Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland

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Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland
IESIS logo.png
Established 1 May 1857 (1857-05-01)
Type Engineering and Shipbuilding professional association
Headquarters Clydeport, 16 Robertson Street, Glasgow, Scotland G2 8DS
Region served
 Scotland
Services open lectures, social events, annual James Watt Dinner
Key people
 Phil Preston, FIES, President; Laura Clow, secretary.
Slogan Per Mare Per Terras: By Sea By Land
Website www.iesis.org

The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (IESIS) is a multi-disciplinary professional body and learned society, founded in Scotland, for professional engineers in all disciplines.

Founding

The inaugural meeting of the Institution of Engineers in Scotland was held on 1 May 1857. Office bearers were appointed and the principal objective of the new institution was set down as "the encouragement and advancement of Engineering Science and Practice". It was to have a broad basis for membership, and engineers from the mining, foundry, railway, iron, shipbuilding and other industries were to be eligible. The prime movers behind the founding of the Institution were William John Macquorn Rankine, Regius Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow, and Walter Montgomerie Neilson, one of the major figures in establishing Glasgow's locomotive-building industry. Rankine was the first President of the Institution and Neilson succeeded him in 1859. The Engineer James Howden, who died in 1913, was the last surviving founding member of the Institution.[1]

The Institution was an early promoter of consciousness of industrial effects on the environment. In those early years there was a pervading atmosphere of enquiry into the applications of steam power. In 1858 the Institution was responsible for a public meeting, held in the Glasgow City Chambers, to establish "An Association for Promoting Safety, Economy and Absence of Smoke in the raising and use of Steam".

The Scottish Shipbuilders Association had been formed in 1860 and amalgamated with the IES on 25 October 1865. The current name of the Institution was adopted in 1870. The current President, Phil Preston, took office on 30 September 2014.

File:Memorial in Glasgow to Engineers lost onTitanic..jpg
Titanic Memorial in Glasgow

The Institution has had a number of headquarters buildings, notably the building specially commissioned and built in 1906-08 at 39 Elmbank Crescent, Glasgow, designed by J.B. Wilson. In the foyer of this building, there is a memorial to 36 engineers who lost their lives on RMS Titanic. The marble and bronze memorial was subscribed by members, designed by the sculptor Kellock Brown, and unveiled on 15 April 1914. The Institution, with the permission of Scottish Opera, current occupiers of the building, organised a memorial service in the building on 14 April 2012.[2]

The Institution endows two prestige lectures - The annual MacMillan Memorial Lecture established in 1959 in memory of Hugh MacMillan, and the biennial Marlow (Scotland) Lecture established in 1964. Both have attracted high profile speakers.

In 2011, IESIS launched a new initiative, The Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame,[3] to celebrate Scotland's proud tradition of engineering and shipbuilding, and to provide iconic role models for young people before they make career choices. The first seven inductees were announced by President Gordon Masterton at the James Watt Dinner in September 2011.

Members, Fellows, Graduates or Companions are entitled to use the abbreviated distinctive letters after their name - MIES, FIES, GIES, CIES.

Presidents

The following is a list of the presidents of the Institution since its inception:.[4]

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See also: Category:Presidents of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland

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2

Notes

  1. ↑ John Elder, Shipbuilder, Glasgow, was elected for session 1869-70, but died before taking office
  2. ↑ Resigned

References

  1. ↑ Day, Lance and McNeil, Ian, Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology, Vol. 39, London, Routledge, 1988, p. 358, at Biographical Dictionary, books.google.com, accessed 27 September 2009
  2. ↑ The Scotsman, 11 April 2012: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/features/the-scots-engineers-who-fought-to-the-last-to-save-the-titanic-1-2226407
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Denny_III

External links

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