Details on Committees/Panel roles available

Ethical Principles Committee (EPC)

Purpose: The role of the committee is to be alert to issues with an ethical dimension in the broad engineering community and to provide advice and guidance to the Institution on issues of ethics and their impact on its practices. It should investigate and identify ways of providing information and support for members on professional conduct and ethical matters.

The Committee should create a unifying point within the Institution which can bridge a number of current groups working in related areas, with responsibility for providing guidance on ethical matters. The Committee will maintain a constant review of the Institution’s ethical policy documentation and recommend updates as appropriate.

Support and formalised training will be provided for all volunteering opportunities.

Requirements: Volunteers should be familiar with the IMechE’s Code of Conduct and have an interest in exploring what can be theoretical issues, with the intent of providing practical guidance and advice. Volunteers must be registered engineers.

Commitment: The Committee meets four times a year, the majority of which will be conducted virtually, using MS Teams. Members are required to attend at least two meetings per year.

Qualifications and Membership Audit Committee (QMAC)

Purpose: The role of the Committee is to provide the audit function and oversight for the IMechE’s policies, procedures and practices, ensuring compliance with both the Engineering Council licence provisions for all licenced activities and with IMechE’s Charter, By-Laws and Qualifications & Training Regulations.

Support and formalised training relating to the functional task to be undertaken will be provided for all volunteering opportunities.

Requirements: Volunteers should be familiar with the principles of audit practices. Volunteers must be registered engineers.

Commitment: The Committee meets twice a year, the majority of which will be conducted virtually, using MS Teams. Members are required to attend at least one meeting per year.

Additionally, a schedule of ca.15 audits per year are conducted by staff or volunteers. Committee members are expected to participate in at least 2 Member audits per year. There is a two-week turnaround time for each report arising from an audit.

Professional Development Standards Committee - Panel (PDSC)

Purpose: The role of the PDSC and Panel is to review and accredit company training schemes to the IMechE’s standards through the Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS). The committee also monitors and implements IMechE policies and procedures for reviewing applications for Accreditation against the regulations laid down by the Engineering Council (EngC).

Committee and Panel are made up of a mix of academics and industrialists. Both Committee and Panel members will review schemes with a diverse range of companies, assessing their Schemes to ensure the company can develop individuals in accordance with the EngC UK-SPEC competences. Support and formalised training relating to the functional task to be undertaken will be provided for all volunteering opportunities.

Requirements: Ideally Volunteers will have experience of MPDS and mentoring Developing Engineers and must be registered engineers.

Commitment: The Committee meets four times a year, the majority of which will be conducted virtually, using MS Teams. Members are required to attend at least one meeting per year.

Committee and Panel members are expected to support at least two company accreditation visits each year, conducted either physically or virtually, out of a schedule of typically 70 visits. There is a two-week turnaround time for each visit report.

Academic Assessment Committee - Panel (AAC)

Purpose: The role of the Committee and Panel is to maintain the standard of academic qualifications of individual applications for membership and registration as a Chartered Engineer or an Incorporated Engineer for applicants without the full accredited degree qualifications.

Both Committee and Panel are made up of approximately equal numbers of academic and industrial members. Committee and Panel members review and assess the academic portfolio of candidates who do not meet the exemplifying academic requirements (i.e. accredited degrees) and make recommendations as to the appropriate level of registration, or for other activities which could be undertaken (e.g. experiential learning) to enable the applicant to meet the benchmark.

Support and formalised training relating to the functional task to be undertaken will be provided for all volunteers accepted.

Requirements: Volunteers should have experience in academic assessment to UK-SPEC requirements for registration. Volunteers must be registered, ideally in the Chartered category.

Commitment: The Committee meets four times a year, by a combination of virtual, face to face and hybrid meetings. Members are required to attend at least two meetings per year to remain current with the assessment tasks of the committee. Volunteers should also expect to receive at least one batch of 12 cases a month for Academic Review. There is a two-week turnaround time for each batch.

Integrated Schemes Accreditation Committee (ISAC)

Purpose: The role of the committee is to determine the relevance and suitability of qualifications and practical content of apprenticeships and similar integrated training schemes in meeting the requirements of the Engineering Council UKSPEC and The Approval and Accreditation of Qualifications and Apprenticeships (AQAA) and those of the IMechE. To establish and maintain standards, systems, processes and records in support of assessors and applicants to ensure a consistent standard of assessment and monitoring of schemes and content.

Support and formalised training relating to the functional task to be undertaken will be provided for all volunteering opportunities.

Requirements: Volunteers should have experience in assessment of educational and competence development programmes delivered through Apprenticeship schemes at Level 3 or Level 6. Volunteers must be registered engineers.

Commitment: The Committee meets three times a year, the majority of which will be conducted virtually, using MS Teams. Members are required to attend at least two meetings per year to remain current with the assessment tasks of the committee.

Volunteers should expect to receive at minimum 4 cases per year to review. There is a two-week turnaround time for each review.

CPD Assessment Committee (CPDAC)

Purpose: The role of the Committee is to maintain and implement processes for assessing the continuing professional development of members who are registered with the Engineering Council (EngC), and to provide valuable feedback to those required to provide their CPD logs for audit purposes.

The Committee is responsible for monitoring and implementing IMechE policies and procedures for ensuring that the IMechE complies with EngC regulations regarding mandatory CPD reporting and audit.

Support and formalised training relating to the functional task to be undertaken will be provided for all volunteering opportunities.

Requirements: Volunteers should be familiar with the principles of CPD and reflective learning and be able to provide constructive feedback to other members. Volunteers must be registered engineers.

Commitment: The Committee meets four times a year, the majority of which will be conducted virtually, using MS Teams. Members are required to attend at least two meetings per year to remain current with the assessment tasks of the committee.

IMechE undertake to random sample some 2.5k registered members, with individual feedback being provided to ca. 1k. Evaluations are undertaken virtually. Committee members are expected to receive a minimum of one batch of ten a month. There is a two-week turnaround time for each batch.