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History of the Academy
2001–2006: Laying the foundations for future growth
In July 2001 Sir Alec Broers
DL FREng FRS was elected President. He had been Vice
Chancellor of Cambridge University since 1996 and
remained so until his retirement in 2003. Sir Alec
was an internationally recognised figure in the
areas of engineering research and education. In 2004
he was granted a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Broers,
and in the same year he was elected Chairman of the
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The
BBC invited Lord Broers to present the 2005 Reith
Lectures on the theme of “The Triumph of Technology”
bringing him further recognition as an eminent and
original thinker on future developments in
engineering and technology.
The Academy instituted two new
major awards during this period. The
Sir Frank
Whittle Medal recognised an engineer whose
outstanding and sustained achievement had
contributed to the well-being of the nation. The
first award was made in 2001 to Professor Tim
Berners-Lee for his role in the creation of the
World Wide Web. The Public Promotion of Engineering
Medal recognised an individual, small team or
organisation who had contributed to the Academy's
aims and work through their initiative in promoting
engineering to the public. The first award was made
in 2002 to Dr Adam Hart-Davis, who presented popular
science and engineering programmes on TV.
Lord Broers was always mindful
that the Academy had to reach out beyond the
engineering community in order to engage with the
public on engineering issues of key importance, for
example nano-technology and GM crops. He therefore
encouraged Sir Duncan Michael FREng to pursue an
initiative called Facing Out. The Facing Out Group
comprised Fellows, MPs and representatives from the
media and arts. It met a number of times and
developed ideas on how the influence of the Academy
could be broadened and how public interest in
engineering could be captured. The findings of the
Group had a significant impact on the subsequent
development of the Strategic Plan.
An example of the importance
to the Academy of broadening its base came in May
2002 with the publication of the House of Commons
Committee on Science and Technology’s report on the
funding of the learned societies. The report was
generally favourable, however there was criticism of
the gender and ethnic monitoring of the participants
in Academy schemes. A monitoring procedure was
quickly introduced, and became one of a number of
mechanisms and activities aimed at encouraging wider
participation in engineering from women and minority
ethnic groups.
A major milestone in the
widening of participation was reached in September
2005 with the launch of the
London Engineering
Project in the London Boroughs of Southwark and
Lambeth. This project, funded initially by the
Higher Education Funding Council for England, was
aimed at encouraging participation in engineering
higher education from underrepresented groups, in
particular women, people from families with no
higher education experience, ethnic minorities and
adult learners. The early results were encouraging
and funding was secured for the period needed to
monitor the progress of an entire cohort of school
students through secondary school and into
university level.
The support of high quality
engineering research remained the bedrock of Academy
funded programmes during this period, with
continuing growth in the number of
Research Chairs,
Senior Research Fellowships and
Royal Academy of
Engineering Research Fellowships. The competition
for these posts remained intense as the required
standards were very high.
Lord Broers also encouraged
increasing activity in the field of education,
acknowledging that schools feed the universities
with the talent to produce future generations of
excellent engineers and technicians. There were a
number of major developments in education
activities. In September 2003 the
Gatsby Charitable
Foundation awarded the Academy £1 million over three
years to fund the development of the
Best Education
Programme. This had a considerable impact in several
areas. The launch of the London Engineering Project
has been referred to above. In October 2005 the
Government requested the Academy to lead the
Technology and Science in Schools Strategy. This led
to the launch in November 2005 of the
Shape the
Future Campaign aimed at bringing coherence and
coordination to science, engineering and technology
schemes in schools. The Campaign also focussed on
professional development for teachers to ensure they
were aware of the latest developments in industry in
order to better advise their students on career
opportunities in engineering.
The Academy’s policy
activities increased during this period with dozens
of expert inputs to Government and Parliamentary
bodies. Several important and influential reports
were also published, notably on the
Future of
Engineering Research, the
Cost of Generating
Electricity,
Nanotechnologies, the
Challenges of
Complex IT Projects,
Energy and Climate Change,
Risks in Engineering,
Ethics in Engineering,
Philosophy in Engineering and
Privacy and
Surveillance.
The Academy made a submission
for grant funding as part of the government’s 2004
Spending Review. In January 2005 the government
announced that it would increase grant funding by
more than two thirds in the period up to 2007/08.
The Academy regarded this as a major vote of
confidence in its activities.
In October 2004 the Academy
was delighted to receive a donation from the
ERA
Foundation of £8 million. This enabled a range of
new programmes to be introduced which were generally
sympathetic to the aims and ambitions of the ERA
Foundation. These included an engineering research
prize and the
ERA Foundation International Lecture,
the inaugural lecture being given in March 2006 by
Dr Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corporation.
Lord Broers initiated a number
of major developments to strengthen both the way in
which the Academy was governed and also the way in
which business was carried out. The following were
notable among these initiatives:
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A new procedure for
electing Council members was set up, and in July
2003 the first democratically elected members
took their seats on Council.
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In September 2004 a new
post of Development Director was created to
organise a major development appeal.
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In October 2004 the
current visual identity was launched, and at the
same time the
Ingenia magazine and web site were
re-launched.
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In July 2005, following an
extensive period of consultation among the
Fellowship, Council approved the
Strategic Plan
2005-2010. This had four key objectives:
(i) to engage more effectively with the public
and the public policy process
(ii) to attract more people to a wider range of
engineering careers
(iii) to enhance the contribution of engineering
in raising the UK’s innovation performance
(iv) to strengthen the Academy and its ability
to make an impact
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In January 2006 a
Membership Study was initiated and chaired by
Sir Peter Gershon CBE FREng. The study aimed to
develop procedures for obtaining nominations for
Fellowship from underrepresented groups such as
women, younger candidates, candidates from small
and medium sized enterprises and candidates from
newly emerging industrial sectors.
The Academy’s long cherished
ambition of obtaining premises which could cater for
the majority of its activities, such as lectures and
conferences, was given a major boost in July 2005
with the formation of the New Building Steering
Group. The Group, initially chaired by Mr Norman
Haste FREng then by Sir David Davies CBE FREng FRS,
was tasked with finding a new building for the
Academy. Several options were considered before
success was finally achieved with the acquisition of
the lease on 3 and 4 Carlton House Terrace in 2006.
In conclusion the period under
Lord Broers’ Presidency was one of growing
confidence and optimism for the Academy which built
solid foundations for further development.
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