The story
Formation
Discussions started in 2004 between the IEE and the IIE about merging to form a new institution. In September 2005, both institutions held votes of the merger and the members voted in favour (73.5% IEE, 95.7% IIE). This merger also needed government approval, so a petition was then made to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom for a Supplemental Charter, to allow the creation of the new institution. This was approved by the Privy Council on 14 December 2005, and the new institution emerged on 31 March 2006.
The IET is the result of mergers and absorptions between over forty institutions since 1871.
History of the IEE
The Society of Telegraph Engineers (STE) was formed on 17 May 1871, and it published the Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers from 1872 through 1880. Carl Wilhelm Siemens was first President of IEE in 1872. On 22 December 1880, the STE was renamed as the Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians and, as part of this change, it renamed its journal the Journal of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians (1881–1
82) and later the Journal of the Society of Telegraph-Engineers and Electricians (1883–1888). Following a meeting of its Council on 10 November 1887, it was decided to adopt the name of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). As part of this change, its Journal was renamed Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1889, and it kept this title through 1963. In 1921, the Institution was Incorporated by royal charter and, following mergers with the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers (IERE) in 1988 and the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers (IMfgE) in 1990, it had a worldwide membership of around 120,000. The IEE represented the engineering profession, operated Professional Networks (worldwide groups of engineers sharing common technical and professional interests), had an educational role including the accreditation of degree courses and operated schemes to provide awards scholarships, grants and prizes. It was well known for publication of the IEE Wiring Regulations which now continue to be written by the IET and to be published by the British Standards Institution as BS 7671.
History of the IIE
The modern Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE) traced its heritage to The Vulcanic Society that was founded in 1884 and became the Junior Institution of Engineers in 1902, which became the Institution of General Technician Engineers in 1970. It changed its name in 1976 to the Institution of Mechanical and General Technician Engineers. At this point it merged with the Institution of Technician Engineers in Mechanical Engineering and formed the Institution of Mechanical Incorporated Engineers (IMechIE) in 1988. The Institution of Engineers in Charge, which was founded in 1895, was merged into the Institution of Mechanical Incorporated Engineers in 1990.
The Institution of Electrical and Electronic Technician Engineers, the Society of Electronic and Radio Technicians, and the Institute of Practitioners in Radio and Electronics merged in 1990 to form the Institution of Electronics and Electrical Incorporated Engineers (IEEIE).
The IIE was formed in April 1998 by the merger of The Institution of Electronic and Electrical Incorporated Engineers (IEEIE), The Institution of Mechanical Incorporated Engineers (IMechIE), and The Institute of Engineers and Technicians (IET, not to be confused with the later-formed Institution of Engineering and Technology). In 1999 there was a further merger with The Institution of Incorporated Executive Engineers (IIExE). The IIE had a worldwide membership of approximately 40,000.
History of the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers
This forerunner institution was known in all but its last year as the Institution of Production Engineers (IProdE) and was initiated by H. E. Honer. He wrote to technical periodical Engineering Production suggesting that the time was ripe to form an institution for the specialised interests of engineers engaged in manufacture/production. The resulting mass of correspondence spawned a meeting at Cannon Street Hotel on 26 February 1921. There it was decided to form the IProdE to:
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establish the status and designation of production or manufacturing engineers
promote the science of practical production in industry
facilitate the interchange of ideas between engineers, manufacturers and other specialists.
The term 'production engineering' came into use to describe the management of factory production techniques first developed by Henry Ford, which had expanded greatly during the First World War. The IProdE was incorporated in 1931 and was granted armorial bearings in 1937. From the outset it operated through decentralised branches called local sections wherever enough members existed. These were self-governing and elected their own officers. They held monthly meetings at which papers were read and discussed.
Outstanding papers were published in the IProdE's Journal. The work of six foremost production engineers took centre stage in certain national meetings: Viscount Nuffield, Sir Alfred Herbert, Colonel George Bray, Lord Sempill, E. H. Hancock, and J. N. Kirby. National and regional conferences were arranged dealing with specific industrial problems. Sister Councils took hold including in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa.
The Institution's education committee established a graduate examination which all junior entrants undertook from 1932 onwards. An examination for Associate Membership was introduced in 1951.
The Second World War accelerated developments in production engineering and by 1945 membership of the IProdE stood at 5,000. The 1950s and 1960s were perhaps the most fruitful period for the Institution. Major conferences such as 'The Automatic Factory' in 1955 ensured that the Institution held a place at the forefront of production technology. A Royal Charter was granted in 1964 and membership stood at over 17,000 by 1969.
In 1981 the IProdE instituted four medals starting from its Diamond Jubilee: the International Award, the Mensforth Gold Medal, the Nuffield Award and the Silver Medal. The Mensforth Gold Medal was named after Sir Eric Mensforth, founder and chairman of Westland Helicopters and a former IProdE President. It was awarded to British recipients who had made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of production engineering technology. Renamed the Mensforth Manufacturing Gold Medal, it is the IET's top manufacturing award.
Financial constraints, a slowing in membership and a blurring of distinctions between the various branches of engineering led the IProdE to merger proposals in the late 1980s. The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) had interests very close to those of the IProdE. The IEE was a much larger organisation than the IProdE and the proposal was that the IProdE should be represented as a specialist division within the IEE. While these talks were reaching fruition in 1991 the IProdE changed its name to the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers. A merger with the IEE took place the same year, with the IMfgE becoming the IEE's new Manufacturing Division.
From Wikipedia’s article on Institution of Engineering and Technology, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5