Research reveals the UK will face a deficit of approximately one million engineers by 2030, but university and college educations can help bridge the gap according to experts.
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By Tom Austin-Morgan
The Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) exists to accredit civil engineering and cognate programmes and support universities and colleges by promoting professional membership, while actively encouraging participation with industry.
Member Institutions of JBM – CIHT (Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation), ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers), IStructE (Institution of Structural Engineers), IHE (Institute of Highway Engineers), and PWI (Permanent Way Institution) – act as an interface between education providers and industry.
JBM provides accreditation of the educational component for different grades of membership and for categories of the Engineering Council: CEng, IEng and EngTech (Chartered, Incorporated and Engineering Technician). As such JBM is recognised as a pre-eminent brand for the independent accreditation of a wide range of civil engineering and related degrees offered in the UK and a limited number of other countries.
The organisations involved collectively represent over 100,000 professional engineers globally and JBM seeks to maintain and strengthen links with education establishments on all matters concerned with degree programmes and periods of further learning in engineering disciplines of relevance to the JBM member Institutions.
When starting a career in the transport industry, graduates of programmes accredited by JBM have multiple benefits – professional recognition, enhanced employability and a foundation for future education among the most prominent.
Given innovation and economic progress are hampered by the significant lack of workers with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills – according to studies, this skills gap will cost the UK economy £120bn by 2030 – JBM is essential in addressing this deficit by promoting and assisting accredited college and university programmes.
Graduates from these programmes have gained technical know-how, assurance, and elements of the skills necessary to drive advancements in the transportation sector and thereby contributing to the growth of the nation’s economy.
“Professionally accredited degrees in civil engineering and cognate fields have long played a crucial role in equipping students with the technical knowledge, skills and self-confidence for professional careers and opportunities in the transportation industry,” says CIHT member Professor Mukesh Limbachiya of Kingston University, the Deputy-Chair and next Chair of JBM.
“In today's rapidly evolving higher education landscape, JBM accreditation plays a pivotal role in maintaining and developing the relationship between the higher education and civil engineering profession, and in ensuring appropriate standards.”
Prof Limbachiya concludes: “The importance of JBM accreditation cannot be overstated given its role in ensuring [a] qualified civil engineering workforce needed for transportation.”
Discover more about JBM, and also explore the accredited and approved courses currently on offer via CIHT.
Image: engineers confer during road construction surveying; credit: Shutterstock.
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
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