The story
The Danish Society of Engineers, IDA, was founded on 1 January 1995 by a merger between the two former engineering associations Danish Engineers Association, founded 1892 and The Engineers' Association (Danish: Ingeniør-Sammenslutningen), founded 1937. The two engineers' associations differed mainly in the type of engineers they admitted and thus in the positions they held.
The Danish Engineers' Association, DIF, was founded in 1892 as an association for graduates of the Polytechnic Institute (which later became DTU). In 1933, the title "Master of Engineering" was introduced for graduates with an engineering degree of at least 5 years.
The Engineers' Association, I-S originally consisted of 3 graduate associations for constructor and BSc graduates. These graduates typically had a shorter education compared to their colleagues from the Polytechnic, and they often had a more technical or craft-oriented background.
The two associations worked closely together on several issues and slowly worked towards a merger. In 1975, the two associations' membership magazines were merged to form Ingeniøren, and in 1976 the merger was put to a vote in the two associations. But the members of DIF were not ready for a merger.
It took 18 years before the members of both associations finally voted in favour of a merger. The year after the vote in 1995, the merger was a reality.
Chairpersons through the years
Laura Klitgaard, Master of Engineering in Architecture, 2022
Aske Nydam Guldberg, Master of Engineering in circular economy (Acting Chairperson until 2023)
Thomas Damkjær Petersen, Master of Engineering, 2016-2022
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Frida Frost, Master of Engineering, 2010-2016
Lars Bytoft, Bachelor of Engineering, 2004-2010
Per Ole Front, Master of Engineering, 1999-2004
Ole Schiøth, Master of Engineering, 1995-1999
From Wikipedia’s article on Danish Society of Engineers, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5