A blog from Nigel Fine, IET Chief Executive and Secretary, October 2021
Published: Mon 25 Oct 2021
On 14 October, Sir Julian took to the stage for his President’s Address where he shared his thoughts on the future of engineering, why he wants to champion technicians, and how he wants to focus on four areas: institutionalising professionalisation, operationalising STEM, embedding digitalisation and squeezing sustainability.
He was joined later in the day by our Past President, Professor Danielle George, for a fireside chat hosted by 2020 UK Young Women Engineer of the Year winner Ella Podmore.
They shared their own experiences, discussed the impact the move towards net zero will have on engineering jobs and what they hope for the future of engineering and technology.
If you were unable to watch either the President’s Address or fireside chat live, they are both available to watch on our YouTube channel.
This month saw the curtain start to come down on our 150th anniversary year, and it has certainly been a year to remember. It gave us a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our rich IET history and more importantly, we have been able to create a legacy which will inspire and engage our next generation of engineers and technicians.
Our anniversary year started with a President’s first virtual address which has been viewed nearly 40,000 times. In May, we broadcast our 150 show with special guests and celebrities from across the engineering and technology sector.
Throughout the year, we have also been supporting our volunteers with funding to run special celebratory events and have been running our Difference Makers campaign, a movement about telling the stories of incredible people who are doing inspirational things to engineer a better, more sustainable world. We really have championed engineering and technology and these are just a few of the highlights.
We are now looking towards the next 150 years to ensure the IET is fit and resilient so we can continue to deliver our vision to engineer a better world.
Our Strategy 2030 explains how we are working to achieve this. Within this we are focusing on five societal challenges: sustainability and climate change, digital futures, people-centric infrastructure, healthy lives and productive manufacturing.
At the end of this month, all eyes will be on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) being held in Glasgow. Climate change is happening at a far greater rate than the planet can cope with and we know that whatever political decisions are made at COP26, the solutions that the engineering and technology community will provide will make a difference.
In the run up to COP26, the IET has been granted NGO Observer status and representative of the IET will be attending. We are also a principal partner for the National Grid’s COP26 Young Engineering conference focusing on green energy transition.
Some of the UK’s world-leading professional institutions have launched a Charter for Climate Action and the IET is a founding member. The first results of the Charter will be presented at COP26 to show the importance of those represented by professional institutions in the transition to a sustainable economy.
Even without such a vital global conference fast approaching, the IET is continually working hard towards its sustainability and climate change societal challenge objectives.
This is why we have been engaging with the UK Cabinet Office, COP Organising Committees and the Chief Scientific Advisers over the last year to promote the importance of engineering skills for a green economy. The IET’s net-zero academy courses, policy and thought leadership reports, local and technical network events all help support engineers to make this step towards a greener future.
Today’s younger generation are our engineers of the future so we are actively looking for ways that we can engage them in learning about sustainability and climate change. One such example is the My Sustainable Community competition that we’ve launched in the UK in partnership with Engineering Education Scheme Wales where we are asking young people to engineer and design a sustainable neighbourhood for 150 homes.
Our ambition to engage young people in engineering and technology is truly global and our IET India team saw a record number of applicants apply for a Scholarship Award this year. The applicants have undergone several rounds of judging and the four regional winners have progressed to the National round, with the overall winner being announced in November.
Whatever stage you are at in your career, the IET is here to support you every step of the way and to do this we conduct our IET Member Survey where we ask you, to share your opinion on the Institution and help us to continue to deliver value from your membership. The survey closes on Monday, 1 November 2021 – so please make sure you have your say.
To all of our members, wherever you are in the world, I hope you continue to stay safe and well.
Best regards / Nigel