An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

148A CHRONICLE OF THE ENGINEERING COUNCILThe EngC 2001 ‘Survey of Professional Engineers’ published in the Autumn of 2001reiterated the positive findings of the previous publications in this series. Engineering forregistered engineers continued to be a well-rewarded career, comparing favourably with otherprofessions.The End of the PEIsAs a consequence of the Host Institutions withdrawing their financial support from the PEIs(see Chapter 6), the PEI Strategic Alliance Committee decided in October 2000 to fund thePEIs only to the end of March 2001. This was a sad termination to the former ECRO schemethat had been run so successfully from the centre by the EngC.Interfacing with SchoolsWISEIn the New Year List for 1999, Mrs Marie-Noëlle Barton, the Manager of WISE, wasawarded the MBE. She had been executively responsible for the campaign since its inception.On 1 February 1999 Lord Sainsbury hosted a reception at the House of Lords forrepresentatives from 25 companies and organisations to encourage further large companies tobecome ‘Investors in WISE’. During the year WISE in Scotland (that had been launched in1996) chose as its Second Convenor Jane Watson, a development engineer with MarconiElectronics Systems in Edinburgh. WISE in Northern Ireland chose as its Chairman ascientist, Dr Deirdre Griffith working in the Industrial Research and Technology Unit of theDepartment of Economic Development.WISE MovesOne of the outcomes of the ‘Activity Review’ was the decision for WISE to become a jointproject of the EngC, EMTA and EEF, “the engineering community’s three principalrepresentative bodies”. As a consequence the EngC’s WISE team of three left the EngCMaltravers Street offices in December 1999 to move to EMTA’s headquarters in QueenAnne’s Gate, London. The line management of WISE transferred to EMTA on 1 January2000.The WISE campaign was then re-launched in April 2000 with the Rt Hon Margaret Beckettas guest of honour. A competition aimed at young people under the age of 18 was initiated togenerate ideas for the replacement of the WISE buses. The EngC continued to support WISEunder its new management throughout 2000 and 2001.Neighbourhood Engineers Programme (NEP)In contrast to the PEIs and the WISE scheme, the Neighbourhood Engineers Programme nowunder the executive direction of Don Bootle, with over 8,500 engineers and technicians insome 2,500 schools, was initially retained within the EngC, and continued to flourish during1999. The scheme was managed and administered through partnerships, chiefly with Scienceand Technology Regional Organisations (SATROs) and Education Business Partnerships(EBPs). These already managed school and industry schemes such as the EngineeringEducation Scheme (EES), Industry Projects - Understanding Technology (INPUT), Creativity© Engineering Council UK 2004