Institution opens up membership to companies

An Institution of Engineering Designers product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 22, 2003

Rolls-Royce has become the first company member of the IED.

The Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) has taken the unusual step for a learned body of introducing a new and innovative grade of membership allowing companies to participate directly in its activities - and has welcomed Rolls-Royce as the first ever company member.

The IED initiative seeks to get companies generally much more involved in the training and development of professional design engineers, whose aesthetic and analytical skills and influence on design are so often linked to a company's competitiveness and ability to succeed in domestic and international markets.

"Our aim is to help more companies achieve the same high standard of world-class best practice designs attained by Rolls-Royce", said Libby Brodhurst Chief Executive of the IED, "and we're delighted with their support and involvement".

The institution provides a structured system for the continuous professional development of engineering designers with advice and guidance on Engineering Council UK (ECUK) registration and the ultimate reward of chartered engineering status for those with appropriate academic and competence standards.

"Being openly involved in this process can help companies to attain high professional standards and high quality product designs", said Brodhurst.

As well as contributing to the development of individual members, other benefits of company membership include the networking opportunities of mixing with professional designers at IED events.

Direct membership also provides companies with a representative voice with the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) and the wider engineering community.

Membership is open to all companies who have a design function and employ design engineers within their organisation.

Commenting on the importance of direct participation from companies such as Rolls-Royce Brodhurst said: "We've come to the view that company support is vital.

Good design work is well known to be a significant wealth generator and nurturing professional designers is crucial if companies are to succeed in highly competitive world markets.

The partnership with Rolls-Royce enables both organisations to invest in the continual development of the talented individuals we represent.

In turn, this will help to ensure a continuous supply of registered engineers with the finely honed design skills required for meeting the needs of business and industry both now and in the future".

Geoff Kirk, Chief Design Engineer in the Civil Aerospace Division of Rolls-Royce, shares the IED's enthusiasm for the continuous professional development of engineering designers: "Our intellectual property is one of the company's most valuable assets.

Consequently, our corporate culture is dedicated to the progress of individuals who can play a pivotal role in helping us remain at the forefront of the latest design innovations.

Joining the IED is another way of underlining our commitment to the development of chartered design engineers".

He added: "For Rolls-Royce, it's wise to be formally attached to one of our professional bodies in order to help develop our current designers, and gain access to 5500 IED members for both networking and potential recruitment of skilled designers in the future".

In a broader social and political context, the IED sees company membership as an opportunity for significant industry partnerships to be formed providing a stronger voice for the institution to communicate to a wider audience the major contribution that engineering designers make to everyone's everyday life.

"Continual innovations from well qualified design engineers can make fundamental changes to the way we live our lives, whether in more economically developed or less economically developed countries", said Brodhurst.

"Engineering designers have a crucial role to play in building a better society and with the support of companies heavily involved in design we can act as a catalyst to ensure they're up to the task".