The SAIMC Gala Dinner held on the 2nd October surpassed previous years yet again. Over 250 guests were treated to a highly professional and entertaining evening at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, backed by a host of generous sponsors.
Hosted by MC Des Burrows the event featured a string of high class speakers. SAIMC vice president, Oratile Sematle set the tone for President Vinesh Maharaj’s address. Vinesh highlighted the many achievements of SAIMC over the past year. These included its engagement with UJ’s Institute for Process Automation, its involvement with the highly successful Africa Automation Fair and the technical committee’s liaison with the SABS regarding the accreditation of industry standards.
He also broke the news about SAIMC’s collaboration with Profibus International. In other breaking news, he announced that Elan Communications has sold the rights to Africa Automation to Thebe Reed Exhibitions, which has the resources to take this exhibition to the next level and set the industry on an exponential growth path. Another highlight was the talk by the winners of the Siemens Cyber Junkyard competition, Nisrine Jirari and David Dyers – representing the first FET college to win in the history of the competition. They described their journey as they developed their automated fluid bed coffee bean roaster and the opportunities that this opened for them. This was followed by a presentation by Karsten Schneider, chairman of Profibus and Profinet International, explaining the details of Profinet’s collaboration with SAIMC.
All patron members were recognised with certificates of membership. The branch award went to SAIMC Durban and was received by committee members Jane van der Spuy, Dean Trattles and Hennie Prinsloo.
The cherry on the top was the presentation by Pieter Geldenhuys from the Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation entitled ‘Beyond Cyberspace, the World of the Post Net Generation’. This had the audience spellbound, and staggered by the new technologies of the future which are just around the corner.
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