Institution of Engineering and Technology

In the United Kingdom, the IET has the authority to establish professional registration for the titles of Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Engineering Technician, and ICT Technician, as a licensed member institution of the Engineering Council.^[3]


The IET is registered as a charity in England, Wales and Scotland.

This forerunner institution was known in all but its last year as the Institution of Production Engineers (IProdE) and was initiated by H. E. Honer. He wrote to technical periodical Engineering Production suggesting that the time was ripe to form an institution for the specialised interests of engineers engaged in manufacture/production. The resulting mass of correspondence spawned a meeting at Cannon Street Hotel on 26 February 1921. There it was decided to form the IProdE to:


The term 'production engineering' came into use to describe the management of factory production techniques first developed by Henry Ford, which had expanded greatly during the First World War. The IProdE was incorporated in 1931 and was granted armorial bearings in 1937. From the outset it operated through decentralised branches called local sections wherever enough members existed. These were self-governing and elected their own officers. They held monthly meetings at which papers were read and discussed.


Outstanding papers were published in the IProdE's Journal. The work of six foremost production engineers took centre stage in certain national meetings: Viscount Nuffield, Sir Alfred Herbert, Colonel George Bray, Lord Sempill, E. H. Hancock, and J. N. Kirby. National and regional conferences were arranged dealing with specific industrial problems. Sister Councils took hold including in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and South Africa.


The Institution's education committee established a graduate examination which all junior entrants undertook from 1932 onwards. An examination for Associate Membership was introduced in 1951.


The Second World War accelerated developments in production engineering and by 1945 membership of the IProdE stood at 5,000. The 1950s and 1960s were perhaps the most fruitful period for the Institution. Major conferences such as 'The Automatic Factory' in 1955 ensured that the Institution held a place at the forefront of production technology. A Royal Charter was granted in 1964 and membership stood at over 17,000 by 1969.


In 1981 the IProdE instituted four medals starting from its Diamond Jubilee: the International Award, the Mensforth Gold Medal, the Nuffield Award and the Silver Medal. The Mensforth Gold Medal was named after Sir Eric Mensforth, founder and chairman of Westland Helicopters and a former IProdE President. It was awarded to British recipients who had made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of production engineering technology. Renamed the Mensforth Manufacturing Gold Medal, it is the IET's top manufacturing award.


Financial constraints, a slowing in membership and a blurring of distinctions between the various branches of engineering led the IProdE to merger proposals in the late 1980s. The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) had interests very close to those of the IProdE. The IEE was a much larger organisation than the IProdE and the proposal was that the IProdE should be represented as a specialist division within the IEE. While these talks were reaching fruition in 1991 the IProdE changed its name to the Institution of Manufacturing Engineers. A merger with the IEE took place the same year, with the IMfgE becoming the IEE's new Manufacturing Division.^[5]