Communications Briefing: 26 May to 8 June 2018

INSTITUTION IN THE NEWS

Dr Jenifer Baxter responded to the recent rail timetable fiasco on BBC Radio 5 Live and her letter in response to an article (which outlined that Britain could be overtaking the US as a hub for engineering start-ups) also appeared in The Times. News of the Stephenson Fund investments also made The Daily Mail and The Mirror. Matt Rooney, Engineering Policy Adviser, made his first media appearances representing the Institution. He appeared on the BBC world service and also responded to news that Business Secretary Greg Clark has announced that the UK government will take a £5bn stake in a new nuclear power station on Anglesey in North Wales.

• 05/06/2018 BBC World service

  Matt Rooney explains the engineering behind the UK’s pioneering new way to store power with the world's first grid-scale liquid air energy storage plant.

• 02/06/2018 BBC Radio 5 Live

  Dr Jenifer Baxter discusses the engineering behind the recent rail timetable issues.

• 04/06/2018 Back Engineering – The Times

Dr Jenifer Baxter responds to news that fewer than one in six engineers based outside the capital have set up their own business and highlights that the government must do more to provide support for new engineering companies at a local level.

• 06/06/2018 UK’s latest nuclear fusion reactor hits key 15 million °C in the lab, marking a major step towards 'holy grail' of fusion energy – Daily Mail

  News that Tokamak Energy has raised private investment of more than £30 million, with investors including Oxford Instruments, Legal & General Capital and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Also featured in The Mirror, City AM, Thame Gazette, Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser, Banbury Guardian and Banbury Guardian.

• 03/06/2018 Farming and humanity versus the environment – The Guardian

  Comment from a member of the public which mentions the Institution’s Waste Not, Want Not report and quotes the statistic that massive waste occurs in shops, restaurants, canteens, homes, outside fast-food stores and on airlines.

• 01/06/2018 ‘I saved £3,000 for university and only go out twice a month’: How students can keep on top of finance – i News

  Article about how students can get their financial affairs in order and highlights a scholarship from the Institution worth £8,000 over a four-year course.

• 05/06/2018 UK overtakes US as engineering startup hub as new generation of entrepreneurs emerges – Eureka!

  Dr Jenifer Baxter responded to news that the UK may have overtaken the US as the global centre for engineering start-ups by calling on the Government to do more to provide support for new engineering companies at a localised level.

• 08/06/2018 UK government considers investment in new nuclear power plant in Wales – The Chemical Engineer

  Matt Rooney highlighted that construction of the nuclear power plant, and its operation, would provide hundreds of high-skilled engineering jobs in North Wales for decades to come. Also featured in World Nuclear News, Power Engineering, Petroleum Economist and New Civil Engineer.

• 04/06/2018 Gas Natural Fenosa launches power-to-gas project as advocates of the technology call for policy clarity – pv magazine

  Continued coverage of the Institution’s report which calls on the British government to support the growth of power-to-gas storage technology.

• 29/05/2018 Geoff Baker becomes IMeche's 133rd President – Controls, Drives & Automation

  Continued coverage of news that Geoff Baker has assumed office as the 133rd President of the Institution and has set out an exciting vision for the learned society’s future.

• 06/06/2018 Race is on to raise £1,000 to help student-built electric car compete at Silverstone – East Midlands Business Link

  News that Young engineers at Nottingham need to crowd-fund £1,000 to help them design and build an innovative Formula-style race car for the Institution’s global student engineering motorsport competition. Other Formula Student stories are featured in Financial Express, Coventry Live, Racecar Engineering and Autobreaking News.

  PUBLIC AFFAIRS

• Aurelie Hulse asked a question at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the 4th Industrial Revolution with The Rt Hon Esther McVey MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Chi Onwurah MP. The session discussed how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will continue to transform industries across every sector of the economy.