IET Lancashire and Cumbria Events

Upcoming events - reserve your place now!

In-Person

Pigs, Small Fish and Hitler's Beast

A talk to mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Source - the attack by X-craft midget submarines on the battleship Tirpitz.
Speaker:
Commander Bernie Thomson RN Retired
Date/Time:
Thursday 19th February 2026 @ 11:00 AM
Location:
Crooklands Hotel, Crooklands, LA7 7NW
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Power System Monitoring in Critical Applications

The talk will highlight the importance of resilient power monitoring in sectors where operational availability is vital, with real-world examples from healthcare, rail, E-mobility, and maritime environments.
Speaker:
Gareth Brunton
Date/Time:
Thursday 19th February 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Location:
Barrow Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 2LD
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Airbus Wings

This talk dives into the Wing Industrial System of the Future and will provide an overview on how Airbus is partnering with various UK organisations to push the boundaries of innovation, rigorously testing and developing advanced wing technologies for the future. Learn how Airbus is harnessing automation and cutting-edge solutions to shape the next era of Industrial Systems.
Speaker:
Chris Bennion
Date/Time:
Wednesday 25th February 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Location:
Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 2LD
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

60 years of Land Air & Sea Projects

The talk will cover a wide range of Air projects that have been worked on during 42 years at British Aerospace / BAE Systems.
Speaker:
George Seyfang BSc
Date/Time:
Thursday 26th February 2026 @ 10:30 AM
Location:
The Well Community Centre, Lytham St Annes, FY8 1UZ
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Dangerous Waters

'Dangerous Waters' Is a talk about Maritime operations during the liberation of Kuwait 1990-1991, including his personal experiences of diving to clear the largest minefield laid since WW2.
Speaker:
Bernard Thompson
Date/Time:
Wednesday 4th March 2026 @ 10:30 AM
Location:
Wesley Hall, Lytham, FY8 5LU
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Networking Event - Sensors and Instrumentation

This evening will provide an opportunity over a drink and light bites for members, partners and friends, plus guests from local industry and academia, to meet and chat about the many activities and opportunities in the region. The initial meet and greet, will be followed by an entertaining half-hour talk on 'Measuring the Physical World' - a brief overview of physical and virtual sensors, data aquisition systems and data mining techniques.
Speaker:
Nigel Whittaker
Date/Time:
Thursday 5th March 2026 @ 6:00 PM
Location:
University of Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2XS
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Latest Design & Building Of Three Rolls Royce Small Modular Reactors

An overview of the advances in the field of small modular reactors, potential applications and advantages over traditional approaches to nuclear power.
Speaker:
Prof Tim Abrams
Date/Time:
Wednesday 11th March 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Location:
Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 2LD
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Can Beer be Sustainable?

Tim is now focused on decarbonising Fell's operations and making them an exemplar in small scale, sustainable brewing. Join him to learn more about the practicalities of this work and whether we can have hope for a better future, still with plenty of locally brewed ale.
Speaker:
Tim Bloomer
Date/Time:
Thursday 12th March 2026 @ 7:00 PM
Location:
Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, LA9 6RG
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Sulzer Diesel engines for British Railways Modernisation

The talk will provide the background and build details of the Sulzer engines. It will also explain the subsquent guarantee and support activities. The talk will include drawings, photographs and video clips to illustrate the project.
Speaker:
John Sykes
Date/Time:
Thursday 19th March 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Location:
Barrow Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 1HH
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Surprise Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

On 7 December 1941, units of the Japanese 1st Air Fleet launched a massed surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States of America into World War II.
Speaker:
Dr Scott M Lindgren
Date/Time:
Thursday 2nd April 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Location:
Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 2LD
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Cracking the Lorenz Cipher: Tutte, Flowers and the Birth of Colossus

This talk tells the story of how engineers and mathematicians at Bletchley Park overcame the formidable Lorenz cipher. You'll discover how Bill Tutte deduced the machine design, how Max Newman and Tommy Flowers turned a problem into an engineering challenge, and how their creation, Colossus, the first programmable electronic computer transformed codebreaking.
Speaker:
Matthew Wylie
Date/Time:
Wednesday 15th April 2026 @ 6:30 PM
Location:
Engineering Inovation Centre - University of Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2XS
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Titanic - Seaman's perspective

A life-time seaman's view of what caused the World's most famous shipwreck, which uses an experienced and professional eye to eliminate the misunderstandings and focus on what really happened. The talk is followed by an optional lunch.
Speaker:
Captain Julian Blatchley
Date/Time:
Tuesday 19th May 2026 @ 11:00 AM
Location:
Glendower Hotel, Lytham St Annes, FY8 2NQ
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Sun and Climate Change

