Another very busy few months have raced by, and the year is rapidly drawing to a close. Again there is a lot to report back on with the SAIMC and other bodies being very active in September.
Two very exciting events have recently taken place: The two Vaal University of Technology/Penmac conferences in Secunda and Vanderbijlpark were very well attended, very clearly highlighting the need for closer cooperation between industry and the tertiary education institutions to ensure that students are trained according to industry requirements.
The NLA conference held at Emperor's Palace was well attended and extremely well organised, complementing the team at the NLA under the very capable leadership of Steve Sidney. Several SAIMC members attended, returning with rave reviews.
Secretariat
After an exhaustive tender process, the SAIMC was able to select our new partners in taking the institute's administration into the future. We will publish all the new details in the next edition of SA Instrumentation & Control, introducing these new (and old) faces to the industry. I would like to offer my gratitude to all who participated in this process, and fully believe that this new, more integrated approach will assist in streamlining the administration and value to the market.
Membership
Membership numbers are showing very strong growth in most areas, and we wish to welcome all new members to the institute. We have recently embarked on an expansive database scrubbing exercise where all members on our database were telephonically contacted to verify the accuracy of their contact and membership details.
Innovations Subcommittee
The first SAIMC Strategic Bosberaad has been scheduled for mid October. During this event we will be addressing issues of strategic importance of the institute, aiming at anticipating future industry movements, and aligning the institute to ensure maximum benefit to our members. Should you feel that you are able to add value to the institute and its members in either the innovations subcommittee or the bosberaad, please feel free to contact me on [email protected], or keep an eye on our website for more details.
SAIMC Annual Banquet
The arrangements for the 2005 Banquet are rapidly falling into place, with this year's banquet offering something new: The theme for this year's banquet is: 'A measurement and control walk through time' which promises to be a very special event that will take our guests through a historic review of the developments of measurement and control technologies through the years. Very attractive travel and accommodation packages have been negotiated with a leading travel agency to enable guests from outlying areas to be able to join us for this exciting evening.
Date: Thursday 27 October 2005
Time: 19:00 for 19:30
Venue: Indaba Hotel, Fourways, Johannesburg
The banquet this year will feature a small exhibition of old M&C equipment, sure to fill visitors with nostalgia, reminiscing about the 'good old days'.
If you have not yet received your invitation, or booked your place, do not hesitate to contact me on [email protected] to reserve your table, as places are limited and going quickly. SAIMC members can also make their bookings on our website: www.saimc.org.za
Branch activities
The Johannesburg Branch has recently completed its first round of the newly designed technology presentations at certain universities, again followed by rave reviews.
The Witbank Sub Branch hosted an ever growing field of golf enthusiasts at its recent golf day held at Tweefontein Country Club, with the Secunda Branch having treated its loyal members and supporters to a stunning dinner at the Dros in Secunda to celebrate securing the prestigious Branch of the Year Award again.
The Zambia Branch has progressed far along the road to concluding a Memorandum of Understanding with the Copperbelt University to facilitate the development of the much awaited course in measurement and control to be presented for the first time in 2007.
In addition to the above events, all the branches continued their normal activities such as the monthly technical presentations and technical site visits. As has become the norm, the various branch events are popular meeting places where old and new friends get together to discuss industry activities and technology developments, and a special mention needs to be made to all participants and sponsors in making these truly memorable and value adding events.
Education and training
In addition to the normal education and training activities, strong progress is being made in the relationships with SAQA, certain SGBs and the relevant SETAs. By growing these relationships and combining forces, we are confident that we will be able to meet our objectives of delivering well qualified artisans, technicians and engineers to industry in the future.
Here is wishing you an exciting October in measurement and control.
Cornu Perold, president, [email protected]
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