b'Member News November 2020 13From the new PresidentSpotlight on IET President,Danielle George MBE CEng FIETDanielle George MBE CEng FIET becomes IET President at thefirst came through. I was heavily pregnant start of our 150th anniversary year. As we look to inspire newat the time of filming but the Royal Institution and BBC were very supportive. audiences with science, technology, engineering and maths,I was in hospital having a baby when Member News caught up with Danielle to find out whatsthe programme was aired. I really influenced her career and her hopes for the year ahead. enjoy presenting BBC TV programmes and podcasts that can highlight the creativity of engineers and technicians.Who influenced you as a child? engineering. After talking to engineersThe IET is approaching its 150th when I was based at Jodrell Bankanniversary. What do you hope For as long as I can remember I wasObservatory,I realised that I wantedour celebratory year will achieve?always interested in sciencefromto explore the more practical aspects ofFor me, its not just the legacy aspect, playing with my chemistry set asastrophysics and engineering, so I askedits about telling the stories of the a child to studying things under ato change my dissertation to study radioincredible difference makers around the microscope. My passion soon branchedfrequency interference on telescopes. world and inspiring the next generation out into astronomy after watchinginto solving engineering challenges. a lunar eclipse with my family. Tell us about yourIts also about showing people outside My parents were always supportive ofcareer journey the engineering bubble the wonderful me and if they didnt know the answerAstronomy and astrophysics haveopportunities out there and the great to any of my constant Why? questions,always been at the forefront of my workthings engineers are doing to improve wed find out the answers together. I still from my very early work experiencelives. As engineers and technicians,have the old encyclopaedia we used togiving guided tours at a planetarium,I think its all of our duty to talk about refer to, and my Mum would often taketo becoming a Junior Engineer workingyour passion.me to the library to fuel my curiosity. Ion an unmanned spacecraft called distinctly remember her taking me to athe Planck. The day I handed in my book signing with astronomer, Heatherthesis for my PhD at the University of Couper, after hours at a local bookshopManchester Institute of Science and in Newcastle, which I thought was greatTechnology (UMIST) I landed an interview and this memory has stayed with me. to become a lecturer at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering As well as maths, science and physics,at the University of Manchester.Ive always been interested in music and having a creative side has beenYouve also done a lot of equally important in my career. I startedpublic engagement, reaching learning to play the violin, which turnedaudiences outside the into learning the viola and piano. Theresengineering bubble.definitely a correlation between musicAs a science communicator, Ive and STEM as Im drawn to patterns,enjoyed going into schools and sequencing and programming. giving talks to audiences of How did you first getvarying sizes. Plus, other media into engineering? opportunities have stemmed from the Christmas lecture I was My interest in engineering actually cameasked to audition for by The to me quite late on. In fact, it wasnt untilRoyal Institution. I didnt really my MSc that I got my first real taste ofbelieve it when the request Watch Danielles Presidents Address on-demand at:theiet.org/presidents-addressIET President, Danielle George MBE CEng FIET'