GEOFF BAKER BECOMES INSTITUTION ’ S NEW PRESIDENT
NEWS
Geoff Baker MSc CEng FIMechE has assumed office as the 133rd President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and has set out an exciting vision for the future of the Institution .
Geoff said of his appointment :
“ In the Year of Engineering , I am delighted to have been elected by the membership to be President . I intend to engage with them and wider stakeholders to ensure we have an Institution that is relevant and fit for purpose in the 21st century .
“ Our engineering profession is in the process of radical change . Change that is challenging , not just people ’ s perspective on our profession but also the way it has operated for the past 170 years . Society will call upon engineers to solve the challenges the world is now facing : how we will live with an exponentially increasing population , how we will feed ourselves , and how we will deal with the challenges of climate change . As President , I hope to create an environment where talent can come together to address the multidimensional issues which society faces .”
Geoff Baker is an entrepreneur and engineer with a distinguished international career .
Geoff has global business experience and has established business operations in Europe , America , the Middle East , Malaysia and Australia .
He co-founded two successful engineering companies , the ATL Group , a leading technical services company in the industrial , defence , oil and gas markets which was sold to Bureau Veritas , and Plant Asset Management Ltd , which was subsequently acquired by FTSE oil services company , Petrofac .
Following both acquisitions , Geoff held senior executive positions within these organisations .
He started his career serving a five-year Mechanical Engineering Apprenticeship with the British Aircraft Corporation and graduated with a Master ’ s Degree in Mechanical Engineering .
Geoff has been an active member of the Institution since his early career .
In addition to his personal business interests , Geoff works hard to advance and promote the engineering profession through his three major passions : the encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering , inspiring young people into engineering , and pioneering change in the engineering profession , which he believes is required to make it more relevant and responsive to needs of society .
www . imeche . org
COMPETENCE OF UK ELECTRICIANS RECOGNISED BY NEW NATIONAL STANDARD
NEWS
A first-of-its-kind national standard that marks the competency of individual electricians in the UK has been launched by the Institution of Engineering and Technology ( IET ) in collaboration with the Engineering Council .
The national Recognised Electrician EngTech Standard is for electricians undertaking electrical installation , maintenance and remedial works in buildings and dwellings and is awarded via competence based peer assessment .
Such an assessment will provide a national benchmark of competence for electricians working in safety critical roles and means companies will be able to confidently recruit and retain highly qualified and professionally registered electrical workers .
Michelle Richmond , IET Director of Membership & Professional Development , said : “ The IET has , for some time , been concerned that electricians working on both basic electrical installations and complex high rise buildings should have the appropriate demonstrable qualifications and competence .
“ We believe that safety critical , electrotechnical work , is largely hidden within the fabric of buildings and it is , therefore , down to the individual electrician to be accountable for the work they do , both in design , installation and maintenance .”
“ This recognised standard will not only provide the industry with a competency benchmark , but will give companies reassurance that they are recruiting a highly skilled workforce .
Other benefits would see a reduction in recalled work and associated unplanned costs , providing financial efficiencies too .”
The new national standard supports the final Hackitt report ( published 17.05.18 )* which proposes improvements regarding the competence of people who are involved in the design , construction , refurbishment , occupation and maintenance of buildings .
It highlights whilst there are many instances of competent people , there is no consistent way to assess or verify their competence which allows individuals to practice with questionable qualifications or without a requirement for competence assessment . Developed through an IET led national working group of sector stakeholders , the new national standard provides the foundation for the recently awarded national IET Certification Mark RPE ( Registered Professional Electrician ).
Electricians achieving RPE will meet the highest ethical standards , operate under a professional code of conduct and commit to continuous professional development and audit .
A similar approach of developing recognised standards could be applied across different disciplines in order to gain similar recognition for competency and compliance to the highest level of industry and safety standards .
For more information , visit www . theiet . org / electrician-engtech and / or email : electechs @ theiet . org
32 PECM Issue 33