IET Lancashire and Cumbria Events

Upcoming events - reserve your place now!

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

Uranium: A Paradox Element

The talk will explore the intricate journey of uranium, beginning with its discovery and early applications. We'll explore its dual role as a source of immense destruction and as a beacon of scientific and technological advancement.
Speaker:
Dr Tomasz Majchrowski Cchem
Date/Time:
Tuesday 7th April 2026 @ 6:30 PM
Location:
Lillyhall Business Park, Workington, CA14 4JN
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

Meet the Engineers - Volume 3, Series 1: "Your Path into Engineering and Part-Time Study"

Join us for the first session of the year in our Meet the Engineers webinar series! Our guest engineers will share their personal career journeys and provide valuable insights into the various routes into engineering. From hands-on training and industry experience to continuing part-time study, this session will give attendees a realistic view of what an engineering career can look like and how to get there.
Speaker:
Ali Amir
Date/Time:
Thursday 9th April 2026 @ 6:30 PM
Venue:
Online via Microsoft Teams
Hosted By:
IET London
Online

The Cavity Magnetron, key to the success of WW2 airborne RADAR

Following the independent development of radar in many countries from 1934-9 there was a need to efficiently achieve high power microwave energy to enable the transition from land based into airborne radar. The presentation will feature cavity magnetron based radars as used in naval corvettes, B17 flying fortress bombers as well as introduce the British H2S radar.
Speaker:
Professor Peter Grant
Date/Time:
Thursday 23rd April 2026 @ 7:00 PM
Venue:
Online via Microsoft Teams
Hosted By:
IET Anglian Coastal
In-Person

Routes To Registration

Join us for an evening to help further your career. The event will cover in detail the requirements for professional registration, concentrating on CEng and IEng.
Speaker:
John Lorriman
Date/Time:
Tuesday 21st April 2026 @ 6:00 PM
Location:
IET Austin Court, Birmingham, B1 2NP
Hosted By:
IET Birmingham
In-Person

Estimating Soil Moisture from Space

Soil moisture can be measured from space using satellite-based remote sensing techniques, primarily either passive microwave sensing, which detects natural microwave emissions from the Earth's surface, or active microwave sensing (radar), which emits and receives microwave signals to infer soil moisture. More details https://events.theiet.org/search/?Phrase=soil&Location=&Eventtype=&DateRange=
Speaker:
Dr John Beale
Date/Time:
Tuesday 14th April 2026 @ 7:00 PM
Location:
Hereford University Centre, Hereford
Hosted By:
IET Hereford and Worcester