The Engineering Council this week said poor pay for engineering academics could "seriously damage" the United Kingdom's competitiveness. The council said its fears were based on the recent review of higher education pay and conditions by Sir Michael Bett. The report showed those teaching IT and engineers were among the most poorly rewarded. Council chairman Bob Hawley said: "If we fail to recruit and retain the best teachers of engineering, we will find it increasingly difficult to produce world-beating engineers."