Annual Review 2008

Read our objectives of becoming a leading voice for engineering, increasing delegate numbers, registering more Chartered Engineers and engaging regional membership.

Building on the success and foundations of the work initiated last year, we undertook a number of wide-ranging projects to establish our position within the engineering community and to evaluate the needs of our membership.

More specifically, we were keen to try to focus our activities in specific areas, realign our vision and purpose, and set out how we would remain relevant to our key stakeholders.

Becoming a leading voice for engineering

The Divisions and Groups, with the associated Theme Managers, were also instrumental in the development of a number of engineering based reports on subjects such as Low-Carbon Mobility, Energy from Waste, Marine Energy in Scotland, and Climate Adaptation. We developed these reports as a means of increasing our profile with key stakeholder groups such as the media and the government. All reports contributed to a sizeable rise in our media profile to over £9 million worth of printed news coverage and 70 minutes of TV and radio coverage.

Increasing delegate numbers

The Divisions and Groups organised 90 events, ranging from traditional conferences – Nuclear Decom (365 delegates) and the Young Members Essential Management Skills (217), through to new topic seminars such as Platform Technology for Military Vehicles (195) and the Manufacturing Division’s series of focused TRIZ and Lean Design workshops. In total, the delegate numbers increased by 27% over the previous year, with the member delegate total up by 55%. This is very encouraging as we reach out to ensure that a much larger proportion of the membership is engaging with our activities.

Registering more Chartered Engineers

The work of the Membership, Accreditation and Professional Development departments continued to adapt to new challenges. We processed over 10,859 membership applications, of which 1,327 were corporate applications – up 5.23% on the previous year. For the second year running, we registered more Chartered Engineers than any other awarding body and, although there was a small decrease in corporate membership, our overall membership increased by 2.77%.

Engaging regional membership

16 UK regions have delivered over 330 activities, with a particular focus on two of the Institution’s principal strategic objectives of engagement with members and the public. In a drive to engage regional membership and recognise professional achievement, over 50% of the regional network has held New Members Evenings across the country. The number of non–technical events and lectures increased throughout 2008; for example, nine Speak Out For Engineering competitions, which challenge entrants to present mechanical engineering to non-engineering judges, were held across the UK.