ACADEMY NEWS – Academy Northern Region meeting held in Belfast on 3rd October 2024

The autumn meeting of the IAE Northern region was held on 3rd October 2024 in the Board room of Catalyst Inc. in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.

The meeting was chaired by Jonathan Hegan and the agenda included:

  1. Welcome – Jonathan welcomed the attendees and in particular welcomed Academy President Seamus McKeague and Executive members Tom Leahy (Past President & Special advisor) and Joe Harford (Hon. Secretary).
  2. Apologies were noted.
  3. Report on the Enterprise Fellowships Initiative and the People & Place Ireland Study with the Royal Academy of Engineering. Kathryn Mc Kenna RAE Senior Enterprise Manager (Ireland) accompanied by Gillian Gregg RAE Head of Regional Engagement briefed the meeting. The People and Place study is progressing well after an August 2024 workshop and a steering committee meeting will take place in mid-November as work on the Engineering, Economy and Place study in Ireland will have advanced to an important milestone. A good response was received to the open call for Enterprise Fellowship applications and an update report will issue at year end.
  4. Update on Academy activities including the Academy’s latest publications. Tom Leahy briefed the meeting on the latest developments and circulated copies of the 7 Academy news bulletins issued in July – September to improve communications within the Academy.
  5. Report on progress with the

Parsons Medal Award. Sir John McCanny chair of the Parsons Medal and Joe Harford (Former committee chair) confirmed that the 2024 medal award will be made on 19th October in Birr Castle to coincide with the Birr Engineering Heritage festival which runs from 18th – 20th October.

Standing Committees – Meetings of the Southern and Western Regions took place in September and news bulleting issued for both meetings.

  1. Recommendations for new Patrons- Chair requested suggestions from the region
  2. Recommendations for Site Visits. Three options were proposed and site visits will form part of the 2025 Northern Region programme.
  3. The Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture at QUB in February 2025. Speaker RAE Incoming President John Lazar was confirmed and the date 18th February 2025 was also confirmed at the meeting.
  4. Nominations for Vice Chair for 2025 will be discussed at the next meeting. Both the Southern and Western Regions have vice chairs.

There was a very good discussion, which reflected the depth and detail of the work of the Academy and how Academy fellows live and deliver on the Academy mission of providing thought leadership in a time of great change.