More exciting developments within the SAIMC
We are firmly in the grasp of winter and my wardrobe has had a few timely additions over the past few weeks. Fortunately we still have plenty of sunshine in winter, so that makes the cold less depressing, more than I can say for some of the European countries. Yes, we need to appreciate our wonderful country more, despite all the challenges!
The good news is that we have finalised the place, time, date and entertainment for our annual Gala Dinner. Please diarise Friday 2 October, 18h30, at the Maslow Hotel Sandton. It is the same posh venue as last year, and we have two new speakers this year. We are honoured to have a representative of the winner of the 2014 Siemens Cyber Junkyard competition to speak to us on the experience. In addition, we are proud to announce that Pieter Geldenhuys will be giving us an exciting glimpse of what our future will be like. I am sure you all want a break from the side-splitting comedians – LOL.
Pieter is an internationally renowned futurist and expert in the field of Innovation and Technology Strategy. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation, a boutique consultancy that allows companies to leverage their own innovative potential. The Institute has delivered more than 3000 students and 80 innovation projects across the technology and financial landscape over the past decade. Prof. Tommy du Plessis, director of the Potchefstroom Business School has the following comment: “Pieter is one of the most inspiring and insightful public speakers I have had the pleasure of meeting. He is one of the few futurists that I am aware of that has been spot on with nearly all his predictions over the past 15 years.”
With such a line-up, I am sure you are all enthusiastic to attend and sponsor again this year. Please contact Ina on [email protected] for details on the costs.
Whilst the PR committee was busy with all this fun planning, the Education and Training (E&T) committee was busy with some exciting discussions with a tertiary institution that want to be nationally recognised for process automation. The synergies between our organisations are obvious and our ever hard working E&T Committee chair, Johan Maartens, is busy drafting a proposal with the E&T team. On the subject of the E&T committee, I am proud to announce that we have had some high-profile additions to this important committee: Rob MacKenzie, managing director at Endress+Hauser and Johan Louw, managing director of Yokogawa South Africa. We welcome these two gentlemen on-board and know that they will assist Johan Maartens in taking the E&T committee to new heights. The E&T committee is also forging closer links with the Engenius Youth programme of ECSA (http://www.engenius.org.za/). Engenius spreads the news to young people about the engineering profession, and we introduced them to the FLL and FTC participants at the All Africa Championships held at the AAF 2015. We hope that the great impression these competitions made on the ECSA representatives will raise the profile for these competitions and thereby support for them both financial and moral.
The value proposition committee is also hard at work finalising our offerings to the various stakeholders in the industry. We hope to have these finalised in the next period so we can add more value as the SAIMC to our under-recognised industry. We will also continue to raise the profile of the organisation amongst the general engineering fraternity and you will see a lot more activity on the social networks from the SAIMC in coming months. This will take a lot of co-ordination of our branch secretaries and our newly appointed general secretary, Johan van Jaarsveldt (JvJ), is fully up to this important and demanding task. JvJ has been keeping a low profile over the past few years, after serving in many roles in the past, amongst them president and treasurer. Welcome back JvJ!
We as the SAIMC council would like to place on record our sincerest gratitude to John Owen-Ellis, our outgoing general secretary, who has served us so diligently over the past few years. John, your energy and drive really made a difference to the smooth running of our organisation and you did not hesitate to become unpopular when it was required. We wish you all the best with your new portfolio in the Durban Branch, and I am sure we will still be able to rely on your sage advice from time to time. Thank you once again John, we know you were juggling a lot when we called upon you to assist us at council and you did not let us down, ever!
Stay warm and safe this winter, and don’t forget to book your seat at the SAIMC Gala Dinner. Sales are brisk as usual, so do not risk a disappointment.
As usual, please mail me your thoughts on [email protected]. I thank you all for taking the time to read this column.
Working together, achieving more,
Vinesh Maharaj, President.
| Tel: | +27 11 312 2445 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.saimc.co.za |
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