Institution news
All three were the guests of Andrew Fraser FIMechE and Graham Hoare FIMechE. Andrew is Manager Gasoline Powertrain Development at Ford and Graham is Executive Director and Head of Ford Test Operations Worldwide. Andrew and Lara had jointly initiated the event, seeing it as an opportunity for engineering businesses to pool ideas and experiences.
The gathering, which also included engineers from E2V, AVL Powertrain, BAE Systems Selex, IPECO, Visteon, CNH and Cockpits Electronics was convened to hold an informal and progressive dialogue about professional development and the value of becoming a professionally registered engineer. It also focused on ways to address the skills gap – or ‘skills funnel’ – as well as expanding outreach, promoting the value of engineering careers and building on a joint approach between industry and academia.
CEO of the Institution, Stephen Tetlow, said: “This was a great opportunity to meet with senior engineers from companies in South Essex, and to hear their views on skills and education in engineering. It is encouraging to see their activities in promoting engineering in local schools and colleges and also to see their commitment to take an active role in how we, as the engineering profession, address these aspects locally and at wider level.”
Andrew Fraser said: “The visit to Dunton by Stephen Tetlow and Peter Finegold, and the joint dialogue with other local engineering employers, was extremely useful in focusing on actions and initiatives required to help enlarge the ‘skills funnel’, attracting and retaining more school leavers and students into the engineering industry.”
Areas for discussion during the day included: outreach developments at undergraduate level; perceptions of manufacturing and engineering from outside the industry; the value of chartered status both internally and externally; modernising careers advice to capture all aspects that can lead a candidate into engineering; embedding industry with academia to enhance the presence of real manufacturing experience both in teaching and in influencing decisions taken at government level.
Andrew added: “It was clear that there was a shared view, that providing the skills to design and manufacture world-leading products is vital to our national economic success. We are looking forward to building a more aligned strategy between employers, government and the Institutions to enhance the status of engineers, highlighting the vocational and rational, financial rewards of a career as a Chartered Engineer.”
Over a networking lunch, and during the opportunity to tour the site, there was an emphasis on company representatives sharing their experiences of attracting and retaining high calibre engineers; undertaking schemes to provide professional registration and exchanging ideas to develop the industry, for the benefit of engineering as a whole.
Lara Mallett, who worked to bring companies together for this engineering forum said: “The Institution would like to thank Ford for hosting the event, and all the attendees for contributing to a positive and successful day. When the Institution has the opportunity to work hand in hand with industry, it helps us to discover and represent the core issues that drive our members each day.”
If you would like to contact the Institution about hosting a similar event, please contact your local Business Development Manager