The SAIMC Cape Town Branch held its inaugural Excellence in Automation Award in December 2012. The award was specifically designed for Cape Town members of the Society who have demonstrated an exceptional role in the concept, design and successful implementation of an automation project within the Western Cape area. The initiative was derived from a need to provide recognition to SAIMC members, one of the major missions of the SAIMC. Entry was limited to the 130 members of the Cape Town Branch and nominations were shortlisted based on entry requirements and the quality of submissions. Final scoring was based on the following criteria:
* Impact in industry.
* Technical originality.
* Usefulness.
* Successful implementation.
* Use of local skills.
* Awards, papers and publications.
The four shortlisted projects reviewed by the panel were:
* The City Of Cape Town: for the upgrading of an obsolete water treatment plant control panel with a PLC and scada solution.
* ADP Projects: for the first modular acidising plant with a PLC automated gas scrubber for a diamond mine.
* RTS: for the design and implementation of an end of line tester that was used to test and validate that assembled vehicle mirrors on a production line are free of defects.
* Ilitha Project Services: for the ACSA fire fighting simulator upgrade project.
The winner was Real Time Solutions.
SA Navy site visit
This site visit was exciting and well attended. Members were welcomed by the captain of the naval frigate SAS Spioenkop, who briefly informed the members about the ship and then explained about the SA Navy and what it is currently involved in. It was great to hear that our navy is doing work in Africa and peace-keeping missions. The SA Navy is also assisting the international community with pirate patrols in east Africa. We were then taken to one of the new submarines, SAS Queen Modjadji. We learned a lot from the tour. The submarine engineers showed the members the torpedo tubes and how they are loaded and deployed. The submarine produces its own water and oxygen and continuously monitors its environment via various instruments to ensure that the crew can survive. Members were amazed by the tiny living space that is available for the crew.
The navy is quite a different environment, and the members learned a lot from the site visit. We were well received by the SA Navy’s public relations office in Simon’s Town. Each member even received a little goodie bag with some reading material and other goodies. The SA Navy really went out of their way to make us welcome. The branch thanks the Naval Base Simon’s Town for its Ubuntu.
Branch activities
The branch will be hosting its AGM on Wednesday the 6 February at the Eskom Marketing Centre in Edgemead. The AGM will kick off the year for the branch with a new committee being elected. The chairman will also present the chairman’s report and the financial statement for 2012. The year 2012 was an eventful year for the branch with various new initiatives such as the automation awards, site visits, social media, and SAIMC branded clothing. Members are encouraged to attend the AGM so that they can add value and let their voice be heard. Please look out for further details on our social media forums such as twitter, facebook and LinkedIn. Just search for ‘SAIMC Cape Town’ to get all the information with regards to the branch.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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