Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 50 replies
  • Subscribers 13 subscribers
  • Views 5327 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion is locked.
You cannot post a reply to this discussion. If you have a question start a new discussion

What is Fellowship?

Alex Barrett
I'm not sure which forum this belongs in, this seems to be the closest?


A question, what is Fellowship in the context of the IET? Is it the recognition by the profession of somebody who stands out in their field, their profession and in general as an engineer and character? Or is it just a "supersize" membership.

As the only route to Fellowship of the IET seems to be by applying on your own behalf, it looks like the latter. There doesn't seem to be any scope for recognising those engineers who really do stand out, but aren't self-seeking enough to look for recognition. I know personally some engineers who in my opinion are natural Fellows but would never put themselves forward for this recognition.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Alex,

    Some are made Honorary Fellow for their outstanding contributions to engineering.  HonFIET.

    Honorary Fellows are elected by the IET Board of Trustees. Honorary Fellows are:   



    • Persons distinguished by their work in any engineering discipline falling within the objects and purposes of the IET, or

       

    • Distinguished individuals whom the IET desires to honour for services rendered to the IET or whose association is of benefit to the IET.


    While IET Fellowship is recognition sought ought by the applicant themselves it appears HonFIET are nominated.


  • 0
    I'd tended to think of Honorary Fellowship as being associated with celebrities the IET wishes to honour rather than real engineers, but a quick Google suggests otherwise. What draws the attention of the Board of Trustees to certain names? I did put this guy up for an IET achievement award, but I'm afraid making a good sales pitch isn't at the top of my skill set.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    I also see many, many highly qualified engineers do not apply for Fellowship....

    CEng and Membership are already enough for many......

    I see Fellowship is only by paying more fees....
  • 0
    Without a doubt, it is, at least in part, about posting more fees, and I did stop and wonder about that before I applied, but ultimately, I think it's a subtly different motivation to that for C.Eng, it's the two-way street of showing a greater commitment to the profession, and getting recognition for that which includes confirmation that not only do you satisfy membership and/or registration requirements, but are regularly contributing to the profession at a higher level, which can be - and is - defined in a number of different ways (see the application form to see what they are).


    I would suggest that the trend you observe had led to do with a conscious decision not to go for it than the simple human problem of getting round to it, with all life has to throw at us getting in the way. It was for me, I was at least 10 years later than I should have been. There the additional problem of finding suitable Fellows to support your application.
  • 0
    Roy,

    I would wholeheartedly agree. I had an enjoyable evening in a pub chatting with Andy Millar last year covering a variety of topics including Fellowship (though it has not yet resulted in his application being submitted). When I was put on the spot to describe the difference between CEng and Fellow the description that came into my head was that the CEng is someone who moves the Technology forward, while the Fellow is someone who moves the Profession forward (and they are not mutually exclusive).

    As for finding suitable Fellows to support your application, the IET should be able to help with that if needed.

    Alasdair
  • 0
    One of the benefits of these forums as I see them, is the potential for members to contribute ideas and Alex has posed an important question. One that might otherwise only likely to be discussed by the Fellowship Policy Committee which is governed by the Membership and Professional Development Board.

    The glib answer is that Fellowship is whatever IET Members want it to be. The current criteria have evolved following the merger of 2006 and are independent of any professional registration. Although the subscription rates for Fellows are slightly higher, the amount involved in the context of IET income overall, is a minor factor.

    Perhaps it would be useful to gather constructive feedback from members active here, albeit this may not be a representative sample. I see the forums as an equally valid form of activism by those either unable to attend meetings or otherwise express opinion.  

    I became a Fellow of my IET predecessor institution, when they wrote to me noting that I seemed to be potentially eligible under their criteria. The requirement from memory was a minimum of 5 years as a registered engineer with significant management responsibility. I was 35 years old, spend a few more pounds, felt more valued and it reinforced my commitment to the professional engineering community at a time when I might have dropped out, as my career was becoming less technically focussed.               

    When I first became much more closely involved with the IET, I asked out of curiosity about the proportion of Fellows drawn from the different professional registration categories. I was given some figures from 2008 which were 6848 CEng, 1527 IEng, 7 Eng Tech and 1703 non-registrants. I don’t have the current figures and I don’t think such a breakdown would help this discussion. Although when I have seen figures, new IEng Fellows have become a very rare sight indeed. As I mentioned earlier Fellowship has not been linked to Engineering Council registration for a long-time, so this is just a historical observation.  

