Building Bridges

Engineering Inc. magazine

ACEC members’ contributions to the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) expands the influence of the engineering profession worldwide.

An association can deliver big benefits to its members, helping to standardize practices, elevate professionals’ careers, and push a profession forward. Now imagine the power of an association of associations.

The International Federation of Con­sulting Engineers (FIDIC) is a global group representing more than 1 million engineering profession­als. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the acronym FIDIC comes from the French version of the name, Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs Conseils.

FIDIC’s members consist primarily of organizations such as ACEC that represent consulting engineers within their coun­tries. ACEC is among the largest of FIDIC’s 93 member associa­tions, and its leadership is closely tied to the international group: Many of the past ACEC board members have served in FIDIC leadership positions, including a couple who were elected presi­dent, and a current FIDIC board member, Manish Kothari, was a past ACEC chair.

ACEC’s informal engagement with FIDIC dates back to the international organization’s founding in 1913, when the United States participated in FIDIC’s initial meeting. Still, FIDIC’s official membership was exclusively European until 1959, when ACEC joined, along with national organizations from Australia, Canada, and South Africa.

To be a member association, a national organization must be the largest such group representing consulting engineers in its country. But FIDIC also offers additional paths to membership for people and firms located in countries without a participating national association.

The group’s work includes hosting the annual Global Infrastructure Conference, bringing together representatives of the engineering, construction, and infrastructure sectors to discuss critical issues facing the industry worldwide. The conference’s location alternates between Geneva and other host cities: The 2023 conference took place in Singapore, for example, while Geneva hosted the event this year. Through the gathering, as well as FIDIC’s broader efforts to influence global policy and standards, the organization works to “further the influence of engineering on society, and increasingly on the planet itself,” says Catherine Karakatsanis, FIDIC’s current president and chair and the COO of Morrison Hershfield, a North American multidisciplinary firm acquired by Stantec earlier this year.

Click here to continue reading the magazine article.