Why Join Us

The most important benefit of joining the Society is that it brings you into contact with people who share your interests. There is always someone with prior or greater experience of a particular subject who can help you solve a problem or achieve a goal.

Membership is both national and international, so unlike a purely local society the range of potential contacts is extremely wide. Most members simply enjoy “chewing the fat” with like-minded souls, face-to-face at meetings, outings and exhibitions, or by telephone, email and correspondence in The Journal. Small groups interested in a particular topic are encouraged.

What your membership gives you

Whether you visit Marshall House regularly or live a long way from London, membership offers real, year-round value:

• Over 15 years of recorded lectures and historic material, including videos, to watch online whenever you like.
• Access to historic journals and the Society’s archive of knowledge.
• Specialist interest groups for digital techniques, engine building and railway locomotives, with more to come.
• Online meetings so you can take part from anywhere in the world.
• Friendly, inclusive WhatsApp groups where members help one another with everyday problems, from a tricky setup to sourcing a part, whatever your level of experience.
• Shared knowledge from members with decades of experience.
• Extensive workshop facilities at Marshall House, open to all members.
• A strong sense of engineering community, in person and online.

Wherever you are. So much of what SMEE offers is now online, from recorded lectures and historic material to online meetings and our welcoming WhatsApp groups. Membership provides considerable value whether or not you can regularly get to Marshall House, and members across the country and around the world take a full and equal part in the Society.

Share what you know

There is real pleasure in joining in and passing on your own knowledge. At each meeting the display of members’ work in progress is reviewed, giving members the chance to discuss their work. There are opportunities to help with training as an instructor on a subject you know well, or to give a talk. A members-only section of the website covers the interest groups, group projects and shared learning, and the Journal editor is always ready to publish members’ articles.

The Journal

Published six times a year, The Journal is a means of reaching a large number of people when seeking advice or writing on a subject, and for many members it is the key reason for belonging.

Facilities at Marshall House

Facilities at Marshall House are available to all members. Access to the workshops and library, as well as attendance at lectures, often makes the journey to headquarters well worthwhile.

Exhibitions & the Society competition

The Society takes part in major model engineering exhibitions across the country, a chance for those who cannot get to Marshall House to meet and display their work. These exhibitions also offer the opportunity to have work judged for the Society’s annual competition. Entries are judged against a fixed standard for certificates and medals; the award of a Society medal recognises an individual’s efforts (and can even enhance the value of a model), while the Society trophies form the only competitive element of Society activities.

SMEE is probably the oldest model engineering Society, and has counted some of the best known and admired model engineers among its members. But above all else it is a Society for anyone with an interest in model and experimental engineering, whatever their level of expertise.