Long-time Sony executive Naomi Climer has become the first female president in the long history of IBC partner organisation The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
Asked why she had taken the post she said: “As a board member, I was amazed at just how much more the IET does than I was originally aware of in terms of government
policy lobbying, education, publishing, and accreditation for chartered engineers and university degrees.
“There is a whole breadth of things that matter in terms of professionalism and inspiring a generation to be engineers,” she added. “Look at the Internet of Things and the way that technology is heading towards IP and the cloud: we desperately need engineers and are going to need bigger flows of them for decades to come.”
Climer feels strongly about getting some engineering activity into at least every school in the UK.
“I am going to be taking two platforms – enhancing the image of engineering because it does not have the cache or image it deserves, and diversity,” she said. “Broadcasting has played a huge part in transforming the world. The kind of technology developed has created the social media always connected society, but we know we have a skills gap. TV enjoyed a glitzy reputation but that is not the case now.
“Inspiring the next generation is everything from going into schools to the Rising Stars here at IBC,” she added. “As a charity The IET purpose is to engineer a better world.”
