International Links

CAETS - Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences

What is CAETS?

The Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) is an independent non-political and non-governmental international organisation. The Council provides a forum for the consideration of technology-related issues of global significance.

Aims

CAETS' mission is to foster effective contributions to engineering and technological progress for the benefit of all nations. This mission recognises the increasing dependence of nations on technology for the advancement of their economic and social welfare. CAETS works to achieve its aims by:

  • providing an international forum for discussion and communication of engineering and technological issues of common concern;

  • fostering cooperative international engineering and technological efforts for the development of programs of bilateral and multilateral interest;

  • encouraging the improvement of engineering practice internationally;

  • fostering the establishment of additional national engineering academies in countries where none exist; and

  • contributing to the strengthening of engineering and technological activities in order to promote sustainable economic growth and social welfare throughout the world.

Membership

Each CAETS academy is composed of distinguished individuals elected by their peers for significant contributions to engineering, technological sciences, or related fields. Prospective CAETS members must apply to and be elected by the Council. Because CAETS admits only one member from any nation, applicants must be representative of their country's engineering and technological communities.

Program activities

CAETS carries out its work through biennial convocations, periodic workshops and conferences. In addition to conducting its own initiatives, CAETS may provide official endorsement of, or may cooperate with, the efforts of member academies.

CAETS convocations are focused on a broad set of timely global issues, such as the role of technology in sustainable development and in economic and social development, and the management of technology in an increasingly interdependent world.

Among other topics, convocations have addressed transportation, public health, food production, manufacturing, and telecommunications. CAETS has also examined such issues as engineering education for the 21st century, communications among the engineering communities of the East and West, and it has provided assistance to its members for a variety of other international projects.

Distinguished engineers from non-CAETS institutions as well as those from nations without engineering academies are invited to participate in CAETS convocations and, as appropriate, other Council activities.

Areas of common interest that continue to influence the Council's work are:

  • engineering and the environment;

  • sustainable economic development;

  • technology, productivity, and employment;

  • industrial competitiveness;

  • engineering education.

History

CAETS met for the first time in 1978, as the informal Convocation of Academies of Engineering and Like Institutions. Among the organisations present at that gathering were the five founding members: the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the National Academy of Engineering of Mexico, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, The Royal Academy of Engineering of the United Kingdom, and the National Academy of Engineering of the United States. In 1985, CAETS was established under its current name. The organisation has since increased its membership steadily as additional national engineering academies have been formed. In 2000 CAETS was formally incorporated in Washington DC with an elected Board of Directors.

Governance

The conduct of all CAETS program activities is the responsibility of the members, as determined by the Council in which all paid up member academies are represented. The CAETS president and vice president, both officers of the Board of Directors, are selected on a rotating basis from among member institutions. The secretary, an elected officer of the Board of Directors, is responsible for providing continuing support for the programs and policies of the organisation and for management of the CAETS office. Other members of the Board of Directors are elected by the Council on a rotating basis.

Financing

CAETS is financially self-supporting. Expenses are shared equally among all members.

Publications

For issues of special significance on which CAETS wishes to focus worldwide attention, the Council disseminates its views publicly, in reports such as Harnessing Engineering and Technology for Economic Growth (1991) and The Role of Technology in Environmentally Sustainable Development (1995).

Further information

Additional information on CAETS, its member academies and activities, is available on the website www.caets.org

 

 

CAETS Office

Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences
2101 Constitution Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
U.S.A.

Tel: (+1) 202 334 3601
Fax: (+1) 202 334 2290

E-mail: caets@nae.edu
Website: www.caets.org

 

Updated July 2012

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