An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

ANNEX C 197is relevant to the needs of society, industry and the engineering profession. It is, however,important that this education must not be narrow. The country needs engineers who areliterate, articulate and widely educated.The Council will seek to influence those responsible for offering careers advice in schoolsand will examine what is being done to investigate young people’s attitudes to careers inengineering and will encourage further research into this subject. In seeking to achieve this,The Council recognises the closer integration which must be achieved between thecurriculum and careers education. In line with the Finniston recommendations The Council iskeen that more girls should be persuaded to take up a career in engineering and will seekways of assisting those who desire to enter the profession.The Council intends to give special consideration to the engineering and training ofTechnician Engineers and Engineering Technicians in recognition of the valuablecontribution they make to industrial performance. There is already considerable concern thatthere is a shortage of technicians in some parts of industry.The RegisterThe Register of The Council will be computer based and will have separate categories forChartered Engineers, Technician Engineers and Engineering Technicians: each category willidentify the three stages of career development which are set down in the Charter. It will becapable of assimilating the present Engineers Registration Board data, but will hold greaterinformation including addresses for those in each category.The Council will work through nominated institutions in matters concerning accreditation ofcourses, training programmes and experience leading to registration of individuals.Nomination standards will be set and published by The Council and institutions will beassessed prior to acceptance as nominated institutions. The Council does not intend to set anyarbitrary limits to the number of institutions which can be nominated.In addition to taking over the registration of the profession, The Council will wish to establishan examination process equivalent to the present CEI system, through which candidateswithout an accredited degree may progress to Chartered status.The Council having been given the responsibility of creating its own Register of Engineers,one of the main aims of The Council is to secure a much better understanding in industry ofthe value to it of employing Registered Engineers, Technician Engineers and EngineeringTechnicians. This will take time but it is an essential long term objective.Continuing Education and TrainingThe Council recognises the accelerating pace of technological change and the effect this ishaving upon the engineering industry. To ensure that industry remains competitive, it isessential to provide continuing education throughout an engineer’s working life, both in thetechnological and wider business senses. While much of the responsibility for this task fallson industry itself, there is a significant contribution from higher education establishments, theprofessional institutions and the Open University.© Engineering Council UK 2004