Student and Young Professional Magazine
The latest issue of Student and Young Professional Magazine: May 2008
Back to basics?
Is it time to go Back to Basics? (no, not you, Christina Aguilera, if we hear Candyman one more time we’ll throw that CD out the window). How do we encourage engineers; how do we promote engineering? (You should hear more of this sort of talk when an ETB campaign kicks off this year.) Let’s draw together some of the spookily synchronised themes in Student & Young Professional to find out…
We’ve got the electrical energy engineering sector, looking into its crystal ball and noticing there won’t be anyone to keep the sector going unless it does something about it. Result: new academy with perks to encourage engineers to go down this route.
We’ve also got new engineering bursaries designed to give engineers at FE colleges experience in the workplace. Our cover star, Barney Townsend, is setting up a company with the help of a university enterprise scheme.
And we’ve got a story on why so many engineers drop out of their degrees: that’s a complicated one, although one way to make it better is to show school children why life in engineering, technology and the sciences would be an option worth choosing.
The message? To enable engineering and engineers to flourish you need to nurture them. And that means everyone, from industry, to the education system, to the Government, even you (ever thought of being a schools science ambassador?)
Group hug, now…
Contents
News in brief
Celebrating the winner of the IET Young Woman Engineering Apprentice of the Year award; the future for careers in medical science, fuel efficiency and alternative fuels, and more news.
New technology hits the market
A kitesurfing innovation, a new heart-assist device and developing software to better preserve the Cutty Sark.
Building up to the Olympics
They’re shifting millions of cubic metres of earth on the site which will host the London Olympics in 2012. Chris Titley finds out how the early stages of the Olympic build is benefiting engineers.
WorldSkills: the workers' olympics
All eyes may be on London for the 2012 Olympics – but there’s another reason for our sights to be set on the UK capital: the WorldSkills Competition 2011. Helena Ragg-Kirkby explains.
Recruitment: in-house isn't always best
Time was, when you applied for a job, your CV and interview would be handled in-house by the company’s HR department. No longer.
Rise of the machines
A metallic beetle the size of a hubcap that slowly grazes its way around a household carpet is the unlikely symbol for the rebirth of robotics.
Networkers needed
Biology and engineering seem to be poles apart. But in two relatively new disciplines, they are coming together as biologists begin to harness the power of supercomputers to build simulations of living organisms and even design organisms of their own.
E3 Academy
Engineers at the opera? There are around 100 electric drives to move props and scenery at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden: a new Electrical Energy Engineering Academy will ensure there is always someone to design, build and keep them running. Paul Acarnley looks at how the engineering sector is tackling its own energy crisis.
Log on for life
They say that online social networking will help you find a better job – virtually. Chris Titley logs on to investigate.
Careers in space
The Space Age is 50 and Sputnik won a new 15 minutes of fame last October. But what about today’s space industry? Does it still have the can-do attitude of the 1960s, when NASA landed the first astronauts on the Moon? More practically, does it offer a worthwhile career?
From virtual tennis to the haptic cow
Playing tennis against someone on the other side of the world. Internet shopping and getting a good feel of what you’re buying. Helping a surgeon operate on a patient out of reach of specialist care. No one can do these things at the moment. But you could help make them happen. And of course, you’d be making gaming on the Nintendo Wii a real experience. Mark Hunter investigates.
Mind the gap
Do you have a gap in your CV? Maybe you should. Instead of going straight into a job out of university, you could take some time out and clarify your thoughts, increasing your chances of choosing the right career path and settling into your first job. One chemical engineering graduate shares her experiences of a gap year and how it has helped her.
I'd like that apprenticeship
Paul Cooper thought apprenticeships were a thing of the past – until he became an apprentice himself.
Transfer to MIET and reap the rewards
If your student days are numbered and you’re now focusing on getting your career started, don’t overlook one simple task that can help you from the outset: transferring your membership status from Student to MIET (Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology).
Student and Young Professional Magazine is the IET’s magazine for student, apprentice and graduate engineers. We aim to examine new trends in engineering and technology and show you how these trends can benefit your working life. We’ll give you advice on how to start and build your career and show you how others got their ideal job.
We’d also love to hear your experiences. Email your comments, ideas, stories or complaints to the editor, Jane Maltby, at holbytla@tiscali.co.uk
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