Dear Members,

We are at the beginning of the  busy half of the session with preparations for traditional events such as Induction and Graduation, Engineering Excellence Awards , Techno Exhibition and other  events associated with the Annual Sessions. The ceremonial launch for all these events was held at a common IESL Event held at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel on 29th May, 2015. In the international arena too our periodic meetings with the International Engineers Alliance vis-à-vis our full signatory  status to the Washington Accord and membership in the International Professional Engineers Agreement falls within the latter half of the sessions. So does the annual conventions of our four overseas chapters.

I had the pleasure of participating in  the IESL NSW Convention 2015 and attending the Engineering Conference and the  Engineers’ Night that constituted it. The large number of engineers and industry experts who attended it are an indication of the positive image that our engineers enjoy in Australia. My visit to Australia was also significant for the MOU that was signed between the IESL and  Engineers Australia (EA) on June 17, 2015. According to this Agreement , applicants whose names appear in the International Professional Engineers Register of IESL or the Chartered Professional Engineers of Engineers Australia whose names appear in the International Professional Engineers Register of Australia will qualify for registration / licensing by the other Institution if they agree to abide by the laws, rules ,regulations and ethical standards and meet the continuing competency assurance requirements as set out by the latter Institution.

On  June this year  it’s one year since the IESL was admitted to the signatory status of the Washington Accord. Fellow signatories of WA re-examine the standards, processes and sustainability of each signatory every six years from admission. The IESL is expected to participate as a signatory in Accord processes including its reviews, development work and decision-making meetings’. I was accompanied by Eng. (Prof.) Lakshman Ratnayake for attending the meeting of the International Engineers Alliance, the umbrella body of the WA, held this year  in Istanbul, Turkey. If gaining signatory status was a difficult process the maintaining of it is much more difficult as it is not a case of merely maintaining the status quo but keeping up to the WA standards for an evolving  global engineering education. The  success of maintaining the signatory status without falling short of its standards will depend both on the IESL accreditation process and the universities whose degree programmes are accredited.

The Engineers’ Night 2015 will be held on Saturday, 4th July, 2015 at the Hotel Grand Monarch and all expectations are that it will prove to be a very enjoyable evening for the members and their spouses.

I will end my message for this issue with that. Bye until we meet again with the next Corner.

Eng. (Dr.) S.B. Wijekoon
President of IESL