IET in the news

Responding to government announcements 

This summer brought a wave of government updates, and we offered expert commentary on key developments including the Sizewell C and Small Modular Reactor (SMR) nuclear announcements, the Spending Review, and the Industrial Strategy. 

Stephanie Baxter, our Head of Policy, shared the IET’s perspective on the nuclear announcements with New Civil Engineer magazine. She stressed how a whole system view of the wider energy system will be needed to ensure new nuclear infrastructure compliments other energy generation and distribution resources currently deployed and being developed. 

Our President Sir Warren East appeared on BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money to highlight the critical need for a strong skills pipeline to support the government’s ambitions. His interview was syndicated across nearly 130 BBC regional radio stations. 

Championing women in engineering 

To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) on 23 June, Dr Laura Norton, our Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, featured in The Sun, The Times, and The Engineer, discussing the ongoing shortage of women in the engineering sector. 

Award-winning WISE ambassador Sarah Badesha, who is Head of Engineering at Chivas Brothers, was also profiled in The Times, where she shared insights into her career journey and offered advice to aspiring engineers. 

Inspiring the next generation 

Local media in Bristol celebrated the success of students from Redland Green School, who triumphed in our national IET Faraday® engineering challenge in June, earning a £1,000 prize. 

Held at University College Birmingham in partnership with UKRI’s Faraday Battery Challenge, this year’s competition tasked teams with designing a prototype toy for children aged 2–5 that encourages collaborative play. The winning concept, Recycle Rush, is a shape-matching game that teaches young children about recycling. 

Following the FIRST® LEGO® League national final in May, UK teams prepared for the International Open in Florida, drawing media attention along the way. 

This year’s theme, SUBMERGED℠, invited teams to explore ocean life, marine ecosystems, and the impact of human activity. The UK national champions, The Incredilegos from Bradford, were featured on BBC Yorkshire and BBC News Online before heading to the US, where they earned second place in the Innovation Finalist Award. 

Meanwhile, an all-girls team from Bracknell, The RealTech Bots, emerged as International Champions, beating 96 teams from 11 countries. Their winning project, the PH Wanderer, is a low-cost, solar-powered, autonomous pH monitoring system that transmits real-time data wirelessly to a central hub. Designed to combat ocean acidification, their innovation was covered in local media. 

Sharing MedTech expertise 

When the government announced a new “one-stop shop” to streamline the adoption of cutting-edge technologies in NHS hospitals, Professor Peter Bannister offered expert commentary. He welcomed the move toward centralisation and simplification but stressed the need for clear evidence standards that reflect the UK’s diverse population and varying levels of digital readiness across healthcare providers. His insights were featured in over 170 national and regional media outlets. 

Heathrow substation fire: lessons learned 

In early July, NESO released its report on the March substation fire at Heathrow Airport. IET Fellow and member of our Sustainability and Net Zero Policy Centre, Robert Sansom, spoke to LBC Radio about the vulnerabilities exposed by the incident. He emphasised the importance of transparent reporting, professional response, and NESO’s recommendations for future resilience planning. 

You can see our media coverage in the press release section of our website here