NEWS
The 2023 Smeaton Lecture will be given by Smeatonian Society member Professor Peter Guthrie on the topic of "Sustainable development: from Smeaton to the 21st century" at 18:30 on 4th October 2023 at the Institution of Civil Engineers. Click here to book for this free event (online or in-person).
The Society held a discussion dinner on 24th May 2023 on the subject of "The Future of Transport - A Wicked Problem" introduced by Professor Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department of Transport. Click here to see a precis of the discussions.
The Society held a discussion dinner on 29th March 2023 on the subject of "Medical Engineering" introduced by Professor Gordon Blunn, Director of Heath and Well Being at Portsmouth University.
Nominations for the 2023 Smeaton Medal have now closed
Professor George Fleming elected President of the Society for 2023.
The Society held a discussion dinner on 30th November 2022 on the subject of the 2022 Smeaton Medal award: "Designing water treatment solutions for humanitarian settings". Click here to see a precis of the discussions.
Francesca O'Hanlon awarded the 2022 Smeaton Medal. Click here to find out more.
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’
