From the Chair
GRETCHEN KIVELL DFIPENZ

After three years as a Trustee, I am delighted to now be chairing the IPENZ Foundation. We have good support from IPENZ members, a worthy raison d’etre which is inclusive of our whole profession, and Trustees who give their time and considerable expertise to their role.

One of our most effective of the Foundation’s activities is to provide scholarships annually to five or six school leavers who are embarking on engineering or engineering technology studies at an IPENZ accredited tertiary institution. The process involves analysing the scholastic records and community contribution of around 120 students and then reading their excellent essays on ‘Why I want to be an Engineer’; essays that are thoughtful, persuasive and promise energising new blood into our profession.

The Foundation continues the work of the Benevolent Society in looking after engineers whose circumstances have deteriorated, but the bigger picture is to look after the promotion of a wider scope of the engineering profession, including those who are Members of IPENZ.

Specific areas of the Foundation’s work are:

• Profile: The IPENZ Foundation will be a Contributing Organisation in the National Engineering Excellence Awards. The Foundation will sponsor the William Pickering Engineering Leadership Medal and the New Zealand Engineering Journalist of the Year Award.
• Careers: IPENZ Foundation scholarships are offered with a view to encouraging secondary school students in years 12 and 13 (sixth and seventh formers) to choose careers in professional engineering or engineering technology. Four of the IPENZ Branches work with the Foundation and co-sponsor scholarships for students from their regions: Taranaki Branch, Nelson-Marlborough Branch, Hawkes Bay Branch and Auckland Branch.
  
• Heritage: The Foundation is working with the Heritage Board and provides plaques for identified projects which support and publicise the diversity of New Zealand’s engineering heritage.
• Research: The Foundation has yet to develop a full policy in this area.
• Rehabilitation: The Foundation provides financial assistance for Members in financial difficulty as a result of illness or accident. Support in this area is available at the same level as undertaken by the Benevolent Society.

The Foundation is in a strong position to build on the initial creative work and to accumulate and direct funding to areas which are critical to growing the profession. Working alongside IPENZ, the Foundation has an independent impact in which all IPENZ Members can participate. With your help and donations, the Foundation will continue to build on and advance the work of growing the engineering profession.

Fill in the donation form and return it, to continue to help promote the engineering profession and look after needy members.

Remember, the IPENZ Foundation is a Charitable Foundation and that all donations are tax deductible.

Act now to help the IPENZ Foundation, and in so doing help yourself, your colleagues, and the engineering profession to build a better New Zealand.