Licensed Members and Liaison Officers

It has been a busy year for the Engineering Council’s Licensing department. The team coordinates licence reviews for each of the organisation’s 35 Licensed Members. During the year it carried out 12 licence renewals, and a further six interim reviews. Those conducted in the final quarter of 2016 are due to be considered by the Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) in January 2017.

In 2016 licence reviews were carried out of:

• Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
• Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE)
• Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE)
• The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS)
• Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA)
• Society of Environmental Engineers (SEE)
• Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
• Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)
• Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
• Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
• Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)
• Institute of Measurement and Control (InstMC)

Interim Reviews were carried out of:

• Energy Institute (EI)
• Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS)
• CIWEM
• British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT)
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)

Licensing workshops proved popular once again in 2016, covering topics of Accreditation, Registration Code of Practise, Mentoring, Individual Route, EngTech assessment and Continuing Professional Development. These workshops were all well attended by professional engineering institution staff and volunteers and were an opportunity for sharing best practice, providing updates on Engineering Council activities and developing engagement across the engineering community.

The Engineering Council relies heavily on volunteers to carry out its work. Two volunteer seminars were held in 2016. These are an opportunity for Liaison Officers and QAC members to receive updates on Engineering Council activities, clarify roles and encourage a consistent approach among volunteers. Eight new Liaison Officers were welcomed and trained in 2016.

Professional Affiliates

Professional Affiliates are engineering institutions closely associated with, but not licensed by, the Engineering Council. They are influential and work to further the knowledge and understanding of a particular area or aspect of engineering and technology. Like Licensed Members, the Engineering Council reviews Professional Affiliates every five years, with six reviews carried out in 2016. Those carried out this year include:

• Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA)
• Institute of Refrigeration (IoR)
• Institute of Concrete Technology (ICT)
• Association of Cost Engineers (ACostE)
• The Chartered Quality Institute (CQI)

The Licensing team also coordinated a review of the Institute of Quarrying (IQ), which applied to become a Professional Affiliate. QAC will consider IQ’s application in January 2017.

In September, 20 staff and volunteers attended the Professional Affiliate Seminar. This gave the Engineering Council an opportunity to provide updates about the industry and the organisation’s activities, including a presentation on Apprenticeships.