The 5th SAIMC Vaal branch meeting was held on 3 June. Chairman, Solly Mabitsela introduced the committee to the delegates as follows: Colin Simns (vice chairman), E Grobbelaar (secretary and treasurer), Wimpie van Tonder, Eugene Podde, Herbert Karolius, Oratile Sematle and Mohammed Simjee.
At the function, Johan Maartens from the SAIMC council gave a presentation about ECSA and CBE (Council for the Built Environment). Johan is a registered professional engineer and he presented a brief overview of the history of ECSA and spoke about the role of the council in the life of professionals across all engineering discipline. Furthermore, he elaborated on the role of the government and associated bodies in the profession of engineering. The talk also highlighted the possible impact that government’s changing policy may have on the professional recognition of engineering practitioners at an international level.
In summary, an individual should register with ECSA for the following benefits:
* Peer recognition of qualification and experience.
* Public belief in professional competence: professional recognition instils a sense of confidence in the mind of the public, namely that a person meets minimum levels of competence, furthermore the public feels assured that a person’s competence has been assessed by other professionals knowledgeable in the field.
* International recognition: ECSA is a co-signatory to the Washington Accord in terms of which the registered bodies in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Ireland have agreed to recognise each other’s accredited university degrees in engineering. This not only confirms that one’s academic qualification is internationally acceptable, but also enhances one’s marketability.
* Compliance with statutory requirement: legislation, such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993, holds employers responsible for the safety of their employees. By appointing an appropriately registered person the employer not only takes action aimed at safeguarding public safety, but also complies with statutory requirements.
Johan Maartens’ well articulated presentation earned him a certificate of outstanding speaker presented by the Vaal branch.
Procrastination is the thief of time – every professional is urged to register!
Visitors
The turnout from the Vaal members was excellent with representation from fuel refineries, petrochemical, steel, mining, power, engineering, suppliers and many more industries. We would like to thank our audience for their unwavering support and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone again as this year continues to deliver enlightening experiences.
July Technology Evening
The Vaal branch welcomed Ryan Chetty, divisional manager of Sensors and Communication at Siemens South Africa, to its July Technology Evening. Ryan wasted no time in engaging with the audience and captured everyone’s attention with a brief history of the development of instrumentation.
During his presentation Ryan covered smart valve positioners and went on to describe their advanced diagnostic capabilities. Ryan encouraged group interaction which resulted in interesting discussions with many members of the audience sharing their industry experience. The presentation ended with a discussion related to the use of positioners in SIL rated applications and the use of partial stroke testing in order to reduce the probability of failure. This topic was well received by the audience which led to a thought-provoking discussion around the implementation of safety instrumented systems. Ryan stimulated the discussion and probed members of the audience to share their opinions on the issue.
Next branch meeting
The next branch meeting will be held on 5 August at the Iscor Bowling Club in Vanderbijlpark, where Dr André Joubert of Sasol will be teaching delegates how to use virtualisation in solving software problems in the host system. Delegates will be issued with some software on a CD and urged to try visualisation for themselves. Please contact Eben Grobbelaar on eben.grobbelaar@natref.com
The cold weather appears to have scared off a few of our regular attendees. In addition to the warmth of the discussions, the committee has decided to make hot drinks available for the next meeting. Our next technology evening is sure to heat up the Vaal triangle.
Queries: Solly Mabitsela, +27 (0)16 960 4399, solly.mabitsela@sasol.com
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | ina@saimc.co.za |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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