IESL becomes full member of Washington Accord

The most prestigious of international agreements governing mutual recognition of professional engineering qualifications and professional competence, the WASHINGTON ACCORD, has bestowed its full membership on the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL) at the International Engineering Alliance meetings held in June 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Washington Accord was signed in 1989. It is an agreement between the bodies responsible for accrediting professional engineering degree programs in each of the signatory countries. It recognizes the substantial equivalency of programs accredited by those bodies, and recom- mends that graduates of accredited programs in any of the signatory countries be recognized by the other countries as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering. The Washington Accord covers professional engineering undergraduate degrees. Thereby the IESL joins an elite group of engineering institutions in the signatory countries to this Accord recognized worldwide as bodies capable of accrediting professional engineering degree programmes conducted in their countries.

The signatories to the Washington Accord as of 2013 are Australia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, China, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, UK and USA.

Currently engineering courses being conducted at the Engineering Faculties of the Universities of Moratuwa, Peradeniya and Ruhuna are accredited by the IESL. Thus these accredited degrees will get recognition in all other Washington Accord signatory countries as equivalent to their own accredited degrees.

The membership of the IESL in the International Professional Engineers’ Agreement (formerly known as Engineers’ Mobility Forum) which was up for review at the June Meeting was also extended by 6 years. This is a multi-national agreement between engineering organisations in the member jurisdictions which creates the framework for the establishment of an international standard of competence for professional engineering.

A four-member IESL team comprising Eng. Shavindranath Fernando – President of IESL, Eng. (Prof.) A.K.W.Jayawardane – Vice Chancellor of the University of Moratuwa and Past President of IESL, Eng. (Prof.) Lakshman Ratnayake – A Senior Professor at University of Moratuwa and Past President of IESL and Eng. (Ms.) Arundathi Wimalsuriya – Executive Secretary of IESL attended the successful meeting with the Washington Accord officials in Auckland, New Zealand.