Networking worldwide

65 delegates of the European Young Engineers travelled to Geneva in early September, to take part in the joint EYE Conference and World Engineers’ Convention (WEC).

This, the 33rd EYE Conference, featured prominently in the WEC’11 programme. Following Germany, China, and Brazil, the 4th WEC in Switzerland welcomed participants from more than 80 countries to the International Convention Centre in the City of Geneva.

The EYE Lounge, located prominently within the convention centre, provided a comfortable ambiance for networking and an opportunity to showcase EYE to the WEC attendees. People from all over the world dropped in on the young engineers and were impressed by the structure, aims and achievements of EYE.

A highlight of the EYE Conference, was the competition to plan and build a business case on renewable energy application in Switzerland. This gave the delegates a real opportunity to "face the global energy challenge", the theme of WEC! Five teams endeavoured to find the best business model for investments into solar power plants and wind farms. Based on realistic calculations, the main goal was to replace the 40% of nuclear power generation in Switzerland.

Evening events were dedicated to networking among all young engineers who attended the World Engineers' Convention. Delegates from more than 80 countries met to share knowledge and experience - thanks to the Young Engineers / Future Leaders (YE/FL) working group of the WFEO and the Hepia School of Engineering in Geneva, evening events offered lots of opportunities for us to get together! At this conference, a new member association was welcomed to join the EYE family. The Young Railway Professionals (YRP), based in the UK, joined as EYE’s 21st member Institution. YRP connects engineers of different railway industries and fosters collaboration between several engineering associations.

As usual during an EYE Conference, the EYE Council decided on the next steps to move the network forward. Siobhán McGrath (Engineers Ireland) has been elected as Deputy Secretary General of EYE. She will therefore follow Tim Mönkedieck in his position as Secretary General in 2013. Colin Arthur (IET, UK) and Mirella Vladimirova (FNTS, Bulgaria) joined the EYE Task Force.

EYE is thriving and looking forward to another successful year in 2012! The next conference will take place in May / June in the Netherlands. This will be followed by the EYE@Malta conference in October! The feedback from participants in Geneva was very clear: The EYE Conferences in 2012 are not to be missed!!

What is EYE?

What is in it for YOU?
Do you want to raise your career to the next level? Do you want to network with the best young engineers in Europe? Do you want to unleash your full potential in European Society? Do you want to share great experiences with open and exciting people? All this, and more, you can achieve with us.