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Honorary Fellowship

Mark Curtiz
That William Adams (a.k.a Will.i.am) was made an Honorary Fellow for his outstanding contributions to engineering is fantastic - it also intrigued me as to the process involved. Does anyone know?

And I also wondered why the process is not invoked more often to reflect the contribution of the many noteworthy individuals - for example people like Elon Musk whose contributions to engineering and technology are very visible and exceptionally impressive. Is there a nominations process?
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    If they can give HonFIET to Will.i
    Am for giving ideas to companies, so he can play with the toys; then they should give the keys of the IET and EC to Elon Musk to do what he wants with them. He's a real life Brunel and Gerry Anderson rolled into one. Those stage one rockets landing in sync, after trip into outer space, is straight out of Thunderbirds. Fantastic!!
  • 0
    The IET website at https://www.theiet.org/membership/types/hon-fiet/index.cfm has information about Honorary Fellows.

    QUOTE:

    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.


    ENDQUOTE

    Presumably the second category was the operative one. The association with the IET and its aims has to be a consideration. The above reference contains a link to all Honorary Fellows, past and present.

    Regards

    Hamish

  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    In order words, whilst the ordinary mortal wants to be in the IET gang; the IET wants to be in the Will.i.am gang. I do think Elon Musk would have been a better choice to be associated with. A rare mistake perhaps. Anyway, I do like the following entry in the list; an appropriate name of: Mr V A Tester (1998). Could he possibly be the man who gave all of us engineers and technicians: the AVO Meter?
  • 0
    Thank you Hamish - very helpful - nomination drafted and sent!
  • 0
    I wonder if I would be eligible for an 'Honorary Fellowship' of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, on account of sitting through a whole episode of 'The Voice'. Where do i apply?
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    If you think about it; how does an archaic, elitist and snobbish engineering institution, run mostly by middle aged (and older) middle (and upper middle) class men, attract young females, into getting interested in STEM and joining the institution? Well, they could find a global superstar, who's interested in science and technology, and has a huge fanbase of young female admirers. Give him an honorary fellowship, then he can freely (at no cost) advertise science and technology and the institution as.....being cool! A bit like sticking an advertisment on a walking billboard. By the way, the honarary fellowship list does look like an all male club. Proves my point. They could have given it to a global female superstar instead. An example of hypecrisy at its finest.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Mehmood,

    I think these gentlemen earned it, and if there are female candidates they would have been listed too. 

    Indeed having females     who are members of IET earning that status of a Fellow exists, or distinguished woman earning Honorary Fellowship may attract an additional woman to Engineering, I have seen efforts being done in this area as well.  I don't have the data to show if this is the case.

    BTW I don't think "    archaic, elitist and snobbish" applies to the open, collaborative, advanced  IET.  For many, this is a lifetime achievement and source of pride.
    It takes time to build the competencies and achieve leadership and managerial skills and other benchmarks that make one eligible to be a TMember, Member or Fellow, many with the appropriate level of EC registration. 

    Is there a room to make things better and attract engineers, yes. But the reason people decide not to join is not that of elitist, archaic or snobbish.

    The reason usually simply comes to if they need it. 

     


     

  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member

    Mehmood Birdi:
    If you think about it; how does an archaic, elitist and snobbish engineering institution, run mostly by middle aged (and older) middle (and upper middle) class men, attract young females, into getting interested in STEM and joining the institution? Well, they could find a global superstar, who's interested in science and technology, and has a huge fanbase of young female admirers. Give him an honorary fellowship, then he can freely (at no cost) advertise science and technology and the institution as.....being cool! A bit like sticking an advertisment on a walking billboard. By the way, the honarary fellowship list does look like an all male club. Proves my point. They could have given it to a global female superstar instead. An example of hypecrisy at its finest.

    This is demonstrably not true.

    • In 2017, two men and two women became honorary fellows.
    • In 2016, one man and one woman became honorary fellows.
    • In 2015, two men and one woman became honorary fellows.

    You can of course go further back as see a male-dominated list, but that doesn't tell anything about the direction that the IET is heading in.

    In addition, it is also not true that the IET is "run" by men. You can see trustees here: https://www.theiet.org/about/people/trustees/. I'm quite sure that there's a few of them who wouldn't thank you for referring to them as middle aged either.

    Within the staff team, the directors of membership, international marketing and governance & policy are women. I walk around Michael Faraday House every day and I see men and women of all ages in all positions. 

     


     

  • 0
    The celebrities of other continents and subcontinents of the world may also be considered from all disciplines of life.
  • 0
    I'm helping at a couple of careers evenings later this month. We need to attract the teenagers of Midlothian to our stand so we can engage with them and discuss STEM career options. At these events, the competition from other career paths is intense and demands a creative approach on our part. Can the IET provide any eye-catching publicity material connected with this award? Maybe a life-size poster of Mr .Am collecting his award, or some quotations from him that we are permitted to reprint? Do we have license to play his music on the stand, for the purpose of STEM promotion?

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