111th City & Guilds College Association
Annual Dinner
The 111th City & Guilds College Association Annual Dinner will be held on Friday, 14th March 2025 at Saddlers’ Hall.​
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Our guest speaker is Dr Dolores Byrne, OBE, BSc (Hons), MBA, PhD, CEng Hon, FIET, FInstP
Master Engineer of the Worshipful Company of Engineers
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Dolores Byrne has spent the majority of her engineering career working in the defence & aerospace and security industries. She is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast and of the University of Southampton. During her early career as a systems engineer she worked on future command and control systems for the Royal Navy and later on future aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
Over the past twenty years Dolores has held a number of Board and Trustee roles across the public sector, in engineering industry and with charities. Dolores has been engaged in furthering the economic impact of engineering and technology, raising the profile of women in engineering and technology, and advancing the need for engineering skills. She is a Trustee of two charities which support engineers, promote engineering and spark curiosity to encourage the next generation of engineers.
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Dolores Byrne
She has been active within the IET throughout her career, serving as a Trustee and Vice President, raising funds for scholarships and bursaries for engineering students. In 2017 Dolores was awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the IET in recognition of her contribution to the engineering profession.
In October 2024, for a one-year term, Dolores was appointed Master Engineer of the Worshipful Company of Engineers. Her address will explain the history of the Livery Company, founded in 1983 and granted the Royal Charter in 2004.
VENUE
The Saddlers’ Hall - A venue with lineage and pedigree.
The Worshipful Company of Saddlers is one of the very oldest of the City of London Livery companies. The earliest surviving records of a Guild of Saddlers in London date from circa 1160 AD, although the Guild could well pre-date that.
Destroyed by the Great Fire of London and then bombed during the Blitz, the original Saddlers’ Hall dates back to the 14th Century and has been rebuilt several times.
Today, the Saddlers’ Company still has a close interest in, and involvement with, its original trade. This is exemplified in its support of the Society of Master Saddlers, its leadership of the development of saddlery training standards, its support of saddlery trainees and apprentices through bursaries, awards, and prizes, and its promotion of British saddlery.