SAIMC: Johannesburg Branch
April 2002
SAIMC
There was a saying in the Air Force of years ago that sounded something like this: "Daar is konfussie in die Ranke" (There is confusion in the ranks). The squadron drill sergeant would normally utter this when nobody knew what was expected of them. The same could be said of the Johannesburg Branch with the election of our new Chairman for 2002: Our new Chairman 'assumed' that the previous Chairman would be taking care of the monthly Branch News, and vice versa. This reciprocal assumption was responsible for the lack of news from Johannesburg for the past two months, but thankfully we have now sorted this out.
Branch of the Year 2001
They actually did it; Secunda Branch managed to upstage their parent branch by taking the contest with a two-point margin, to become the youngest branch ever to win this competition. It was done through commitment, dedication and sheer passion for the Institute, and our congratulations go out to Piet and his crew for a job well done.
As far as we know, the scores from Johannesburg and Secunda were also the highest ever. So far they hold the record for the quickest conversion from Sub-Branch to full Branch status (one year), and now also the quickest to Branch of the Year. What is next, we wonder?
Database
There are still a lot of our members out there who do not receive monthly invites and Branch information; if we do not have your e-mail address you will not hear from us. