The Institution’s structured pathway to professional
registration has shown that other applicants could benefit from access to online
functionality if they are working towards registered grades of membership or
looking to upgrade to Fellow. The result is a new product, Career Developer. One
of the biggest supporters of Career Developer has been Robert Birkmyre, whose
prodigious voluntary work as a mentor has just been recognised with the
prestigious ASME McDonald Mentoring Award.
Taking control of your career - Career Developer available in Your
Account
The success of the Institution’s structured pathway to professional
registration has highlighted the opportunities for the professional development
team to help other applicants by developing a similar online functionality for
those applying for registered grades of membership and for those wishing to
upgrade to Fellow.
This vision has now been realised and our new
product, Career Developer, is now available in your members’ account. The
Institution can now support you through all stages of your career from graduate
to Fellow.
For Graduate Associates, there are two options. Firstly, if you are
working in a company which does not have an IMechE accredited scheme, but you
have identified a Chartered Engineer willing to act as your mentor, you can use
the Career Developer reporting framework to record your progress against the
five EC UK-SPEC competences. When you come to apply for registration and
membership, you will have a focused repository work on which to draw for
preparing your professional review report.
Alternatively, if you are working in a company with neither an IMechE
accredited scheme nor a personal mentor, Career Developer still provides you
with the structured framework against which you can capture and report your
professional experience. Again, when you come to apply for your
registration and membership, you will have good information available for
writing your professional review report.
For Members who are already
professionally registered and wish to record CPD online, the Career Developer
functionality encourages personal benchmarking activities against job and career
profiles, allowing the creation and recording of a structured development
plan. You will be able to input and record both your career and learning
objectives, as well as recording the learning outcomes gained from the CPD
activities you undertaken.
For Members and Fellows, Career Developer displays the qualities required for
members wanting to upgrade from Member to Fellow. This will give you
greater guidance and a structured framework to work towards in order to ensure
that you provide the information needed to demonstrate the qualities defined by
the IMechE Fellow grade.
Jane Noakes, the Institution’s senior executive for professional development
said: “Here at the Institution, there are expert advisors in the professional
development team who can help you with your individual professional development
needs. Please call 0845 226 0211 or email cpd@imeche.org and a member of the professional
development team will be pleased to talk to you and help you with your
enquiry.”
Robert Birkmyre wins ASME McDonald Mentoring Award
Institution Member, Robert Birkmyre, has become the first UK recipient of the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) McDonald Mentoring Award
in recognition of his commitment and dedication as a mentor for the engineering
profession over many years.
Established in 2007, the ASME McDonald Mentoring Award
recognizes the outstanding mentoring of other
professionals by an engineer in industry, government,
education or private practice. Robert is set to receive the 2011
ASME McDonald Mentoring Award for his exemplary contributions
in supporting the professional development of
young engineers, particularly mentoring activities
that have helped a large number of young
professionals achieve registration as Chartered
Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and EngTechs .
The award consists of a $1,OOO
honorarium, a bronze medal, certificate and
travel supplement for two days. Formal
presentation of the award is scheduled to take place at
the President's Luncheon, on 14 November 2011 during the
ASME Mechanical Engineering Congress &
Exposition, 11-17 November 2011, at the Colorado
Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.
Robert is an
automotive engineer by training. He started out as an apprentice at
Automotive Products in Leamington Spa, before becoming a project engineer at
MIRA in Nuneaton. In 1999, Robert suffered a mini stroke which led to him
making a significant career change; but happily for him, he became Head of
Training and Professional Development for MIRA – a role he had always been
interested in.
In 2003 he took early retirement, but rather than put his feet up and enjoy a
well-earned rest, Robert decided that he would like to carry on mentoring.
In Coventry, he found the Midland Group Training Services which offers a service
to companies which do not have the time or resources to mentor in-house. At one
point, he had 69 mentees on his books: a combination of undergraduate placement
students and long term mentees. He has mentored in a variety of plant
schemes around the UK including those at Cummins, SKF, Caterpillar, and the
Murco oil refinery in Wales, which have also been very diverse: attracting
engineers from Denmark, India, Spain, Portugal and China.
Robert has been a strong supporter of eMPDS since its inception and has
absolutely loved it. He explained why: “When one of my mentees went to
Western Australia on a year’s placement, he could carry on with his
chartership. We could talk on the phone, and we could both see everything
we needed to online. It all worked very well.” Jane Noakes, the
senior executive for professional development at the Institution commented:
“Robert’s enthusiasm and commitment to the mentoring process is second to
none. His early uptake of the online reporting system and informed
feedback have helped us develop the system into what it is today, ie Career
Developer.”
In his lifetime, Robert has seen huge changes in the opportunities for
enhanced engineering skills and education. He said: “It’s now possible to
go from the shop floor to university and then on to the boardroom. What has also
been very rewarding to see is the increasing diversity of engineering workforces
– this is a really positive change for the better. I always encouraged my
mentees to volunteer in local schools as well because companies are always very
keen to have these associations.”
Summing up what the award means to him, Robert said: “I have really enjoyed
working with these young people throughout my career. I have now fully
retired so this award is a wonderful accolade at the end of my working life.”
Terry Spall FIMechE, the Commercial Director at MIRA, has known Robert for
many years, both whilst he worked for MIRA and subsequently since he
retired. He was extremely proud of Robert’s achievement, saying: “The
energy and enthusiasm he has shown in mentoring a very significant number of
young engineers successfully towards becoming Chartered has been simply
outstanding. I am delighted that his efforts have been recognised in such
a high profile manner and he has become the first UK recipient of this
international award.”
Steven Gasser, the Institution’s Senior Business Development Manager agreed,
saying: “I have known Robert and worked with him at MIRA and Midland Group
Training for the last eight years and I have seen at first hand his passion and
commitment for the engineering profession. This award is a reflection of the
high regard in which he is held by the engineering community. The time and
dedication that he has given to the development of Professional Engineers for
the future is a testament to his knowledge and determination to apply the
highest standards whilst providing an environment that allows the developing
engineer to explore their own development and work towards professional
registration. I would like to congratulate Robert on this accolade and take the
opportunity to thank him for all of his hard work – the Institution and the
professional engineering community has benefited greatly from his energy and
expertise.”
For more information about mentoring please visit: http://www.imeche.org/volunteer-roles/mpds-mentor
To
become a mentor please register at: http://www.imeche.org/training-and-professional-development/professional-registration/working-toward-registration/mpds/support-and-resources/forms