Institution news
The Institution has launched its latest group in Scandinavia to bring together engineers across Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
David Llewelyn, Scandinavia Group Chair, said: “I, like many of the members here in Scandinavia, have been part of the IMechE most of my career but have rarely found the opportunity to meet and share ideas. Taking this step to form the group has been widely welcomed, and it is clear from our first meetings that we have many interests in common.
"It also provides opportunities to meet other English speaking engineers who are building successful lives here in Scandinavia. For example, while most of the Engineers in Norway work in the oil industry, our meetings offer the chance to hear from engineers in other very different industries based in Sweden and Denmark.”
Llewelyn said that the first steps for the group have been to get to know the membership so a number of get-togethers were arranged in Oslo, Stavanger, Gotenberg and Copenhagen. Around 35 members attended to discuss what they would like from the newly formed Scandinavia group.
The group recently held its first AGM with 13 attendees from the Scandinavia area who have now formed a committee and taken key positions. With the assistance of Chair Tony Capp and Iman Kouchouk, the Institution's International Member Development Executive, the group reviewed and endorsed a draft constitution and agreed on the group objectives. Each member gave short presentations covering a wide range of topics from new material formed from laser printing to the challenges of air conditioning the highest building to be built in Europe. A social media site will shortly be developed for the group.
A number of technical visits are currently being planned for the Autumn to engage local members interest and in early September the group will be hosting the annual Europe regional meeting in Oslo with a program of visits and social events planned.
“One other benefit that is emerged is a much improved process for conducting Professional Review Interviews. We now know the members who can assist with this, and we hope to be able to offer mentoring soon,” said Llewelyn.
There is currently around 400 IMechE members in Scandinavia of which 80 are fee paying. However, most have never had any personal contacts with the IMechE. Llewelyn said that the group hopes to encourage at least 3% of the current Affiliates/Associates to become fee paying members. “We will also try to engage the student groups (many of who are involved in Formula Student) to show them that there are alternatives to joining the traditional national engineering organisations. We have at least one member who did exactly that and can explain the international benefits of IMechE membership.”
Visit the Europe Region NearYou pages for more information on the Scandinavia Group.