Engineering Board will be `totally different from Council`

Science Minister Lord Sainsbury has announced the creation of a new Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) to support the engineering sector and help professionals to market their skills.

The ETB, due to be running by October, is the first response to the findings of the task force, chaired by Engineering Council chairman Dr Robert Hawley, that was set up 16 months ago to look at measures to maximise the value of engineering and technology skills in the 21st century.

Hawley says that the ETB will be totally different from the Engineering Council. "This is not a simple name change nor a piece of window dressing," he declares.

The board will be "fundamentally different in structure, purpose, image - and ability to influence," Hawley continues. "It will be strategically robust, relevant and respected for the value it can bring to the wider engineering and technology community."

One of the ETB`s key roles will be to promote CPD (continuous professional development) and to ensure that CPD reflects the needs of business and industry. Of the 2m people estimated to work in the engineering and technology community, just 600,000 are members of the 34 professional institutions that currently oversee CPD activities.

In the run-up to the arrival of the ETB, a shadow board chaired by Hawley will oversee six working groups looking at: the constitution and governance of the new Board; the needs of business and industry; communications; education and training; CPD; and attracting more members for the institutions.