The ERA Foundation, the British Engineering organisation behind the Born to Engineer programme, are today celebrating their centennial with an interactive timeline that focuses on their rich history.
Above – The ERA Information Bureau circa 1936 functioned as a clearing house for published information on technical and scientific research. Up to date records were maintained in a comprehensive card index that covered extensive data available in the Associations technical reports.
The ERA Foundation uses ‘Born to Engineer’ to support a wide range of Engineering and STEM scholarships and attempts to raising the profile of the engineering and manufacturing industry through supporting lectures, seminars and conferences, as well funding the “Born to Engineer” website and series of short films.
However, the organisation’s history dates back to 1920 and is one of the UK’s first Research Associations, and then one the first privatised research associations in the late 1960s before splitting in the early ’00s into a commercial entity and a foundation. The foundation now supports dozens of Engineering initiatives, including Born to Engineer.
Above – Part of the ERA integrated computer ( 1956 )
While today much of its work is done through its partners (these include Smallpeice, Royal Academy of Engineering, The Royal Society, Science Made Simple, Engineering Explained, Women’s Engineering Society, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and Imagineering) through much of the 19th Century the organisation was a bridge between the manufactures of electrical products (think everything from sub-stations to micro-processors) and their consumers.
Dive into the ERAs History now with their interactive timeline.