    I was involved in a discussion a few years ago with some of our Fellows who were bemoaning the tactics of a “rival” institution in setting a “lower bar” for their Fellowship. That difference being Lieutenant Colonel rather than Colonel (or other military equivalent).  So if we see Fellowship in a “competitive” context, our concerns are likely to be around maintaining a “high bar”. If we chose to adopt the pro-active approach that I experienced years ago, then the priority might be to move more members into Fellowship.

    I’m tempted to adopt JFK’s maxim of “ask not what your institution can do for you, but what you can do for your institution” in matters related to Fellowship. Also having experienced a situation when someone who I supported for Fellowship had their hopes dashed (a 30+ year CEng) a few years ago, I am sympathetic to any concerns. I’m sure that the chair and members of the Fellowship Policy Committee would be willing to listen to anything constructive
  • 0
    Well said Roy. I agree with every word. It's also worth noting that, in common with the approach to membership and registration, age is no barrier, which is one of the benefits of being a member of one of, if not the, most progressive PEIs.

    Shortly after I, a relatively senior (in years) member gained my Fellowship, a young responsible engineer in one of my client's contractors, whose appointment I had approved and had then worked with and come to know quite well, also gained Fellow. I can't recall his exact age, but I'd hazard a guess that he's in his '30's.

    He had applied a year or two earlier and been advised that he wasn't quite ready, needed a little longer in a position of senior authority, but, if he continued what he was doing, he should try again in a couple of years. He did so and succeeded.

    It's worth observing that he had been operating as a PRA for some time, and regularly and actively participates in Institute activity. I think he confirms, for me that this is, indeed, a matter of both what level you operate at, what your commitment is, and, as Roy rightly says, don't ask what the Institute can do for me (though I do believe it offers us plenty) but what I can do for the Institute (and the remainder of the engineering community).
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Hi Ian,

    Thanks for sharing information on IET Fellowship. I have few questions and would appreciate your kind guidance.


    1. Is the FIET assessment criteria for applicants with industry experience and academic experience same? While there could be overlaps, many of the criteria specified under "Creativity" (for example) - published books/chapters, conference chairs, Research grants/funding, research students, managed researched staff - all pertain to FIET applicants with academic background. In general, FIET applicants with industry experience tend to have Patents. Would this be considered as necessary and sufficient to meet the creativity criteria?

    2. For Innovation, the requirement is that one should demonstrate personal responsibility for significant technological innovation and achievement  to bring a product or service to market. While FIET applicants with industry experience can provide some level of evidence to this, due to the nature of business (for example, secret projects in consumer industries), many a times, it wouldn't be possible to provide all information to the satisfaction of the assessment committee. For example, launch date of the product, category/end application, revenue etc. However, the work itself would be on the latest technology. Could you share some insights?


    Thanks a lot.

  • 0
    Cyril

    You have rejuvenated a forum from a few years ago but I guess this is addressed to me (I am now a past-Chair of the Fellowship Policy Committee but I’ll make a start on answering your questions).

    The first thing to note is that the point of the criteria is provide a structure for compatibility between very diverse engineering careers.  However, the main focus is to demonstrate sustained high levels of achievement in the industry.  Sustained means at least 5 years at that high level – this is different to many other Institutions who, for Fellowship, only require that level to have been reached at the time of application.  So, to answer the first question, the criteria are indeed the same for industry and academia but the main point being considered is that the individual is considered to have made a major contribution in their field and is respected as such.

    As you suggest, Creativity and Innovation are widely used as criteria by applicants from academia.  They are equally relevant to applicants from industry in the R&D field as well but most applicants from Industry use other criteria such as Leadership, Responsibility or Insight and Experience.  Someone who has a brilliant idea and sets up a company, turns it in into a product and makes a success of it may meet all those criteria but actually apply under the Enterprise criteria as well as one of those.  So, it is really about how you tell your story using the criteria as a structure.  Taking your specific question about patents this is perfectly acceptable as evidence but it is about how you got them and what you did with them as part of your story-line, so it is not sufficient in its own right.

    You are right that the main feature of the Innovation criterion is that there is a product or other outcome in the marketplace.  Clearly an application to the IET is confidential but precise details need not be revealed.  People from the defence and security industries are able to describe principles and achievements without revealing secrets and I’m sure this is true of industry generally too.

    If you want your own case considered in more detail then you should contact a Fellowship adviser via the IET to review your situation to consider if an application is worthwhile.

    Ian
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Hi Ian,


    Thanks a lot for your kind response. Appreciate it.


    Regards

    Cyril

Join us to get the best from IET EngX.

Joining EngX lets you personalise your experience so you stay up to date on the topics that interest you, plus you’ll be able to make connections who are looking to collaborate, exchange ideas and more.

Join us Not now

Community Rules & Guidelines