An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1981-1985: THE CORFIELD YEARS 33called “Engineers Corner”. This work was published in many newspapers and magazines andthe BBC ran it several times in its Poetry Please programme on Radio 4.“The Young Engineers for Britain competition, encouraging young people to design andmake engineering products, became the flagship event to promote professional engineering toschools and colleges and, due to the fantastic media coverage, promoted the profession to thepublic. There were never any challenges to the tag we gave it – “the leading event of its typein Europe”. It had such a high profile that it could attract royalty and Prime Ministers topresent the trophies and prizes.“The WISE campaign was also extremely successful and played a key role in attracting youngwomen to the profession. Again, the high profile of this campaign attracted the interest andsupport of the highest in the land, including Prime Ministers.“With regard to Press Conferences and Press Releases, we perfected the staging of PressConferences and the swift release of press statements focussed finely at our targets. Some ofthe key subjects included salary surveys, campaigns to attract more mathematics teachers, tokeep technology in the National Curriculum and helping to bring about double awardbalanced science in the curriculum.“Three of the people who researched a number of key educational topics for the EngC andwho greatly helped to raise the EngC’s profile were Dr. John Williams the EngC GeneralEducation Executive, and two external contractors, Professor Alan Smithers and Dr. PamelaRobinson. They provided such sound, forward-looking information that the PR team was ableto go out very strongly to the media with their results.“An example of the pace of the PR operation came on one Budget Day when we issuedelectronically and nationwide an agreed press release within 30 minutes of the Chancellor’sstatement – this time on tax relief on training – the culmination of a successful campaignwhich the EngC had led.”It is also worth recording that in the 1985 Budget the Chancellor announced a £43 millionprogramme to pay for more students to study engineering and technology. The notes to theChancellor’s Statement included:“This new programme follows the advice of the Engineering Council which has advocated anincrease in resources for the education of engineers - see for example the Council’s PolicyStatement on Resources for Engineering Education published in February 1984”.The First Chairman DepartsAt the end of April 1985 Sir Kenneth Corfield stepped down from the Chairmanship of theEngC having served for a year longer than originally planned. For four years he had investedan immense amount of time and effort to ensure a flying start for the EngC. He had carefullysteered the Council in negotiations with the Government, the Institutions and the CEI. Also,working closely with the Director-General, he had presided over the establishment of alogical and tight administrative structure based upon the Standing Committees. Heencouraged numerous projects which were to stand the EngC in good stead. Those includedthe establishment of the Regional Organisation, the WISE campaign, the launching ofSARTOR and the development of international links on engineering qualifications. On the© Engineering Council UK 2004