An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1999-2001: THE HAWLEY YEARS 181Nominations Committee in order to achieve an appropriate balance among it membership.Limited to some 15 members, the ETB would be more agile than the unwieldy 50 memberSenate of the EngC.However – and a big “However” – the ETB was established without any real power. It doesnot have the force of a statutory body or even the official stamp of a Chartered body. Anysuccesses the EngC enjoyed were due in no small measure to its moiety of power expressedprimarily in being able to confer the CEng title and to set standards. On these the EngC wasable to hang many other initiatives. In the new situation this element of power remains withthe EC(UK), though now attenuated by the new influence of the Institutions.In contrast the ETB, although having the backing of Government, has to rely on voluntary cooperationby a number of national bodies who, whatever their goodwill, have their ownpriority objectives set by their financial providers. The ETB is also vulnerable to financialpressures – not least from the Engineering Institutions that have to be continually convincedthat their members’ money is being spent, if not to their direct benefit, then at least to thebenefit of UK engineering and technology.The ETB, therefore, needs early successes if it is to establish itself. And in a few years’ timeit will, no doubt, be judged on the progress made in its four priority areas, re-stated here forreference purposes:Primary Objective 1 – Start the reversal in the downward trend in the supply of people withqualifications and skills relevant to engineering and technology based careers and jobs.Primary Objective 2 – Achieve a marked and noticeable shift in public attitudes towards anunderstanding of the importance and value of engineering and technology in today’seconomy.Primary Objective 3 – Build effective and valued links with business and industry reflectingits real time and future needs.Primary Objective 4 – Review and maintain the professional standards required to meetindustry’s needs and maintain an authoritative register of appropriately qualified individuals.What internal problems will need to be overcome to reach these Objectives, of whichprobably the most difficult to achieve are the first and second? The authors of this Chroniclesuggest that the following are the most important factors – and criteria will need to beestablished to measure success in each of them.• The ‘2 million’ in the ‘wider engineering and technology community’ will need to bemore clearly identified so that their opinions can be sought and their needs identified.• Their value to the economy needs to be quantified and made clear to Government and thegeneral public.• The satisfaction and rewards of jobs and careers in the wider community, as well as inprofessional engineering, need to be promoted vigorously.© Engineering Council UK 2004