December 2011
MAL director Patricia Newell Maher has been elected as chair of the Guernsey branch of CIGPE, the Channel Islands Group of Professional Engineers.
CIGPE is a multi-disciplinary grouping of professional engineering institutions in the Channel Islands, the four principal engineering bodies being the IET, ICE, IMechE and IStructE.
It aims to follow the professional and ethical codes laid down in the charters of its sponsoring institutions and is responsible both for raising the profile of the industry locally and for arranging and promoting various informative and entertaining lecture events for both engineers and the general public.
Patricia said that one of the priorities for the Guernsey branch in 2012 would be to improve links with secondary schools and to raise awareness of careers opportunities for prospective engineers.
“Branch members are already involved with the CGi’s Technology Challenge event and the Group regularly participate in the Careers Show. In the coming year, we hope to introduce the engineering sector as a career option to more secondary schools students by means of school lecture hosting and through the promotion of CIGPE’s Dorothee Martin Award for the outstanding student in an engineering field," said Patricia.
"We want to encourage more local young people to enter into this exciting and varied career,” she added.
“Next year, we’re also looking to hold a series of local lectures and site visits which will showcase the highly qualified and skilled engineers and professionals we have on the island and allow others to benefit from their wealth of knowledge and international experience."
CIGPE want to encourage anyone who may be interested in presenting a lecture or hosting a site visit to contact them. It already has one local lecture planned for 25th January 2012 at the OGH entitled, 'The Airport 2040'. This will be presented by Gerry Prickett, Director of Civil Engineering and Project Manager for TPS Consult.
The CI Group is split into two branches – one in each Bailiwick – and each branch elects its own chair, secretary, treasurer and up to six ordinary members. Both branch chairs serve on CIGPE’s management committee along with an elected overall group secretary and treasurer, with the chairmanship of the Group alternating annually between the two islands.
Patricia, whose term of office runs for two years, will assume the chairmanship of the CI Group ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2013. She will take over from Jersey branch chair Richard Sutton of Geomarine.
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