An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1999-2001: THE HAWLEY YEARS 153DTI and the Nominated Bodies for those IEngs wishing to work, or already working, inEurope.After the crises in FEANI of 1999, there were many satisfactory outcomes at the FEANIGeneral Assembly held in Hamburg in October 2000. Progress made on revising theconstitution gave grounds for believing that FEANI would become the pro-active, pan-European umbrella body the profession needed. Revision to EurIng guidance would allowsome, if not all IEngs entry to the FEANI Register. The European Commission continued tocite the EurIng system (originally conceived in 1986, it will be recalled, by the EngC withFEANI) as a successful example of European inter-professional agreement.During 2001 FEANI carried out a survey of employers’ approaches to CPD and the EngCrepresented the UK engineering profession at the FEANI CPD seminar in Luxembourg.In contacts outside Europe, links with the World Federation of Engineering Organisations(WFEO) were severed by the EngC in 1999 as a consequence of the ‘Activity Review’-though it has to be observed that such a change sits uncomfortably with the statedresponsibility of the BER (Chapter 5) to ‘represent the engineering profession on matterswhich relate to the international recognition of UK engineering qualifications’. Also duringthat year the responsibility for the Commonwealth Engineers’ Council was transferred to theBEP.However, work continued in 2000 and 2001 on the detailed implementation of a number ofrecently signed or updated agreements to help UK Engineers to practice overseas. Meetingsof the previously described ‘Washington Accord’, ‘Sydney Accord’, ‘Engineers MobilityForum’ and also the ‘Engineering Technologists Forum’ were held in South Africa.Interfacing with IndustryThe Industry AffiliatesThe continuing efforts of the EngC’s Executive Clive Coker resulted in the Industry AffiliateNetwork (IAN) numbering 110 organisations by the end of 1999. The Industry Affiliate Clubheld 8 meetings, and at an IA forum on ‘You, Your Company and the Law’ in June 1999 akey speaker was Michael Wills, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Small Firms. Atanother forum in December Lord Sainsbury spoke on ‘Innovation Management: People, Ideasand Finance for Success’, reviewing the movement of ideas to the commercial market.Also as part of the Industry Affiliates activities the broadly-based ENVOX newsletters wereissued electronically to members. The title was chosen, with a smattering of Latin, to subtlyindicate ‘Engineering Voice’, reflecting the EngC’s claim to be ‘The Voice of theEngineering Profession’. One series of newsletters, ENVOX(t), was directed to those with aninterest in new technology, technology transfer and innovation. The other, ENVOX(p) servedthe interests of Human Resources and Public Relations people in companies underpinned byengineering and technology.In 2000 representatives from eight Industry Affiliate companies, including BNFL, ICL andAnglian Water, participated in a DTI supported but EngC led ‘E-Business’ mission to theUnited States of America. The primary aim was to learn from leading US exponents of E-Business about the exploitation of internet technologies. Companies that the representatives© Engineering Council UK 2004