European Young Engineers – What a ride! In times such as these when the EU is unable even to choose a universally acceptable description of the crises we all face, a network like the EYE might, to a lot of people seem superfluous or romantic. Back in 1994, Europe looked a lot different than it does today. The iron curtain was gone, the first lofty promises of incredible economic growth had blossomed – and some had wilted. Some political structures had seen their own demise, and numerous individual states came back to life, or were busy growing together after years of separation. People were moving from West to East, East to West, North to South, and back again! In general the whole continent was in motion. Yet no one cared, because, without a unified currency, what happened in other countries pretty much didn’t affect their own day-to-day life. Except that politicians all over Europe and the world were gearing up to knit Europe closer together. No one could have imagined what we have today. No one? A couple of people from two relatively small countries did. Or, maybe they dreamed. They dreamed that in a couple of years, there would be one Europe and the peo-
ple of that Europe would depend on technology, logic, innovation, and on people working together. That is why KIVI NIRIA and KVIV sat down together to found a network for the young graduates of their organisations to interact and get to know each other. Their aim was to make friends across borders and learn how to work together. Not long after, the VDI from Germany joined them, and in 1995, the first two European Young Engineers conferences took place in Antwerp and Amsterdam. EYE, it seems, had hit the ground running, and by 2002 the network had grown to twelve organisations in ten countries. 18% of the participants at the 16th conference, which took place in Bruges, had been to at least 5 EYE conferences and were serious serial attendees. Another 18% had attended 3-5 conferences before, 31% had been once or twice, and 29% were newcomers. These numbers show how addictive being an EYE can be. Also in 2002 the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACE) from the UK joined as the 13th member, followed by FNTS from Bulgaria in 2003, and nowadays the network has 22 member organisations from 16 different countries. What makes the network so successful, though? I Visit us at Hannover Messe 2016: hall 6, booth K16.
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European Young Engineers - EYE Contact