IGIP, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, has national sections and members in 75 countries around the world. IGIP awards the International Engineering Educator title ING.PAED.IGIP. A number of engineering organisations (SEFI, IEEE, IFEES, ASEE, etc.) also recognise IGIP’s principles and curriculum for the pedagogical training of engineers and engineering educators in technical universities.

Tiia Rüütmann from the Tallinn University of Technology was unanimously appointed president of IGIP. Previously, she has repeatedly been elected in the governing bodies of IGIP, while still being a member of the IGIP Executive Committee, as well as the president of the IGIP International Monitoring Committee.

After the annual conference, Tiia Rüütmann said the following: “No one calls into question the fact that the teaching of students in a technical university must be science-based. When it comes to masterful teaching, the topic of educational entertainment is often brought up. Didactics is a science, not entertainment. Masterful teaching must, therefore, be science-based, motivating and interesting, and the applied methodology modernised. My priorities as president are to develop the international curriculum for continuing the education of engineering educators in order to support modern teaching, enhance research in engineering pedagogy, and to share best practice. I wish to bring internationally accredited educators to our university.”

Similarly to the articles of association of numerous other engineering organisations, the new articles of association of IGIP set forth that three presidents – newly elected, current, and previous – all work together for a certain period. This ensures continuity in the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly. The term of office of the new president starts next year in September, when the 50th IGIP annual conference takes place in Vienna, and expires after two years. The president may be elected for two consecutive terms.

Tiia Rüütmann is the seventh president of IGIP. The following persons have served in that office before her: Adolf Melezinek (Austria), Federico Flückiger (Switzerland), Norbert Kraker (Austria), Michael Auer (Germany), Teresa Restivo (Portugal), and Hanno Hortsch (Germany).

Such recognition was granted to the Tallinn University of Technology thanks to the university’s long-term participation in the work of IGIP. Thanks to this, it has been possible to bring several international research conferences to Tallinn (the 15th, 35th, and 48th annual IGIP conferences, the last one being virtual) and to raise the profile of the university in the eyes of world-renowned engineering organisations. The IGIP headquarters will now be moved to the Tallinn University of Technology.

The following persons were elected as new members of the IGIP Executive Committee: Pavel Andres (Czech Technical University in Prague), Tatiana Polyakova (MADI, Russia), Eleonore Lickl (Technical University of Vienna, Austria), Istvan Simonics (Óbuda University, Hungary), Matthias Utesch (Technical University of Munich, Germany), Axel Zafoschnig (Austrian Ministry of Education), Uriel Cukierman (The National Technological University, Buenos Aires, Argentina) and Wolfgang Pachatz (Austria).