15 years ago there was a move to amalgamate the IEE and IIE and Sir Robin Saxby started the process in 2005 – the year before he took over as President of the IEE in 2006. He spoke in September 2005.
A call for all members to vote on the merger of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) has come from Sir Robin Saxby,who takes over as president of the IEE next year.
"We want all the members to vote,” Saxby said. “Today’s professional engineers need a broader perspective than the engineers of 20 years ago. They need to know about software, they need to know about the convergence of biotechnology and microelectronics, and they need to take a global view.”
The result of a favourable vote will be to amalgamate the IEE and IIE into a new body called the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
"The Institution is changing from the way it was structured historically,” said Saxby.”Engineering is becoming broader yet, to make money, the engineer has to be a specialist. Partnership is key.The trend is towards more teamwork.”
Saxby’s target, when he takes over the IEE presidency, is to widen the membership base and make the institution more global.
’The reality of any of these institutions is how global they are,” said Saxby.”That’s vital these days,for instance 90 per cent of ARM’s revenues come from overseas.”
Saxby is a co-founder and the chairman of ARM, and is currently deputy president and a trustee of the IEE. He does not see the two institutions as lobbying vehicles.
“We’re not interested in trade politicking in the UK,” he said.”We want to ensure the UK Government speaks with an honest voice when it speaks on technology matters, we are a major influence on the education of technology students, we are a charitable organisation with a benevolent fund for members who fall on hard times, and we provide a home for life for members.”
source: electronicweekly