An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

226A CHRONICLE OF THE ENGINEERING COUNCILI knew little, if anything, about the Engineering Council before my appointment, but I believethat was one of the reasons why I was appointed, namely to bring a professional experiencefrom another discipline (Chartered Accountancy) to the discussion and debates.Sir Michael LickissCouncil MemberAs a Civil Engineer working in Local Government, I had dual membership of both the ICEand the IMunE, with an active involvement at local association level. I was persuaded tostand for election to the Council of IMunE, and became interested and heavily involved in thequalification process. This led to Chairmanship of their Education and Training Committee,which had a close relationship with the corresponding ICE Committee, because of a jointtraining scheme for ‘civil engineers’ in local government.One of the products of this relationship was the creation of the Joint Board of Moderators, abody charged with investigating the accreditation of University degrees and one of the first tobe created. I eventually chaired the Board, and became involved in accreditation both in theUK and in a number of overseas countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, SouthAfrica and China. I also was a member of the ICE Education & Training Committee, and itbecame clear to me that the establishment of a framework that could embrace all therecognised Engineering Institutions was both possible and desirable.David RogersBER and International RepresentationHow was I recruited? Heaven alone knows, but I guess that it was Gordon Beveridge incollusion with Jack Levy. Gordon had been a member of a CEI committee on the four yeardegree course, which I chaired, so we knew one another well. There was perhaps anotherreason. I had been Chairman of the Northern Ireland Branch of the CEI, and in 1982 Iorganised a meeting of the branch at the behest of the embryo Engineering Council, todiscuss the handing over of the CEI’s Charter. Many of us were not happy at giving-up theCharter to an unknown and unproven body. We were also unhappy at the undemocraticappointment of the Council by the DTI, and the replacement of retiring Members of theCouncil by an election limited to the Members of Council. One or two Members of Councilturned-up at the meeting. I sealed my fate by suggesting that the Council was a selfperpetuatingoligarchy. The punishment to fit the crime was my appointment to the Council!Professor Sir Bernard CrosslandCouncil MemberI knew very little about the structure of the Council. However I did know that it occupied apivotal and significant role in relation to the profession.Claire Curtis-Thomas MPSenator2. What were your aims on joining the EngC - and how far were these realised inpractice?To promote the profession and encourage a strong united voice on matters of national policy.To raise professional standards.© Engineering Council UK 2004