23 February 2010 was an historical day when a group of international scholars discussed and initiated the process of establishing a new organisation called the World Accreditation Council for Research (WACR). It was one of the outcomes of the 1st WIETE Annual Conference on Engineering and Technology Education, held in Pattaya, Thailand, by the World Institute for Engineering and Technology Education (WIETE). It was exciting to witness representatives from several countries agree to the issues crucial to engineering education, as well as research in engineering and science.

There was a sense of optimism expressed by attendees on the future of the WIETE and the WACR, in particular, whose status and activities will depend on the international support and available resources. Let us hope that the global engineering community will come together to promote issues in engineering education and research to the forefront of international priorities.

The group approved Dr Adinarayana Kalanidhi, formerly Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, Chennai, India, and presently the Vice-Chairman of the Commonwealth Science and Technology Academy for Research (C-STAR), Chennai, India, as well as Vice-President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee (WIETE-IAAC) to serve as the Convener of the Council until further appointments are finalised.

Readers will find more information on WACR in a recent paper presented by Prof. A. Kalanidhi to the 1st WIETE Annual Conference on Engineering and Technology Education at this Internet address: http://www.wiete.com.au/conferences/1st_wiete/1-09-Kalanidhi.pdf