IES is a multi-disciplinary engineering body, founded in Scotland in 1857, that provides a forum in which individuals from all engineering and related disciplines can discuss and exchange information, generate ideas and encourage young engineers. IES works with kindred bodies to promote a wider understanding of the role of the professional engineer in society.
Have you thought about joining?
Have a look at our 2025-2026 programme!
Our next lecture will be on Tuesday 28th Oct - a fascinating look at Carnot batteries.......could they be the answer to the problem of energy storage?
IES Events
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IES - A solution to the energy storage question? - Rankine Memorial Lecture Carnot batteries and energy polygeneration
28th October 2025 6:30 pm -
AMB - 'Dynamic Positioning: Open Bus Tie - Is it the silver bullet?'
29th October 2025 6:00 pm
Other Institutions’ Events
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RAeS - Handley Page Lecture: Shooting for Aviation’s moving Sustainability Targets
16th October 2025 6:00 pm -
HES - Biggar Gasworks Activity Days
19th October 2025 1:00 pm
Opinion
Can Scotland’s Old Oil & Gas Wells Store Hydrogen? An Evidence-Based Look at the Edinburgh-Led Research – By IES Fellow, Amro Heikal
02 October 2025
Re-using depleted oil and gas fields—and their existing wells—for underground hydrogen (H₂) storage is moving from concept to careful evaluation. Teams at the University of Edinburgh and partners have produced some of the clearest, openly accessible evidence on the opportunity and the risks. Here’s a concise, source-backed synthesis you can rely on.
Featured Event
28th October 2025 6:30 pm
IES - A solution to the energy storage question? - Rankine Memorial Lecture Carnot batteries and energy polygeneration
The Carnot battery is known by several other names such as Pumped Thermal Electricity Storage (PTES), Pumped Heat Electricity Storage (PHES) or Electro-Thermal Energy Storage. This relatively new technology has become one of the most…
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Energy award to support advances in fusion
14 October 2025 -
Recyclable turbine blades fitted at UK offshore windfarm
10 October 2025 -
2025 Inductees into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame announced!
04 October 2025
Publication of the Month
Great ships, solitary waves, and solitons
John Mellis
John Scott Russell was one of the foremost naval architects of his time. Born near Glasgow in 1808, he became a noted and popular lecturer, before moving away from academia to focus on industrial engineering. Among his many achievements, two stand out. First, the design and construction of the SS Great Eastern in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Second, the discovery and study of a strange wave phenomenon he acutely observed on the Union Canal near Edinburgh. Scott Russell’s ‘Wave of Translation’, now known as Solitary Waves or solitons, turned out to have significance and application in many fields, including optical telecommunications.
"My overriding satisfaction is with the continuing eco system of microelectronics engineering that has been created in the local community and
Dr David Milne - Co-founder of Scotland's first university spin-out which became a highly successful micro-electronics company / JWD Oct 2024
Scotland more widely."