An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1981-1985: THE CORFIELD YEARS 27Other Schools’ ActivitiesThe Standing Conference on Schools Science and Technology was commissioned to study“problem-solving in science and technology” for younger school children, and HatfieldPolytechnic carried out a survey of behalf of the EngC on “Young People’s Attitudes towardsEngineering Careers”. Its report, in the form of a discussion document, was published in June1984 and made available at £10 a copy. In addition, the EngC initiated two projectsassociated with the shortage of technicians in certain branches of engineering: theintroduction of courses in Information Technology and the introduction of short courses inComputer Aided Design and Manufacture. The requirements for management and businessskills by engineers as their careers develop were also considered.Also during 1983, the EngC took an active role in the “Prince of Wales Award for IndustrialInnovation and Production”; Sir Monty Finniston launched an appeal to set up a Trust Fundto provide a wider range of prizes for this award. The responses were an overwhelmingsuccess contributing to both awards and administrative costs thereby enabling this Award tocontinually flourish as another annual event in the EngC’s calendar; indeed, so much so thatHis Royal Highness took a personal interest in the Award over subsequent years, evenattending a meeting of its steering committee in 1984.At a seminar organised by the EngC for Chief Education Officers in March 1985 to explainits policies and activities, John Butcher MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State forIndustry, gave the keynote speech. The Chair was taken by Lord Gregson, Chairman of theHouse of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. As a result of this, and theactivities of the General Education Committee led by Michael Harrison, closer links weredeveloped with the influential Society of Education Officers (SEO).Further and Higher EducationStandards and Routes to Registration (SARTOR)As links with industry and with the academic world were forged and developed during 1983,many issues were debated within EngC committees, resulting in the publication of a numberof reports. In August a consultative “Statement on Enhanced and Extended UndergraduateEngineering Degree Courses”, defined, in broad terms, how courses accredited for theacademic requirements for CEng and TEng might develop. Curiously enough the BER andthe Institution representatives were cautious about the comprehensive and rather radicalapproach in this report prepared by Professor Levy. Exceptionally they agreed it could bepublished by the EngC but over his name rather than as an EngC statement. It was distributedwidely to Government Departments, Engineering Institutions, universities and engineeringemployers.Following this, in October 1983, a cardinal consultative document “Standards and Routes toRegistration (1985 onwards)” was published that was to permeate the EngC’s arteries everafter. Based on Professor Levy’s original paper, this was a start by the BER towardsdetermining the future standards of education, training and experience for registration eitheras a professional engineer (this included all Chartered Engineers), a Technician Engineer oran Engineering Technician. 6,000 copies were distributed to industry, GovernmentDepartments, Professional Institutions and educational authorities. Having consideredcomments from a variety of parties, the first edition of SARTOR, as Standards And Routes© Engineering Council UK 2004