News

The 2007 programme is now underway. We have new larger venues for Hammersmith and Bromley. We a networking event at Christmas with the deputy president of the IET. Please check out the programme for:

February 2007

March 2007

IET Connect Visitors Needed

IET Connect, the IET Benevolent Fund, helps IET members and former IEE members, and their families. It gives practical and confidential advice and support, financial assistance, a free legal helpline and a money advice line. It also runs a care home in New Malden, Surrey. We are looking for four Local Representatives for London, for the north-east, north-west, south-east and south-west areas.

The posts are voluntary and involve visiting and giving feedback on members who are facing difficulties and are in need of financial support from IET Connect. You would carry out around 6 - 12 visits a year, as part of this very rewarding role.

If you are interested in applying or would like more information, please email Caroline Hobden, Welfare Manager chobden@theiet.org or ring 020 73445497. For more information on IET Connect and how it can help members please visit http://www.ietconnect.org   

Local school needs help with a Telescope and the Internet

The IET London Network has been approached for help by a primary school in West London, W11. They have a purpose built astronomical observatory/classroom, a telescope and laptop computers. Unfortunately the telescope is not connected to the laptops and they do not have the skills necessary to get this working. They would like the children and others in the community to benefit from the wonderful experience of exploring the night sky with this facility. They are thinking in terms of a data link to the telescope so that saved images taken during the early hours can be seen during normal school time by the children and others.

Would you be interested in helping out? It is a really worthwhile project, and sounds like a lot of fun, with lots of possibilities. If you are interested, please get in touch with Simon Maddison smaddison@iee.org , and he will then pass contacts onto the school.

Local Award Winner

David Lindsley a Fellow of the IET and active member in Kingston has won an award for his first novel. "Far Point" is about an engineer's desperate effort to prevent a disaster hitting a nuclear power station in China.

"Far Point" was awarded an award in the Engineering Media Challenge, which aims to present a positive image of the engineering profession through books, plays, radio or TV dramas or other formats. The contest was launched by the Institution of Civil Engineers in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors.

The awards dinner was held on November 2 at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Westminster, and the prizes were presented by the ICE President, Gordon Masterton and TV presenter Adam Hart Davies.

IET London Members Appointed as School Governors

Two members of the IET are in the process of being appointed as school governors for Sanders Draper School in Hornchurch, Essex, helping in the Institution's drive to actively participate in the local community. This is a specialist state funded school and approached the IET for assistance in finding governors with a science and engineering background, to help advise and steer the school in this direction.

Gary Paxton and Brian Jolly will be appointed to become governors at Sanders Draper School after volunteering their services through the IET London Region Network. Gary and Brian will join the numerous engineers who work through diverse means to raise awareness about the engineering profession among the younger generation.

For IET members in London , there are opportunities to volunteer to get involved in school activities. If you want to get involved in the IET School Ambassador program which helps to raise awareness about engineering careers to school children, please contact Hisham Zakaria (hzakaria@compuserve.com ). Alternatively, if you are interested in finding out more about becoming a school governor, visit the School Governors One Stop Shop www.sgoss.org.uk .