27 Volunteers John organises IET visit to MOD Shoeburyness In the summer of 2018 IET volunteer John Fuller IEng MIET, Chartered MCIPD arranged a visit to the secure Ministry of Defence (MOD) facilities at Shoeburyness and Foulness Island. John is an active IET London Network volunteer who co-organises the regular Friday Lunch & Lecture Events at IET London: Savoy Place. The visit on 21 July took John five months to arrange, as he needed to build a strong relationship with QinetiQ, who manage the facilities on behalf of the MOD. Although the trip was originally planned for people who attend the Friday Lunch & Lecture Events, it was advertised more widely and a fair allocation process was designed for the 22 places available. The MOD has owned Foulness Island, in Essex, since 1915, which is a Test and Evaluation range for ordnance, munitions & explosives (OME). Much of the work carried out there is covered by the Official Secrets Act 1989 and we are the only professional institution in recent history that has been allowed to visit the facilities. Due to the sensitive nature of the work carried out on-site, everyone on the trip was required to be a UK national and produce their passport on the day of the visit. There were a number of additional requirements, which John covered in a questionnaire that he sent out to participants ahead of the day. The visiting group included IET members and non-members, young and old. They all listened to an opening presentation – a fascinating overview of the activities carried out on the site. Next came a coach ride to Range Control which includes radar, weather and noise monitoring systems, and has the overview of potential intrusions onto the range, and acoustic forecasts. From a safe undercover building, the group watched a Challenger 2 tank gun using a new propellant to fire inert shells onto the tidal sands – John and a fellow group member remotely operated the gun, which was very powerful in close proximity. Later in the day, the heads of the site’s weapons testing and demilitarisation (ammunition disposal) sections came along to talk to the group about their specialist area of work. QinetiQ certainly pulled out all the stops – a coach, three staff members, expert speakers and lunch – to make sure the party enjoyed the visit. Unsurprisingly, the feedback from participants was excellent, including from John, who said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to QinetiQ on behalf of the group and the IET.” Our local network volunteers organise a range of activities that enable engineering and technology professionals to share knowledge and learn from each other. Find out what’s going on within your nearest network by visiting theiet.org/mn-ln John (on the right) remotely operating the Challenger 2 tank gun © John Fuller I would like to say a massive thank you to QinetiQ on behalf of the group and the IET.” Member News March 2019