About the IET

Encouraging the study of engineering

As part of its charitable remit, the IET encourages the study of engineering and technology. In the UK, the Institution publishes Flipside, a teen science, engineering and technology magazine, the only one of its type available for teenagers. The IET Faraday website, an award-winning educational resource, reaches all schools in the UK with the aim of enthusing young people about science, technology and engineering. This year as part of the IET’s programme of activities for 5 to 19 year olds, 180 secondary schools took part in the Faraday Engineering Challenge Days.

Awards and sponsorship

Through its awards programme the IET seeks to reward and celebrate individual excellence and innovation, and to promote undergraduate and postgraduate engineering scholarships. The most prestigious prize the IET can award is the Faraday medal. To encourage the study of engineering, each year the IET awards approximately £200,000 worth of scholarships, prizes and grants to students and young professionals.

Promoting professional registration

Under licence from the UK Engineering Council, the Institution awards a number of professional registration qualifications, including ICT Technician (ICTTech), Engineering Technician (EngTech), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and Chartered Engineer (CEng). The IET accredits over 1,000 undergraduate programmes in the UK. These accredited programmes assist individuals by demonstrating that they meet some or all of the educational requirements for registration as an Incorporated Engineer (IEng) or Chartered Engineer (CEng).

Global knowledge network

The IET provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote the positive role of science, engineering and technology in the world. This knowledge sharing focuses on five sectors: built environment, design and production, energy, information and communications, and transport. In support of these sectors, the IET publishes more than 100 new titles every year; a rich mix of books, journals and magazines with a back catalogue of over 500 publications. In addition to its printed and electronic publications, the Institution operates Inspec, the leading English language bibliographic information service for scientific and technical literature. It is also organises over 120 conferences and events every year.

Electrical safety and best practice

For over 120 years the IET and its predecessor the IEE have been at the forefront in promoting electrical safety. The 1st Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations was published in 1882. Since then the Regulations have been regularly updated to reflect technical developments and changes in best practice. In July 2011 the IET published the first amendment to 17th Edition of the IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671).

Policy advice to government

The IET provides professional advice to Parliament, Government and other agencies making around 30 submissions to the UK Government, Parliament and the EU on engineering related policy issues every year. It also produces independent authoritative fact files and briefings on key topics which are made available to the policy makers and the public.