Alf Roberts - IET

Alf Roberts became chief executive of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) on the March 31.

 

This new body - formed from the Institution of Electrical Engineers which Alf Roberts previously headed up, and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers - will have more than 150,000 members worldwide.

 

Question: What is the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and how has it come about?

 

Alf Roberts: The IET has come about as recognition within both the IEE and the IIE of the nature of engineering in the 21st century, which is becoming increasingly global.

 

As engineering and technology becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, the traditional ways of characterising engineering are proving to be less and less relevant.

 

For example, people tend to work on systems, rather than specific aspects of a system. It is increasingly inclusive; if you are going to make a success of engineering, you have to get the whole life cycle right.

 

Question: What are the main challenges for IET?

 

Alf Roberts: The main challenge that we have always faced is to be relevant to the communities we serve, in the three key roles that try to fulfil. Those roles are:

 

Firstly our roots are as a 19th century learned society. Today we are the 21st century equivalent.

 

We are a source of knowledge not only for our members but also for the broader technological community, and ultimately for the public at large.

 

Secondly we are a qualifying body in the UK for professional engineers and technicians. Our role as a learned society supports this task by providing access to continuing professional development for those who are qualified.

 

Thirdly, we play a major role in promoting engineering and the contribution it makes to society and the attractiveness of engineering and technology as a career for young people.

 

 

Question: How will this change your involvement in public policy?

 

Alf Roberts: It will not change our basic approach, which is to use the skills and knowledge of our members in order to inform public debate where engineering and technology has a significant contribution to play.

 

As a consequence of the merger, we will be somewhat more broadly based. We will have a slightly larger mechanical and manufacturing dimension to the membership than the IEE had and therefore this broadens the range of issues on which we would engage.

 

 

Question: Engineering and technology is increasingly global, does the IET take this world view?

 

Alf Roberts: The new institution will have more than 150,000 members in 37 countries and offices in the UK, Hong Kong, Beijing and the USA.

 

The IEE has been a global publisher for a very long time, and by that I mean the authors who contribute to our peer reviewed journals and engineering magazines come from all around the world. 

 

Equally those peer review journals and magazines are read on a global basis - the greatest growth currently in our magazine and journal sales is in the Far East. We will continue to expand and broaden both in interest areas and technologies.

 

We are increasingly working with partners around the world in the organisation of conferences and seminars.

 

Our professional networks, which are networks of engineers with common technological or industrial interests, are global networks which operate in the “virtual world” as well as the real one.

 

They make use of web based technology, and one of the most powerful aspects of that is what we call 'IET.TV'.

 

Through this portal we disseminate content from conferences, seminars and lectures, on a global basis.

 

If you can’t actually attend, you can either join in wherever you are if we are web casting the event live, or view it subsequently at a time and place which is convenient to you.

 

Question: Is the IET just for engineers and technologists or do you work with the public?

 

Alf Roberts: As a charity we have a strong public remit and everything we do is available to the public.

 

However, a lot of our activities are highly technical and may not be readily accessible by the wider public.

 

Therefore on key issues where the public has an interest or a concern, we do produce specific materials for a non-technical audience.

 

As an example, in response to public concern about possible health affects from electro magnetic radiation - the two obvious areas are power lines, and mobile phones - we have produced fact sheets which set out the situation as it is today, based on a detailed analysis of the peer reviewed literature by a group of experts in all aspects of the issue.

 

Question: Engineering - and science and technology - gets a lot of press about declining student interest. What can the IET do to stem this?

 

Alf Roberts: There is a problem here and we are seeing a declining interest in engineering and key sciences, like physics, amongst students. I think there are a number of reasons for this.

 

Firstly, there is a problem with careers advice at school, and I think this particularly impacts on girls.

 

The percentage of girls who pursue a career in engineering is quite small, and one reason for this is that those giving careers advice in schools are not always fully aware of the opportunities and rewards offered by engineering in the 21st century, whilst working in a highly creative environment. We are pressing very hard for improved career advice in schools.

 

Another problem is the declining number of graduates in subjects which are relevant to engineering, for example maths and physics, going into teaching.

 

If the subject is being taught by someone who chose themselves to study it at degree level, they are more likely to have a positive influence on the students.

 

Equally it is much more likely that the subject will loose appeal if it is being taught by someone without the in-depth subject knowledge.

 

We are very active therefore in supporting teachers by providing training in the teaching of subjects that are relevant to us, and by giving access to relevant teaching material.

 

A further initiative we have launched is 'Flipside', our lifestyle magazine for 11 to 16-year-olds.

 

It deals with the issues that kids of that age are interested in, for instance games, gadgets, music and sport. Behind each story it has a scientific or engineering element – Flipside is not intended to be worthy, but to entertain, and at the same time educate. Getting that balance right is something we have worked very hard at doing.

 

For the last year of so we have circulated Flipside free to all secondary schools in the UK, but as of this month it is available to the general public. It is on sale at the moment in Tesco and WH Smith.

 

It will hopefully make the point that science and engineering can be fun and but are also highly creative activities.

 

Question: What inspired you to go into engineering?

 

Alf Roberts: The ability to make a difference. My degrees are in physics, but after getting my PhD, I went into the electricity industry, and spent most of my career there. You do engineering because you want to change the way things are.

 

The whole point about engineering is you don’t do it for its own sake, you do it because in the end you produce goods and services, which will either be of value or will improve quality of life.

 

If you look at the 20th century, comparing quality of life for the average person at the start, to the quality of life at the end, then the transformation is literally unbelievable viewed from the perspective of someone born at the beginning of the century.

 

 That transformation has been brought about by engineering and technology.

 

Question: Anything you want to add regarding the launch of IET?

 

Alf Roberts: It’s a really significant point in the history of engineering, and it does recognise that the profession needs to think differently if it is going to be relevant in the 21st century in the same way that it was in the 20th century.

 

You cannot stand still, you have to move on, the fact that so many good things happened in the 20th century will not necessarily lead to good things happening in the 21st century. We need to work on it in a way that reflects the reality of the 21st century rather than wishing that we were still in the 20th.