It has been another busy month for the SAIMC. We have completed the strategic planning session, participated in the very successful Process Show, surveyed our members regarding the rebranding and finalised testing of the website.
Our strategic planning session, held on 17 and 18 May, was well attended by industry and academia. We would like to thank all the participants for giving us their valuable time, especially over a weekend, and some also travelled far to be with us. The invaluable input we received will be compiled and published as a 5-year plan in due course.
One of the activities that will definitely be on the SAIMC plan for the next five years will be the Process Show. Process Expo 2013 was a great success as in previous years, and the SAIMC stand was the best ever produced. Thank you to Jane van der Spuy and the PR committee for a fantastic job! You have set the benchmark for the future, I am sure everybody who had the pleasure to visit the stand will agree. The process show is the premier C&I exhibition in South Africa and we will continue to support it in elevating the profile of our discipline.
While on the subject, I am sure that the majority of you will agree that C&I’s profile could do with some elevation both in our respective workplaces and in the general engineering fraternity. According to the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) we fall under the ‘Electrical’ discipline. It is one of my objectives as president to start the process whereby our specific discipline will be better recognised and respected in general, and in the long-term to have C&I recognised as an engineering discipline by ECSA. This will be a long process, but we need to start it now for the benefit of making our discipline more attractive and prestigious to ensure its survival.
The SAIMC intends to work closely with ECSA to achieve its objectives. In this regard they have asked for input on issues facing us where they can assist and thereby make themselves more relevant in the current society we live in. I welcome input from our members on this issue.
Member input was also sought during a survey that was conducted regarding the rebranding. We had 152 responses and the lucky prize winners were S. Shorer from Shorer Advanced Engineering who won the Coffee Machine and Zubair Moola from Eskom who received a Nexus 7 tablet. Congratulations to you both, your prizes are on the way. We thank all those members who took time to give us their valuable input. These results will be incorporated into our new brand to be launched within the next month or so. Our website has been undergoing extensive testing to ensure our users have the best possible experience. Once it goes live it will be updated with the new logo when the brand is finalised.
Finally, it is with regret that I have to report that our vice-president, Solly Mabitsela, has resigned from council. Solly has been offered an excellent opportunity within his company to be part of a project in the USA and has therefore had to relocate. We are very happy for Solly, but sad that the SAIMC has lost such a valuable councillor. However, Solly has advised that he will remain a member and assist us by representing the Society at Automation Federation Board meetings in the USA. We will be sure to take up this offer. In the meanwhile, Oratile Sematle has joined council as a worthy replacement for Solly. Oratile serves on ECSA’s interview panel for Electrical Engineering Professional registrations.
This is my update for this first month of Winter! I once again invite all interested parties who want to assist the SAIMC on this journey of improvement to mail me at vinesh.maharaj@saimc.co.za with their constructive ideas.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | ina@saimc.co.za |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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