Inġiniera Malta is honoured with the election of Inġ. Michelle Cortis to the Executive Board of European Federation for National Engineering Associations (FEANI) as a member from the Southern Region. Inġ. Cortis has been elected with an overwhelming majority of 85% of eligible votes at the FEANI General Assembly held online on 7 October. This positive result follows her co-option into the Executive Board, which position needed to be confirmed via the election held during the FEANI General Assembly attended by 31 countries.
As Malta’s representative at FEANI, Inġiniera Malta is pleased to note that Inġ. Michelle Cortis is the First Maltese Inġinier to be elected to the FEANI Executive Board, for which she will serve for three years. Malta has been actively represented on FEANI through the Chamber of Engineers (CoE) since 1981 yet it has never been represented at an Executive Board level. This election opens up a new chapter in the international relations of the engineering profession in Malta.
Inginiera Malta congratulates Mr. Alain Jouanjus, from the French National Member, Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France, who has been elected as Treasurer on the FEANI Executive Board, and also thanks Dr. José A. Goicolea from the Spanish National Member, Comite Nacional Espanol de la FEANI, who participated in the election with Inġ. Cortis.
Inġ. Michelle Cortis, who is Chairperson of Inġiniera Malta and International Affairs Secretary on the CoE Executive Council, stated the following upon reacting to the result: “It was humbling to see such a level of trust from our European colleagues. This encouraging result was possible only because of the support of both the Chamber of Engineers and Kamra tal- Periti – especially Malcolm, Robert, Andre and Jeanette. Through this role, Malta will continue to effectively contribute to the international engineering community from our country’s perspective.”
The President of the CoE Inġ. Malcolm Zammit expressed his utmost satisfaction for this result and said; “The past few years as active council member were sufficient to show me the strong relationship which the CoE had built throughout the years with our international engineering counterparts, especially through FEANI. With the formation of Inġiniera Malta, I was certain that such relationships would only be fostered. Therefore, it came as a clear expression of trust when my colleague Michelle was proposed for co-option to the Board. Her historic election is an honour for the engineering profession and for our country. I am deeply satisfied with this development and humbled that as CoE President I had the opportunity to nominate the first Maltese Inġinier to the FEANI Executive Board. I look forward to an even brighter future for the profession.”
Perit Andre Pizzuto, President of Kamra tal-Periti, also remarked this milestone during the first year of Inġiniera Malta and stated that: “The Kamra tal-Periti supports Inġ. Michelle Cortis in her post on the FEANI executive board and that as part of Inġiniera Malta we will ensure that the voice of engineers in Malta will be represented in Europe.”
Inġiniera Malta expresses its continued support to Inġ. Michelle Cortis and looks forward to the fulfilment of its mission with the additional driver of being represented on the FEANI Executive Board. This election to the FEANI Executive Board is expected to mutually benefit the engineering profession in Malta and the European engineering community.
Inġiniera Malta is a joint committee between the Chamber of Engineers and the Kamra tal-Periti and is the National Member of Malta within FEANI, Fédération Européenne d’Associations Nationales d’Ingénieurs.