The Vaal branch kicked off the year with a well attended opening braai in February which brought many of the Vaal region members together. From the Vaal branch perspective the New Year brings with it a new set of challenges, therefore if you have ever wanted to serve on the committee, now is the time to get involved.
During the braai, the branch took a moment to introduce the elected committee members for 2012 (l to r): Resham Sivnarain, Godfrey Nyamande, Eben Grobbelaar (vice chairman), Solly Mabitsela (chairman), Wimpie van Tonder, Oratile Sematle (secretary) and Deon Lottering (treasurer)
One of our drives is to promote automation and control as a profession and encourage school leavers to enter this amazing industry of ours. In addition, the SAIMC collaboration with ECSA, in terms of accreditation of CPD training material, provides a great opportunity for professional engineers and technicians to get involved at different levels.
The first monthly meeting of the year was held on 1 March, Lourens Van Niekerk from WIKA Instruments was the speaker for the evening. Lourens has been with WIKA for nine years; he started his career in the temperature department and has worked in the associated product department for the last six years as product manager. His topic was ‘Isolators, convertors and transmitters in conjunction with power rail supplies’.
Lourens’ great presentation earned him a certificate of appreciation presented by the Vaal branch vice chairman, Eben Grobbelaar (l)
Great aspects of this type of technology are the wide ranges of I/O that can be accommodated, the flexibility, ease of configuration, high galvanic isolation capability, fast response time, high accuracy, vibration immunity, noise emission and immunity and wide operating ambient temperature range. An aspect that makes it remarkable is the robustness of the power rail and redundancy of power supply systems on the power rail. It is expected that the technology will simplify the implementation and commissioning of field I/O significantly and also provide excellent systems integration capabilities.
We thank WIKA for its consistent support.
Visitors
The turnout from the members was excellent with representation from the petrochemical refineries, steel, mining, power and chemical industries, as well as engineering, construction and consulting services and various service and product suppliers. We would like to thank our audiences and presenters for their unwavering support and are looking forward to welcoming everyone again as this year progresses.
Next meeting
The next Vaal branch meeting is scheduled for Thursday 3 April at the Iscor Bowling Club in Vanderbijlpark. Please contact Oratile Sematle on [email protected] for more information.
SAIMC: From the office of the COO: Ethical and practical use of AI SAIMC
SAIMC
In this day and age, we all have access to AI tools. A lot of people claim that if you are not using AI tools in your daily job today you are falling behind. But would it be ethical to use AI tools to write an article per day and sign my name to it?
Read more...SAIMC: Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The Durban branch of the SAIMC held its July technology meeting at the familiar Premier Splendid Hotel, drawing a strong turnout of industry professionals.
Read more...SAIMC: Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Johannesburg branch recently hosted the July Technology Evening at the Bryanston Sports Club.
Read more...Digitise what matters and leverage
SAIMC
SAIMC has been invited to partner with technology leaders 4Sight and NextGenOpX for a one-day industry event aimed at unlocking the full value of OT investments in the mining sector.
Read more...Bridging the digital gap in industrial systems SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
Industrial engineers, digital transformation leaders, and operations managers are invited to an exclusive knowledge-sharing event designed to tackle the complexities of digitising large-scale systems.
Read more...SAIMC Johannesburg branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Johannesburg branch recently hosted the June Technology Evening. The presentation covered HVAC systems through the lens of instrumentation, highlighting how sensor technologies form the backbone of effective monitoring and control, allowing for effective energy efficiency.
Read more...SAIMC Durban branch SAIMC
SAIMC
The SAIMC Durban Branch hosted its latest technology meeting on 4 June.The event drew a strong turnout, highlighting the keen interest in the topic ‘Understanding Level Measurement: Contact vs Non-Contact Methods’.
Read more...SAIMC at KITE 2025
SAIMC
The Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control Engineering (SAIMC) invites you to connect with us at the KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE) from Tuesday 22 to Thursday 24 July 2025.
Read more...SAIMC User Advisory Council annual summit SAIMC Supplier Advisory Council
SAIMC
The SAIMC User Advisory Council is proud to present the 2025 Annual Summit, formerly known as the MESA Africa Summit. The theme is ‘Mining and manufacturing in South Africa: SMART operations in a disruptive world economy’.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version