Our Earth has shown wild variations in climate over the last few hundred million years. The ultimate driver of climate is the Sun, which has increased in luminosity by 30% over it's 4,500 million year current life. We will see how the sun works and how it influences the Earth and our climate on ever shorter time scales, including the 11 year sunspot cycle. Finally, we will see how recently CO2 has become increasingly important and look at the most likely future.
Speaker:
Dr Robin Catchpole
Date/Time:
Tuesday 8th September 2026 @ 6:30 PM
Location:
EIC University of Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2XS
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Sun and Climate Change

Our Earth has shown wild variations in climate over the last few hundred million years. The ultimate driver of climate is the Sun, which has increased in luminosity by 30% over it's 4,500 million year current life. We will see how the sun works and how it influences the Earth and our climate on ever shorter time scales, including the 11 year sunspot cycle. Finally, we will see how recently CO2 has become increasingly important and look at the most likely future.
Speaker:
Dr Robin Catchpole
Date/Time:
Wednesday 9th September 2026 @ 10:30 AM
Location:
Wesley Hall, Lytham, FY8 5LU
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Sun and Climate Change

Our Earth has shown wild variations in climate over the last few hundred million years. The ultimate driver of climate is the Sun, which has increased in luminosity by 30% over it's 4,500 million year current life. We will see how the sun works and how it influences the Earth and our climate on ever shorter time scales, including the 11 year sunspot cycle. Finally, we will see how recently CO2 has become increasingly important and look at the most likely future.
Speaker:
Dr Robin Catchpole
Date/Time:
Wednesday 9th September 2026 @ 5:30 PM
Location:
Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 2LD
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Sun and Climate Change

Our Earth has shown wild variations in climate over the last few hundred million years. The ultimate driver of climate is the Sun, which has increased in luminosity by 30% over it's 4,500 million year current life. We will see how the sun works and how it influences the Earth and our climate on ever shorter time scales, including the 11 year sunspot cycle. Finally, we will see how recently CO2 has become increasingly important and look at the most likely future.
Speaker:
Dr Robin Catchpole
Date/Time:
Thursday 10th September 2026 @ 6:00 PM
Location:
Lakes College, Workington, CA14 4JN
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

The Rise and Rise of the Cameraphone

More and more photographs are taken each year yet the vast majority of those are snapped using a smartphone and not a traditional dedicated camera. It is amazing how the camera has become such an essential feature of the mobile phone.
Speaker:
Professor Emeritus Nigel Linge
Date/Time:
Thursday 8th October 2026 @ 6:30 PM
Location:
Engineering Inovation Centre - University of Lancashire, Preston, PR1 2XS
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria
In-Person

Wings Over Windermere - A Story of Two Seaplanes at Windermere

This illustrated talk will detail the technical development of the Waterbird 'hydro-aeroplane' which first flew at Windermere in 1911 and of the replica which first flew at Windermere in 2022.
Speaker:
Ian Gee
Date/Time:
Thursday 3rd December 2026 @ 11:00 AM
Location:
The Netherwood Hotel and Spa, Grange-over-Sands
Hosted By:
IET Lancashire and Cumbria

Recommended events from around The IET

Online

The Wallet is dead - long live the wallet !

Using NFC for financial transactions.
Speaker:
Dan Isaaman
Date/Time:
Wednesday 18th February 2026 @ 7:30 PM
Venue:
Online via YouTube
Hosted By:
IET Surrey
Online

Manufacturing In Space

Advancements in space technology and global investment has shrunk our world, bringing near space within our reach. However, to mace manufacturing in space a reality, there are still significant challenges that must be overcome. This webinar explores the creation of materials in space, and how the unique hostile conditions outside our atmosphere, might in fact be key to overcoming material creation challenges we see on Earth.
Speaker:
Various
Date/Time:
Tuesday 24th February 2026 @ 1:30 PM
Venue:
Online via Zoom
Hosted By:
Manufacturing TN
In-Person

Technical Visit to Glass Futures

Discover the forefront of green manufacturing at Glass Futures 165,000 sq. ft. research and technology centre. Engage with a 30 tonnes per day pilot furnace using next-generation fuels, sensors and automation to transform glass production, bringing together low-carbon glass production, process optimisation, and industrial decarbonisation across Foundational Industries in a real industrial setting. Join us to connect with this team shaping zero-carbon processes and driving sustain
Speaker:
To-be Advised
Date/Time:
Wednesday 25th February 2026 @ 10:00 AM
Location:
Glass Futures Ltd, St. Helens, WA9 5DT
Hosted By:
IET Mersey and Western Cheshire
In-Person

Getting Chartered

The evening will cover in detail the requirements for professional registration, mainly concentrating on CEng and IEng. Ideas on how to compile and produce the evidence of competences, focusing on the need for all to keep records. There will be a panel of engineers who have recently applied for/achieved CEng & IEng status to share their first-hand experiences and an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.
Speaker:
Dr. Khalid Khan
Date/Time:
Tuesday 17th March 2026 @ 6:00 PM
Location:
Lord Nelson Building William Bagnall Drive, Stafford, ST16 1WS
Hosted By:
IET North West Midlands