Member updates Member News July 2019 Funding for your travels By Professor Jan Sykulski CEng FIET, Chair of the IET Postgraduate and Travel Awards Panel Did you know that the IET provides grants to help members present papers at conferences around the world or participate in international research visits or projects? Grants are awarded regularly (six times a year), are worth up to £500 and there is also a certain amount of prestige attached to receiving an award. As Chair of the Postgraduate and Travel Awards Panel, I can assure you that the application process is straightforward – it is done entirely online. Also the process for selecting successful candidates is fair and robust, conducted by a broad panel of experienced academics, industrialists and former winners of IET prizes or scholarships. We have had many successful applicants over the years and one such case study follows. I hope many readers will be inspired by this story and encouraged to make an application to benefit from the IET’s awards programme. Sohaib Aslam: taking manufacturing research to a global audience Thanks to our Travel Award, Sohaib Aslam was able to present his research paper on ‘Hardware Trojans and Smart Manufacturing – A Hardware Security Perspective’ at the 16th International Conference on Manufacturing Research (ICMR) in Sweden, in September. The ICMR has been the UK’s main manufacturing research conference for 34 years and branched out internationally in 2003 – bringing researchers, academics and industrialists together to share their vision, knowledge and experience, and discuss emerging trends and new challenges. Sohaib, a second year PhD researcher at Cranfield University, UK, says the IET helped him to manage his accommodation and travel needs. This gave him peace of mind to concentrate on giving his presentation and feel confident in doing so. He also had the opportunity to meet and network with likeminded peers from across the globe, and exchange views on different areas of interest in manufacturing. “This was my first conference abroad as a PhD researcher,” he says. “It gave me an opportunity to share my work with a larger and global audience of researchers, professionals and industrialists. I was able to make a positive impact and raise my profile. In a nutshell, I feel privileged to be an IET member and to spread the word about how the IET is supporting and promoting the research work of its members through different schemes.” Interested in applying for an IET Travel Award? All details – including eligibility and information on how to apply – can be found at theiet.org/travel-awards Sohaib Aslam MIET, PhD researcher, Integrated Vehicle Health Management Centre at Cranfield University 19