About us

A History: AHT to IHE

In 1962 Bill Taylor first proposed to the Institution of Highway Engineers (now IHT) that technicians should have their own organisation. The proposal was not supported until 1964 when Bill was asked by the Institution to initiate the Association of Highway Technicians. AHT came into being in January 1965 run by a board of trustees - Professor Fisher Cassie, Henry Criswell, Tom Sinclair and Bill Taylor. Its reincarnation as the Highway and Traffic Technicians Association (HTTA) was also overseen by Bill who served as the chairman until August 1972. The registration grades of Technician Engineer and Engineering Technician were created in the late sixties when entry to chartered engineer was restricted to graduates. The early development of IHE was dominated by the establishment and evolution of the new grades.

AHT turned itself into the fully independent HTTA on 4 August 1972 with the ability to put members on the national register. The change to IHIE came on 13 January 1989 and in 2009 the institute was renamed, the Institute of Highway Engineers with a launch at Westminster Abbey.

The Institute has always played a significant role in the national engineering profession. Brian Lacey chaired the Engineering Board of the Engineers' Registration Board in 1982. Peter Dipper served on the Senate of the Engineering Council (1995-2001) and continues as the only IEng among the institution appointed members of Engineering Council Board from 2001-2008. During this time Peter also sat on several significant EC Committees and in 2003 chaired the UK SPEC Engineering Technician committee which set down the registration standards for EngTech. Simon Bennett was elected to the Engineering Council by the nine 'Group B' medium sized institutions to succeed Peter in 2008.

It was an IHE initiative which saw the creation in January 1990 of the first joint panel accrediting IEng and EngTech courses and IHE members chaired the Panel throughout its life. JAP was later absorbed in the Joint Board of Moderators. IHE was also amongst the first institutions to engage in ' CISC' developing NVQs in the 1990s.

Some Milestones

  • 1983 First HTTA conference - on microprocessors and traffic signalling. Held at TRL. Organised by Chris Hext.
  • 1989 Licenced by Engineering Council to accredit university and college courses.
  • 1990 First Institute training course, Traffic Signal Control: implementing the design. The course continues to be held annually at Nottingham University.
  • 1990 IHE helped launch TSRGD and started annual Traffic Signs forum.
  • 1993 An IHE conference launched the revised Traffic Sign Regulations (TSRGD) and inaugurated the annual traffic signs forum.
  • 1990 to 2001 IHE sat on CISC Board, developing higher level occupational standards and NVQs/SVQs for construction. Transportation qualifications were amongst the first to be designed.
  • 1990 to 2002 Joint Accreditation Panel created by 10 institutions to accredit IEng and technician courses.
  • 2000 IHE joined BTEC/Edexcel working party revising Higher National and National Awards.
  • 2002 First IHE publication - IHE Home Zones Design Guidelines.
  • 2003 IHE joined Joint Board of Moderators.
  • 2004 IHE Professional Route to CSCS Card opened.
  • 2005 IHE Guidelines for Motorcycling launched.
  • 2005 Wins Prince Michael International Road Safety Award.
  • 2008 IHIE Employer of the Year Award initiated.
  • 2009 Register of Road Safety Auditors opened.
  • 2009 IHIE becomes IHE: the Institute of Highway Engineers.

Around the world

  • "Satisfaction" released
  • First Mars probe Ranger 9 passed at 6,200 miles
  • Mont Blanc tunnel opened
  • Rhodesia declared UDI
  • India-Pakistan war
  • Lyndon Johnson stepped up the Vietnam war
  • Martin Luther King led voting marches in the South and Watts rioted
  • Beatles awarded MBEs
  • Mobutu seized power in Zaire
  • Ronny Biggs escaped jail
  • Edward Heath step up to lead Conservative party
  • Singapore declared independence
  • Al-Fatah founded
  • Cassius Clay becomes Muhammad Ali and KOs Sonny Liston (again) and Floyd Patterson
  • Dylan went electric

Others @ 40

biat.jpg

CIAT, the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists a fellow incorporated level body also started out in 1965 became a Chartered Institution in 2005.

airso.jpg

AIRSO, the Association of Industrial Road Safety Officers.

LUX, London Borough of Camden and Pizza Express.

Bill Taylor: Founder of IHE

H.S (Bill) Taylor CEng, the creator and first chairman of the IHE precursor association, was 92 when he died in 2009.

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Past Presidents - Gerry Harvey, Kevin Lilley, Peter Dipper