Young Engineers and Student Network Events

The IOR RAC Young Engineers Network is designed to bring together students and young engineers who have an interest in the challenging and interesting world of refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps.

The network holds regular meetings at variously locations around the country and all are welcome to attend. As well as meeting other young engineers a number of IOR members attend and they are happy to share their knowledge and experiences of working in this field. The events are a great opportunity to begin to build your professional network.

Review of the  University of Bristol Networking Event

On the 8th May 2013 the IOR’s Student and Young Engineers Network once again took to the road and visited the University of Bristol.

Despite it being exam season a number of students from the University gave up valuable revision time to take part in the event and meet representatives from the AB Group, Adande Refrigeration, Arctic Circle, ECH Engineering, London South Bank University, Space Engineering, Spirax Sarco, Sainsbury's and WR Refrigeration.

The event began with a presentation from IOR President Graeme Maidment explaining the importance of refrigeration to many industries, the career opportunities on offers and also the environmental impact that the sector can have. Judith Evans of LSBU then gave a presentation focusing on one sector in particular that is very dependent on refrigeration; the food cold chain.

Both presentations can be viewed here.

The event continued with a tour of The University of Bristol Laboratories where the research being carried out in the fields of solar refrigeration and ice pigging was explained.

Once the tour was completed the networking session facilitated by Dr Ina Colombo began. During the session the students and young engineers spent time with all of the company representatives and it is always difficult to get those taking part to wrap up their conversations and move on when the time comes. These conversations often carry on after the event and business card are exchanged.

One of the students asked if in the future the speed networking could feel a little less speedy and this comment has been taken on board with further events having more time dedicated to conversation.

This event was a greatly appreciated by those who took part and one delegate was heard to exclaim as he left “I can’t wait for the next one.”

Past events

April 2013  The IOR has successfully delivered the 2nd Student and Young Researchers network meeting at an international level. The meeting took place  at the IIR International Conference on Sustainability and Cold Chain, held in Paris, in a venue overlooking the Eiffel Tower. 

18 young researchers from organisations such as Institut Français du Froid Industriel et de génie climatique, Cemafroid, Institute National des Sciences Appliquées and IRSTEA attended the event and made the most of the opportunity to interact with 10 international experts from the world of refrigeration research and development.

At the end of the workshop, the young researchers were enthusiastic about what they had gained from these brief, focussed discussions. The conclusion from the researchers was an enthusiastic “c’etait GENIAL!” (“It was great!”)

The President of the IOR Professor Graeme Maidment FInstR, closed the session by thanking everyone for participating in this workshop and stated that “We (experts) are the past and you (young researchers) are the future, the industry needs you to keep the legacy”.

November 2012 at the University of Warwick: This event had over 50 young engineers and students meeting representatives from some of the major refrigeration and air conditioning companies in the UK. Lively discussions took place during the busy networking session and it was refreshing to see senior management giving their business cards to those young engineers attending.   

April 2012: The first UK Young Engineers and Student Network meeting took place at London South Bank University in April 2012. The day was a great success and a review of the event is available here.  

August 2011:  The IOR Young Engineers and Student Network held its first event in Prague during the IIR International Congress of Refrigeration. 70 young researchers spent time talking to 30 leading experts from all over the world. Read a review of the event by one of the young researchers who help to arrange this unique event.