Meeting information
Details of our 2022-2023 programme of meetings are shown below.
If you need any additional information please contact Tom Purcell by email or 07306 757000.
Members and visitors are welcome at all meetings
All meetings, except 22 Feb 2023, will be held online via Microsoft TEAMS, and commence at 7:00 pm.
Please refer to the end of this page for presentations from previous year's programmes.
28th September 2022.
LIDAR – the new illuminating the past - Part 2 the interesting bits, by Andy McGrandle.
About this event:
In April 2017 Andy gave a talk to the Institute of Measurement and Control which was entitled “LIDAR - the new illuminating the past” and since then he has given the same talk to over 11 different organisations. Realising that some of these organisations might prefer some Lidar examples focussed on their areas of interest rather than his in north Bucks, he asked, in advance of giving the talk, if they had some key areas of interest over which he could check the availability of Lidar data and work up some examples if the data existed. What resulted from this were dozens of Lidar images showing Bronze Age burial mounds, Iron Age hillforts, Roman roads, a Saxon fort on the Thames, a medieval holy well and even an 18th Century rifle range. This second talk will show all of these examples, and more, to illustrate how many relics from the past are still preserved in the detailed mapping of the landscape and how Lidar data is being used by a variety of archaeological and historical organisations in the northern Home Counties.
26th October 2022.
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Connectivity Considerations, by Ian Verhappen of Willowglen Systems.
About this event:
The potential of IIoT will result in an exponential number of devices and data points which must be collected, managed and used to provide the value promise. SCADA systems have been connecting widely distributed data points and performing this function for decades, but are constrained by several limitations including:
- Bandwidth / number of data points
- Security
- Configuration and device management
This presentation will share how SCADA systems are evolving to meet these needs while also providing expanded capabilities.
30th November 2022.
Hydrogen: The What, Where, When, How?, by Dr Peter Clough of Cranfield University.
About this event:
Net zero / 1.5 °C / 2 °C / avoiding climate breakdown / lots of other nice ideas. All of these exist as feasible ideas on paper, but the ability to achieve them is nothing short of a radical revolution", says Peter, Lecturer in Energy Engineering at the Centre for Climate & Environmental Protection and who works on hydrogen and decarbonisation technologies. He will explain why hydrogen has to play a part in our future story to meet these objectives, however that story is not yet written, so there are opportunities for its role to change. Within this talk Peter will summarise 1) some of the key technologies involved, 2) the key benefits of hydrogen and reasons to be cheerful, 3) the key challenges of hydrogen and reasons to be critical, and 4) how he thinks the story to net zero will be written.
25th January 2023.
Air and Ground-Source Heat Pumps – All you ever wanted to know, by Bean Beanland of Heat Pump Federation.
About this event:
Do you have questions about heat pumps and their role in decarbonising homes? We need to understand more about them, including how they work, what they look like and where we can put them. And then there's the cost...
Join us when we'll hear from a founding member of the Heat Pump Federation, Bean Beanland. He'll give us a really good grounding in the subject - all you need to know - followed by a Q&A with attendees.
More about Bean:
Bean has an Honours Degree in Physics from Imperial College, is an Associate of the Royal College of Science, and is a founding member of the Heat Pump Federation (HPF). He has 14 years of experience in energy and carbon mitigation and conceptual technology selection, procurement and the installation of mechanical services and renewable technologies. Over this time, Bean has overseen the technology positioning, specification and delivery of a great many heat pump systems, many of which supply heat and potable hot water to Listed and period buildings, and to schools, rural estates and commercial buildings. Bean is a highly active participant in the industry supporting the development of heat pump technology, installer training and standards, and government policy. He is responsible for the lobbying activities of the Heat Pump Federation and membership growth.
22nd February 2023.
Listening to Einstein’s Universe: the dawn, and exciting future, of gravitational-wave astronomy, by Professor Martin Hendry.
This is a joint in-person lecture at the University of Hertfordshire with the Institute of Physics Herts (IoP).
The lecture commences 7:00pm, duration 1 hour.
Held in the Lindop Building, College Lane Campus, UoH, Hatfield, AL10 9AB.
Refreshments will be available from 6pm. Parking is free around the Lindop Building after 6pm.
Pre-Registration is necessary. Please contact Dr Diane Crann by email if you are interested in attending.
d.crann@herts.ac.uk
Link to the IoP website for the poster
No recording was made on this occasion, however, you can find a similar version of Professor Martin Hendry's presentation here, presented as the David Elder Lecture:-
Click here to view - NOTE: Starting at 24 minutes, 30 seconds in.
29th March 2023.
Early Public Miniature Railways in Britain 1901 – 1918, by Peter Scott of Minor Railways.
About this event:
Miniature Railways have been part of our railway scene since the turn of the last century. Long neglected by most enthusiasts, they have provided a train trip for countless thousands of happy passengers.
Long after steam disappeared from the main line in Great Britain, miniature railways continued to have live steam locomotives hauling their trains.
26th April 2023.
Bowel Cancer – a tale of mutants and robots. by Rory Harvey of Bedford Hospital.
About this event:
The talk will cover the genetic basis of bowel cancer, how we prevent it, and treat it.
AGM
The talk was preceded by a short InstMC Herts AGM, starting at 7:00pm.
Recordings of Past Events
20th April 2022.
Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (APL) – the Replacement for 4-20mA/HART Instrumentation?
Presented by Roger Highton of Eaton MTL.