This will be my last communication as president of the SAIMC before we hold our annual AGM at the end of March. I have served two consecutive terms, it has been a lot of hard work with a number of new challenges and I have enjoyed every bit of it.
The SAIMC is in the fortunate position of having a very competent team of councillors who are willing and available to fill any of the elected positions. I have been both fortunate and privileged to have served with them alongside the branch chairmen during my term. At the March AGM, I will be handing over my presidential position to Johan Maartens and I would like to thank him for making himself available to take over for the next term of office. In closure, it gives me great pleasure to see the branches taking up the reigns for 2011. We as Council would like to thank you for your willingness to serve our members and our industry.
For the last couple of years the Innovations Committee has worked hard to further the SAIMC based on our constitution. It was found that many of the items defined in our mission were not being fully addressed and room for improvement was possible in other areas as well. Of course it is not possible to tackle everything at once, so council has decided on a phased approach.
Innovations 2011
Last year we changed the name in order to include automation and this has brought about significant benefits to members in terms of information sharing, for instance during our technology evenings. This year it is time to take it up a notch and implement more of the opportunities identified by the Innovations Committee.
We at the SAIMC are very excited about the year ahead and I would like to update you with respect to what we have planned. For 2011 we have set ourselves three goals:
1. To improve the value that our Patron Members are getting for their involvement in the SAIMC.
2. To give children exposure to our field to try and get them excited about our industry.
3. To improve the communication between our members.
Please allow me to elaborate on these and how we plan to implement them.
Patron member value and youngster participation
* The South African Government (via ECSA) is exerting pressure on all voluntary associations to put action plans in place to allow previously disadvantaged people to join the ranks of engineers.
* Our mission states that we are committed to education within our field of expertise.
* Companies are required to spend 1% of their profit on community involvement as BEE contribution.
* Within the SAIMC, one of the items we need to address is getting more practitioners into our field of engineering.
We believe we can do all of this, and more, by getting involved in the First Lego League (see addendum).
Improved communication
We have completely redesigned our website based on the specifications of a team headed by Vinesh Maharaj from the Durban branch.
* The website is built on an open standard and includes a forum where members can discuss issues and seek advice from one another.
* The url http://www.saimc.net has also been changed since the SAIMC is no longer limited to South Africa.
* The SAIMC has introduced Chapters within the organisation. These Chapters are specialisation areas within the SAIMC for members to exchange information with each other.
* Links to our official publication, South African Instrumentation and Control, have been included to assist with answering a monthly questionnaire about published articles. By completing these questionnaires successfully, members are able to accumulate CPD points to maintain their ECSA registration.
* During 2011 this website will be rolled out to all our branches.
We are extremely enthusiastic about the future and would like to thank each of you for making this possible through your involvement. 2011 is going to see the SAIMC transform itself into an outward focused entity that lays the foundation for an even more exciting 2012.
Addendum – First Lego League
The First Lego League is involved in bringing school children into contact with robotics, computers, control and the disciplines in which each of these operate. For example, this year they need to study blood cells and then simulate all the activity on a game board using a robot they have configured to transport the plasma, doctors, nurses etc, to the scene of an emergency.
The barrier to entry for many schools is the price of the kit, while others do not even have the infrastructure to participate in the competition – this is where the SAIMC can assist. We plan to build a fully fitted trailer that can be sent to schools that do not have the means to participate in order to get them involved. The idea for 2011 is to spend the Patron Members’ contributions to build or purchase such a trailer. The price is close to R100 000 and the trailer will be branded with the logos of all the sponsoring companies. So I appeal to you all to join us and get your brand associated with this initiative to get children from as young as the age of seven involved in our field.
Nothing prevents us from taking this experience and expanding it in future to involve process instruments and controls. We could start a countrywide competition based on the same principles, or we could do something entirely different. Let us think about it together.
[Readers wanting to view an artist’s impression of the trailer can visit http://instrumentation.co.za/+C14801A]
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | ina@saimc.co.za |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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