NEWS
The Society will be welcoming its new First Class and Honorary members at its first dinner of 2026 to be held on 28th January at the Institution of Civil Engineers. Click here for a list of current members of the Society.
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At the dinner following the Society's AGM, the 2025 Smeaton Medal was presented to Rachel Chiu of Eutelsat for her pioneering work in satellite technology by Society member HRH, the Princess Royal.
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At the Society's AGM on 26th November, 2025 Professor Peter Guthrie was elected President of the Society for 2026.
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The Society held its Annual Luncheon at the RNLI Headquarters in Poole, which included a a presentation on the RNLI strategy and a tour of the training and boat-building facilities.
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​The Annual ICE Smeaton Lecture was given on Tuesday 22nd July by First Class Member Mark Wild, CEO of HS2. Click here to watch the lecture
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The Society held a discussion dinner on the topic of "Urban Flooding" on Wednesday 21st May, introduced by Mark Andrews of ME Associates, Toronto. Click here to read the discussion summary
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The Society held its annual President's Dinner on Wednesday 23rd April.
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The Society held a discussion dinner on the topic of "Water Policy" on Wednesday 26th March, introduced by Professor Brian Collins. Click here to read the discussion summary
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The Society has commissioned a documentary film entitled "John Smeaton - The Father of Civil Engineering" to coincide with his 300th birthday. Click here to view the film. The Society acknowledges the contribution of sponsors who have made this possible. This will take you to YouTube. If you like the film, please click "like" and leave a positive comment - this will encourage YouTube to promote it more widely to our target audience.
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The Society of Civil Engineers was founded in 1771 by John Smeaton and some of his professional acquaintances as a dining club to facilitate ‘conversation, argument and a social communication of ideas and knowledge, in the particular walks of each member were, at the same time, the amusement and business of the meetings’. The Society met in London once a fortnight, at 7 o’clock from Christmas to the end of the sitting of Parliament.
The Society was the first to adopt the name ‘civil engineer’ as a new profession, as distinct from the much older calling of military engineer. Following the death of Smeaton in 1792 the Society was revived as the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers. The Society is the oldest society of engineers in the world and embraces engineers of all disciplines. It predates the Institution of Civil Engineers founded in 1818. Members are known as ‘The Smeatonians’
