Chairman's Statement

I have been re-elected for a second term as Chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Engineering Group, having been originally elected in that capacity in 1997. I consider it a great honour to be able to support the Government in the new century in moving engineering up the agenda and building the country’s future.

Engineering has consistently improved our living conditions and our environment. I look forward to harnessing our skills and inventiveness to further our cause and to better our lives in a constantly modernising world. I firmly believe that these improvements have and will be beneficial to every community, not just a few major cities.

Transport modes and their construction infrastructures are a great challenge for us for the present and the future. The design and engineering of various products will produce environmental benefits, improve passenger comfort and safety, and achieve freight modernisation. These products will have to be world-class quality in design, build and operation.

I believe that all of us in engineering want to advance our ideas. Also, there is a will in our country to move forward and to create for the future – there must be a will amongst engineers of all disciplines to make that creation happen. An integral part of that process is the thorough education and training of engineers at every level.

The Group has a pivotal role in making this a reality and I am determined that we shall not be a “talking shop”, but an instrument to attract the widest publicity for the creative ideas of engineering. We must also ensure that the Government is fully appraised of the significance of engineering industry in building a better nation.

Bill Olner MP, Chairman