Engineering institutions and networking in nineteenth-century Belgium and Britain

Abstract

The paper provides a comparative analysis of two engineering institutions in nineteenth-century Belgium and Britain, the pioneer nations of the industrial revolution situated on each side of the North Sea. The Association des ingénieurs sortis de l'école de Liège is examined in parallel with the pioneer engineering association, the Institution of Civil Engineers. The authors look at the key issues involved in running a flourishing engineering society in a Western capitalist industrial nation during the nineteenth century. They conclude that they depend, to a large extent, on the national context in which the engineering profession was allowed to develop. Although there were clearly major national divergences in the fields of education, institutional proliferation and membership, there were similarities regarding their mission statement, chairmanship, field of expertise and internationalisation.