Image set for a polish

Engineering courses cannot recruit. A campaign to promote engineering as exciting, relevant and remunerative was launched last week.

Engineering is regarded by many students as dull, routine and poorly paid, but the organisers of the Year of Engineering Success hope to change that image.

The campaign aims to redefine the public perception of engineering and encourage more people to become engineers.

Speaking at the Engineering Council conference last week, Alan Rudge, the council chairman, said the profession must overcome years of complacency to restore its status and attract high-quality recruits.

He said industry, professional bodies, education, government and unions are backing the campaign.

Mary Harris, the campaigns director general, said the organisations would spread the message that engineering is essential to our quality of life; offers a wide range of rewarding careers, and makes a major contribution to the economy.

The campaign will relate engineering to everyday life to demonstrate its cross-disciplinary nature and demystify the role of engineers.

More than 5,000 events are planned for 1997 under a range of themes including agriculture, communications, conservation, defence, energy and transport. Power stations, research centres and other facilities will be open to the public.

Dr Harris said that an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council scheme would offer every 13 and 14 year-old the chance to do up to 30 projects at school. About 8,000 science and engineering PhD students would help them.

The image update began this week with a stand at the British Association for the Advancement of Science festival at the University of Birmingham. The campaign, which is officially launched in the new year, also aims to disprove the idea that engineering is poorly paid. Dr Harris says it compares with medicine or law. The average salary for chartered engineers is over Pounds 35,000.