Our February meeting was sponsored by Surge Tech and presented by Paul van As. He discussed transient surge protection. A subject that we unfortunately only think of after the damage has been done. Paul also emphasised the need to co-ordinate the specification of surge, lightning and overvoltage protection units used in both power and data applications. It was an interesting evening and enjoyed by all.
Call for papers
If anyone would like to present a paper and sponsor one of our monthly meetings, please contact us. Preferably, these talks should discuss new technology or applications. Please send a précis to [email protected] for evaluation by the Johannesburg Branch Committee. In particular, we are interested in papers suitable for submission to council and to compete for the coveted Negretti Award as outlined below.
The Negretti Award is the most prestigious award in the field of measurement and control in South Africa; it was inaugurated in the 1960s to stimulate local technical expertise. Each year members of the SAIMC are invited to submit papers that have been presented at an SAIMC branch meeting or at an event endorsed by the SAIMC.
Conditions for this award are that the author must be a resident of South Africa; a member of the SAIMC; and the paper must be the author's own work (it may have more than one author).
Although probably most weight is given to the value of the contents, quite a lot of store is set by the way in which the talk is introduced, the way in which the speaker gets the message across, audience rapport, use of visual aids and the usual points one looks for in a good presentation.
The presentation must be written up and submitted before mid-September for consideration. According to the panel of adjudicators, it is a good idea to have an office bearer of the local branch present (if the presentation is not at a branch meeting) and to advise them that the paper should be considered for the award.
Because of the prestige and coverage which this award brings, it is not necessarily awarded every year and some years there has been no award if it has been felt that the standard is too low or there are not sufficient entries.
Education
The Johannesburg Branch of the SAIMC rate education as one of its largest portfolios and the most important roll that we fulfil. For the last eight consecutive years, Group Schneider has come to the front with a generous contribution enabling us to again support and encourage our Technikon students. Our Education Committee Johan Grobler and Nico Manewick will put this to good use. We thank Group Schneider for the contributions and support that they have given us year after year. Schneider grants have been paid to various students at the institutes below:
* Technikon Northern Gauteng.
* Rand Afrikaans University.
* Pretoria University.
* Wits University.
* Vaal Triangle Technikon.
This strengthens the instrumentation and process control industry for the future.
Site visits
7 April
Visit Wika Instruments local manufacturing facility in Benrose Jhb. Join us on this guided tour of this world class factory where you will witness first hand the manufacturing process of various process instruments, to name but a few - pressure gauges, thermocouples and chemical seals.
31 June
BMW factory tour - limited to 30 visitors, this is an opportunity not to be missed. Tour the BMW Rosslyn motor assembly plant. The cost, R50 per person, this includes lunch at BMW's canteen. For site visit bookings, contact Johan Grobler. Cell 082 853 0153 or send him a mail at [email protected]
Golf day
June? We are in the process of setting the date and it will be confirmed shortly. Once again, we are planning for two Golf Days this year.
Remember! We always meet on the second Wednesday of the month.
Thank you to all the branch committee members who so eagerly give of their time and put in a tremendous amount of work making this branch the best.
Johan van Jaarsveldt, Chairman
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