SAIMC: The premier C event of the year - December 2013 - SAIMC

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SAIMC: The premier C&I event of the year

December 2013 SAIMC

By Kim Roberts, editor, Technews

SAIMC has had a stellar year and its highly successful inaugural gala dinner was no exception. Following the launch of its new brand in August, which unveiled a fresh new logo and website, the dinner was the cherry on the top, with a new venue, a new format and new entertainment.

Held at the Birchwood Conference Centre on Friday 25 October, the dinner was well supported with over 200 people attending. A new feature was the sponsorship opportunities that it provided. Sponsoring companies were very happy with the value they received in promoting their brands, showcasing their logos and boosting their profiles. Most table sponsors also brought along their clients, so the event was a reflection of the entire industry.

Paul Sikhakhane from the SAIMC Durban branch was an entertaining and effective MC, regaling the audience with some excellent jokes. Former Cyberjunkyard winner, Michael Ngandu, gave a passionate and inspiring talk on what this programme means to aspiring young engineers. To top this, guests were also treated to entertainment by the well-known and hilarious Conrad Koch, with some world-class ventriloquism and puppetry.

Education is high on SAIMC’s list of priorities, and during his address, which highlighted the many achievements of the year, SAIMC president Vinesh Maharaj announced that SAIMC, in a bold new initative, is to sponsor the upgrade of the University of Pretoria’s Automation and Control laboratory to the value of R200 000. This sponsorship will enable SAIMC to showcase C&I to electrical and electronic engineering students.

SAIMC has already supported the FIRST Lego League (FLL) with a purpose-built trailer to take Lego kits around the country to disadvantaged communities. Once these primary school children outgrow the FLL they need a bigger challenge to keep them interested in engineering. This is offered by the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) which is aimed at grade 10–12 learners. In another first, SAIMC is proudly sponsoring the FTC to an amount of R100 000 to help get this initiative going. Thus the SAIMC is contributing to all three levels of education in order to attract new entrants to the profession.

Plans are already afoot for next year’s event which will be even bigger and better and, with support from the industry, patron members and partners such as IIG, SACAC and ECSA, together with the SAIMC public relations committee, the secretariat and events partner, élancommunications, SAIMC is well-placed to build on this solid foundation and go from strength to strength in the future.