International Engineering Meetings (IEM)

The successful outcome of IEM 2003 led to a number of initiatives being undertaken. Progress on these has been reviewed at a Working Groups meeting hosted by ECUK on 14-18 June 2004. Intensive work, assisted by a strong sense of cooperation, resulted in sets of draft documents which, after further consultation and necessary amendment, will be presented for discussion and action in Hong Kong in June 2005.

The thirty five people involved, who were drawn from thirteen organisations based in eleven countries, addressed a number of issues relevant to the operation of agreements covering the mutual recognition of academic qualifications and the international mobility of professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians.   These topics included:

• Devising overarching definitions of graduate attributes and of professional competences
• Defining the criteria and processes for the admission of new members
• Refining the methods of monitoring and review to ensure the maintenance of substantial equivalence
• Clarifying the position of distance learning and of trans-national program delivery
• Enhancing the implementation of the International Registers and clarifying the benefits deriving from such registration
• Improving cooperation between the various agreements, including the use of the dedicated website ( www.ieagreements.com ) and the possibility of a common secretariat

At the conclusion of the London Workshop it was considered that substantial progress had been made in furthering the international recognition of engineering academic qualifications and of fostering the mobility of professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering technicians.

IEM Group