Governance

Bogdan Godziejewski FIRSE became the 101st President of the Institution on 24 April 2025

Bogdan has 40 years of international experience in strategic advisory, engineering, planning, research, and innovation in the domain of signalling and train control.

Based in The Netherlands at Mott MacDonald, Bogdan leads a group of enthusiastic younger professionals, focusing on specification, migration, safety, interoperability, and delivery related to the digital transformation
of railway signalling and train control systems. As a young professional, he was involved in developing the European Train Control System (ETCS), and he still supports ETCS and Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) deployments across the world, he also advises national authorities, transit authorities, and the European Commission as a leader and reviewer of technical studies and projects.

Bogdan's theme this year is ‘Engaging Generation Unlimited’, which ties in with an initiative from UNICEF highlighting the global implications of so many young people lacking the essential skills needed for the future.

He says, “The theme during my presidential year reflects the urgency of involving young professionals in achieving the digital transformation of our discipline and allowing the IRSE to take action and make change accordingly. There is no time to waste. I want to hear from young professionals who started their career recently, about their vision and their needs. I want to give them a voice, and allow them to ask how signalling and train control should move forward using system engineering approaches and technological advances.”

The IRSE Council is the governing body of the Institution. The role of Council and the duties of Council members are defined in the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Institution, but in summary, they make decisions on behalf of the members, as appropriate, in the running of the Institution, and generally have to ensure that the objectives for which the Institution has been established are progressed in a professional and satisfactory manner.

They are the Trustees of the Institution, which is a Registered Charity in England & Wales, and are also Company Directors, since the Institution is also registered as a UK company limited by guarantee. Certain local rules which are agreed by Council but sit outside the Memorandum and Articles of Association can be found in the Bye-Laws approved from time to time by Council. The current Bye-Laws can be found here.

Council members are elected by the corporate members of the Institution, i.e. Fellows, Members and Associate Members, for two year terms, and they can stand for election for subsequent terms if they wish to do so, as defined in the Articles referred to above. The results of the election process are announced at the Institution’s Annual General Meeting held in April and are reported in IRSE News.

The Council is supported by a number of principal Committees. Click here to view an explanatory diagram of these Committees.

If you are interested in becoming a member of Council a guidance document can be accessed here.