As we prepare to commence our Sector Spotlight Series, John Byrne, director of sectoral engagement at Engineers Ireland, provides a rich overview of Engineers Ireland’s dynamic sectors community.

Engineers Ireland has represented the engineering profession since 1835, making us one of the oldest and largest professional bodies in Ireland.

Our 25,000 members come from every discipline of engineering and range from students to fellows of the profession, creating one of the most diverse collectives of members across the island of Ireland and overseas.

Facilitate knowledge sharing

Our community is built on our sectors - a network of regional branches, engineering divisions and societies that facilitate knowledge sharing among its members in a way that is relevant, flexible and local.

Our 12 regional branches connect engineers Ireland members around the country and overseas, from Donegal to Cork and from London to Melbourne.

Our engineering divisions represent our members in all disciplines of engineering from civil to biomedical to energy, environment and climate action; while our society network represent special interest groups within the engineering disciplines.

The strength of our sectors can be seen in its heritage. The history of our regional branches goes back many decades with names of chairs embossed on ornate chains of office highlighting the contribution countless members have made to their profession over many years.

In 2021 the Cork regional branch will celebrate its 80th anniversary with other branches dating back many decades also.

Countless papers presented

This heritage can also be seen in terms of the countless papers presented to audiences over many years both in Clyde Road and around the country.

These papers, which formed part of the library housed in Clyde Road for many years, are now part of the architectural archive housed in facilities in Merrion Square in Dublin and are open to the public.

Today our sectors are more active and dynamic than ever. In the 2018/2019 year our sectors organised and hosted 312 events that were attended by more than 17,500 attendees, both in person and online via webcast.

In terms of scale, this vast number of events equates to one mostly free event held for our members for every working day of the year, many of which are available to view on Engineers TV.

Policy formulation

Policy formulation is also a key activity among our sectors. With the assistance of Engineers Ireland’s policy officer, more policy papers are being developed and discussed at both executive board, council and liaison committee meetings.

For example, a recent motion from the West Region on the area of climate action together with the Industry 4.0 policy, developed in conjunction with the Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Division, are examples of the leadership being exhibited by the sectoral committees.

The most important topics pertaining to our sectors are the reserve of the Liaison Committee. Chaired by vice-president Maurice Buckley, this collective of representatives meets three to four times per annum where pertinent topics of interest are discussed.

At present, we are focused on the theme of 'Connections' where we are examining how each sector communicates and links both with each other and with industry and academia.

Our sectors are also expanding to reflect the needs of members to encourage even further collaboration. Our Young Engineers Society, which supports the professional and personal development of the young engineering professionals and students, has now grown from its Dublin base to have branches in Cork and Thomond.

New dynamic

Additionally, the formation of a diversity group in recent months has given a new dynamic to our sectoral framework where we will examine areas such as gender balance in the profession and ethnic inclusivity.

It is through our sectors that our members will continue to interact with each other and the staff of Engineers Ireland to ensure a worthwhile and engaged membership experience.

This is only possible thanks to the commitment of our 32 sectoral committees, numbering circa 500 members, who volunteer so much of their time to ensure that their sector provides a full programme of lectures, site visits and networking and social opportunities to our members – all of which is supported by the sectoral engagement team in Clyde Road.

A huge thank you to all our sector volunteers. The future has never been brighter for our sectors, even in these challenging times.

Each week the Sector Spotlight Series will showcase and celebrate the achievements of one sector group. These articles will be published weekly, with associated CPD content profiled on each of our social channels. Follow the hashtag #SectorSpotlight to discover more.