Warwick Energy Conference 2017

Hello again people!

It’s been a while since my last post, in which I promised to say a few words about the Energy Conference. A couple of rather busy weeks delayed me from posting then, so I’ll try to make it up now!

Every year, the Engineering Society organises two conferences, one for Energy and one for Technology. The Energy theme this year was the Energy Trilemma – balancing the competing demands of energy security, energy affordability and energy sustainability. Over the course of an afternoon, we have speakers, breakout sessions, food, and a drinks reception at the end. All this is organised by the EngSoc, with the society officers doing a huge amount of work, assisted by active members of the society and the Outreach Team. It’s a great way to get involved with EngSoc, and with a target 500 guests, there’s more than enough work to go around!

On the day of the conference, my main role was to help with the transitions between speakers, as well as serving at the drinks reception after the final talk. This mostly involved sneaking over to the computer to swap the slides round, whilst trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. As I needed to be near the front of the room to do this, it meant I got a great seat for the conference itself, and I managed to catch most of the talks. From the panel discussions on the impact of green legislations on small businesses to an explanation of the storage of energy using molten salts, the speakers were all really insightful. The event was a fantastic example of what students can put together, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s!

This year, I’ve found getting involved with EngSoc a great way to make new friends with people on my course (with about 350 people in my year alone, it’s hard to get to know them all!), as well as a font of experience to talk about at interviews for internships! I therefore decided to run for Outreach Officer for next year, with responsibility for encouraging participation in Engineering in events both within the University and externally. The election is this Monday, so we’ll see how it goes! When I next post, I hope to talk some more about Outreach, and also what it’s like putting yourself forward for an exec position.

Until next time!

Nathan L