The Engineering Council and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 have jointly sponsored research to gauge the level of employer support for employees working towards CEng status by way of a work-based MSc Professional Engineering with a research element.

The study explored the level of support amongst organisations that employ BEng graduates, taken from a sample of UK-based companies across a range of engineering sectors. The key findings include:

• 80% of the companies believe that the work-based Masters with a research component would encourage BEng qualified engineers to become CEng registered.
• 39% of the companies agreed that they would support their employees on the work-based Masters with a research element.
• 88% of the companies encourage BEng and MEng qualified engineers to become CEng registered.
• 96% engage with Universities in some way by either short courses (teaching) or research.

The Engineering Council was represented by Colin Chapman at a St James's Palace reception in November, where winners of the Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education were announced.

Colin was nominated by the Engineering Council in 2006 as an assessor, and has participated in the last two biennial examinations of submissions for the UK's most prestigious educational awards.  Colin adds value to the judging process as a Chartered Engineer who is involved in maintaining standards, as well as having an interest in academic achievement.

Around 20 prizes are awarded to universities and colleges across the UK every two years for work of outstanding excellence within higher and further education.

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) issued a White Paper during November on its national skills strategy, entitled 'Skills for Growth'.

The Engineering Council welcomes the statement contained in the report saying: "At present, there is a lack of recognition of the importance of technicians to the economy.

Technicians should be confident that the qualifications they obtain carry a status and value that is recognised in the market place and not just by their own employer."

We are, therefore, currently talking with a number of bodies to look at how to take this forward, to ensure an increase in recognition of engineering and ICT technicians through registration with us.

A new independent organisation has been established for the first time to advise Government and the devolved assemblies on engineering education across the UK. Hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the group known as Education for Engineering (E4E) will enable the profession to speak with a single voice to provide clear and cohesive advice in all matters relating to education in engineering.  The Engineering Council is a member of E4E, as are the Professional Engineering Institutions and EngineeringUK.

The UK Government and the devolved Assemblies now have policies for the promotion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and on STEM teaching in schools and colleges. The professional engineering community needs to speak with a clear and consistent voice to provide relevant views on education issues if it is to impact on these policies, which affect the formation of future engineers and technicians.

Seeking opinion across the breadth of this community, E4E will ensure that Government receives the highest quality advice on STEM education from a single source, so that the education system produces people who are well equipped to keep pace with the technological changes in society.

"E4E is addressing a critical area that will support future economic development," says Dick Olver FREng, Chair of the Policy Group for the new organisation. "Unless the UK is able to educate, train, attract and retain good engineers at every level, our innovation skills will falter and opportunities will be lost."

"The science and maths communities are already well placed to influence policy development through SCORE and ACME respectively, and E4E will represent engineering in the same way."

An interactive planet for the public to explore UK science and engineering was launched at the end of September by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) - the UK's largest government agency for research.

A combination of innovative flair, perseverance and a passion for communicating the benefits of engineering has won Katy Deacon, an energy engineer with Kirklees Council, the Karen Burt Award for 2009.

Given annually by the Women's Engineering Society (WES) to a newly chartered female engineer, the Karen Burt award recognises both high achievement in engineering and a commitment to the promotion of the profession.

The award nomination focused on Katy's creation of the Renewable Energy Toolkit, which provides engineers and architects with guidance and tools for integrating renewable energy technology systems into building designs.

Katy works tirelessly to promote engineering and careers in engineering. As well as mentoring junior colleagues, she regularly gives schools' talks and has worked with the Bolton Technology and Innovation Centre to create a practical engineering workshop for girls from deprived areas. A long-term leader in the Scout Association, she is developing, a year-long programme that will see local Scouts learning about issues relating to climate change and becoming more aware of their own impact on the environment to achieve their Green Footprint Award. Media work has ranged from Radio 4's Today programme to magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan.

As a Chartered Engineer, Katy is convinced that this has helped her career progress. "My great passion is in using my skills and knowledge to help create a sustainable environment for the future," said Katy. "I have been fortunate enough to design and manage projects which have made a real difference to my local community and have been ground breaking in the UK. It has been my aim to achieve chartered status since I was an apprentice at eighteen years old; gaining CEng was the culmination of 10 years hard work. Now I would like to become a mentor for CEng candidates and work with the IET to encourage others to become Chartered Engineers".

The award commemorates Dr Karen Burt, an eminent physicist whose career was cut short by a tragically early death. She influenced many people with her enthusiasm for engineering, in particular she offered advice to companies on the recruitment and retention of women and became a role model and an inspiration to many women engineers and scientists.

Salaries of civil engineers have fallen for the first time in seven years according to the Institution of Civil Engineers' annual survey.

The average income for civil engineers in the UK dropped by 0.3%to £47,282 in the 2008 tax year, breaking a steady run of increases since the survey's inception in 2003.  Total salary, which includes secondary income and bonuses, fell by 1.7% to £51,899. This was due to significant drops in secondary income (21.5%), overtime income (7.6%) and bonuses (13.2%).

The fall has not affected all workers equally. The survey showed those on lower salaries have been affected more severely, with the bottom 10% of earners seeing significant falls in basic income of 6%. Conversely, the top 10% of earners saw moderate increases of 1.2 %.

Job security was also a concern, with just 57% rating their job as secure or very secure. This sense of insecurity was highest among those classified as project workers, 18% of whom categorised themselves as on potentially shaky ground.

A significant proportion of members - 63% - stated that their company had resorted to redundancies in response to the economic downturn. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was more likely to be the response of companies with a big employee roster (69% of companies employing 500 or more civil engineers, compared to 52% of companies employing 50 or fewer civil engineers).

Pay and hiring freezes also featured prominently in the list of measures taken (56% and 49% respectively). Pay cuts had affected less than 10%.

Other UK findings included an increase in average total starting salary for 2008 graduates of 2.6% to £23,965.

Internationally, Hong Kong salary remains almost unchanged at £55,661 but total salary drops 3.4% to £61,769. Both these figures are significantly higher than corresponding UK figures, 18% and 19% respectively. Job security is very high, with 70% rating their role as secure or very secure.

Average UAE basic income is 32% higher than in the UK, at £62,215. However, job security is much lower, with only 37% considering their roles to be secure or very secure.