Beatrice Udeh and I am the guest host for this Black History Month episode of Impulse to Innovation. Beatrice Udeh is Head of Diversity at the Arts Marketing Association (AMA). She is an award-winning creative specialist, a theatre producer, broadcaster & poet, and has held positions at both the BBC and Arts Council England. She has a degree in mechanical engineering and was a mechanical design engineer for Rolls Royce. So, why am I hosting and not Dr Helen Meese? Well, Helen approached me as she was keen for the IMechE to celebrate Black History Month, but wanted to make sure that somebody with lived-experience and a professional EDI background was at the helm to hold the space for the panel. I'm no stranger to the IMechE or to the microphone. I’m a former broadcast journalist and radio producer. I’m a former Mechanical Design Engineer and was an IMechE member nigh on 25 years ago, chairing the Young Members Panel for Derby and Nottingham in the East Midlands. I am joined on the episode by some amazing people who are leaders in their technical and engineering fields including start-ups, geeks, policymakers and just plain, smart engineers. I’m excited to get to the pulse of what makes them rock and find out how they roll during BHM and beyond. I wanted to share a few things as provocations for this discussion, here are some interesting stats by the Association of Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK): “Currently, around 30% of the U.K.’s engineering university graduates are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. However, these underrepresented groups account for only 9% of professional engineers. This is largely due to the barriers and challenges these groups face in recruitment, retention, and advancing professional development.” With my Diversity-lead hat on, three things stick out for me. One, there is the language - black and minority ethnic. Two, the stats (30% of University graduates vs 9% entering the sector) and three the business case for a thriving workforce: recruitment, retention and career advancement. According to Engineering UK, Global Majority individuals in the UK engineering sector face several specific challenges. Research has been done to quantify this, with specific examples of inclusion of people and inclusivity written into processes and policies. Not being seen aka representation Different types of bias such as the halo effect, or conformity bias and even attribution bias.All of these biases impact our behaviours and lead to discrimination even before reaching the workplace, let alone in the recruitment, onboarding and retention processes. The National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC), released a report this summer highlighting the importance of increasing representation in engineering and emphasising the need for a diverse and skilled workforce. And with a reported 700,000 people contributing to the engineering economy and 'Statista Data' showing that there are 540,000 engineers working in the UK, what does this mean when we intersect this with Black-British history and Global Majority engineering futures? This months guests are: Swati Swati is a dedicated, award-winning Biomedical Engineer. Having moved from India where she worked at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, she studied for her engineering degree before starting a new career as a Clinical Technologist at Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust. With a passion for STEM education and Healthcare Swati has set up her own company and now provides a variety of leadership, technical and regulatory affairs courses for students at universities and healthcare related solutions to hospitals and healthcare industries. Dr Nike Folayan MBE is a chartered engineer and Fellow of the IET. She holds a PhD in Electronics Engineering with referenced international research publications and citations. She sits on a number of advisory boards for various governmental and non-governmental organisations including the Royal Academy of Engineering, Transport for London and the University of Kent Industrial Panel. Nike is recognised as one of the top 100 most influential women in engineering and recieved her MBE for services to diversity in engineering in 2020. Nike is co-founder and chairperson of AFBE-UK, a UK-wide organisation that promotes higher achievement in Engineering particularly for underrepresented groups in engineering. She is presently Technical Director at WSP UK. Shefali Sharma is an Aeronautics & Space Engineer and Co-Founder & Director of ...
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    1 hr and 17 mins
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