Abstract
The Trustees have worked very hard over the last year to develop a strategic plan for the Institute for the period 2014–2020. At the heart of this plan is a mission to become the preferred Professional Engineering Institution (PEI) for all those working in the fields of measurement and control in the United Kingdom. This is articulated by our desire to grow the number of members from 3500 in 2014 to 4500 in 2020. Growing our membership will provide a greater degree of financial stability which will in turn better underpin all our work with and for members at all career stages.
As an important first step in our membership expansion programme, a range of stakeholders including local section representatives, staff of the Institute and some of those engaged in the various panels and committees of the Institute attended a session facilitated by Isobel Pollock, former President of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, on 1 April at City University. Isobel encouraged us to think about not only what we do well but also to articulate our concerns for the future. I was struck by the tremendous amount of good will towards our Institute expressed by all those present which will continue to be an invaluable resource in developing our institute and, ably assisted by Isobel, the team found it straightforward to transfer our doubts and concerns into positive opportunities and actions for the future. Our work will involve
Better internal and external facing articulation of the benefits of membership so we all know what our Institute offers and those outside can better understand the benefits of joining us;
Expand our accreditation activities to better embrace the training of Engineering Technicians and Apprentices;
Use the experience of our many industrial members to excite the next generation of measurement and control engineers by providing case studies and presentations to use within the taught curriculum at colleges and universities;
Broaden out from our core industrial base in the process control industries to include new areas such as robotics and autonomous systems and the Internet of things.
The team who attended the workshop will now work as a Membership Expansion Task Force and you should see work taking place in both local sections as well as within the committee and panel structure. All volunteers are welcome though, so please do get involved in growing our Institute.