News

What do the IHE and Pizza Express have in common? We both celebrated our 60th birthdays in 2025! This milestone year has offered us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our journey so far and give back to the members who have made the Institute what it is today.

To mark our diamond anniversary, Council members unanimously agreed to launch a brand-new bursary scheme. I’m delighted that we have already awarded ten IHE members these bursaries, supporting their studies, professional development and helping to elevate both themselves and the industry. Congratulations to all the recent recipients. .

The next chapter
This year sees bold steps forward in modernising the IHE. We’re introducing an online review process for professional registration, new member access and an online training platform. Thanks go to Cheryl Brown, our digital media manager, who has worked tirelessly on these digital initiatives alongside her regular responsibilities.

Recognising our profession’s ever changing needs, we’re currently reviewing our course offerings. I encourage all members to get in touch with suggestions for new courses or improvements. We truly value your input. Thanks go to our professional development partners and academic collaborators for their ongoing support in this important work.

A key theme of my presidency is Professional Registration and this year we offered one-to-one mentoring sessions for those working towards EngTech, IEng or CEng status. We’ve supported over sixty members so far, and due to their popularity, these sessions will now be a regular fixture in our events calendar. Huge thanks to our immediate past president, Martin Polland, for running these sessions and to those currently in training to help expand this valuable service. Please get in touch if you’re interested in becoming a reviewer or mentor.

It has been a pleasure to work with Lyle Andrew as he settles into his role as CEO, as well as welcoming Heather Suarez as membership and professional registrations manager, and Katie Sawyer as finance officer. Heather has already made a significant impact, working closely with our junior vice president, Rebecca Bollen, to improve our Professional Review processes and Academic Standards Panel. Our thanks to all involved in delivering upskilling and training sessions for assessors and new panel members.

It’s a small world
Our outreach continues to grow, and this year saw our first international visit to Cairo in November, generously hosted by Coventry University @ The Knowledge Hub (TKH). Lyle, Dr Shervin Motamedi (vice chair of our Academic Standards Panel) and I were delighted to meet students and staff, along with government ministers and members of the department’s Industry Advisory Board. The president of TKH signed an MoU with us, demonstrating our shared commitment to the promotion of the IHE and professional development more generally. We were also the first professional transportation engineering body to meet with Egypt’s Engineering Syndicate (the equivalent of our Engineering Council), where we discussed knowledge sharing and CPD opportunities for the IHE and the Syndicate. We look forward to strengthening these international ties in 2026 and beyond.

Our Middle East branch continues to thrive, with online webinars regularly attracting over 100 attendees, and we are considering plans for Darren Capes to visit the region when he becomes president next year. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to Darren’s presidential event at Forest Pines on 3rd July—have you secured your ticket yet?

Thanks and celebrations

With the festive season upon us, I joined our ‘sibling’ organisations at the ICE carol service in Westminster Cathedral and at the CIHT’s Christmas lunch. These connections with kindred institutions are vital to our shared successes as a professional community.

Thank you to every member, volunteer and supporter for your dedication, enthusiasm, and contributions to the IHE this year. Here’s to a well-earned break and to an exciting 2026 for the IHE.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Katharine Kelly CEng FIHE
IHE President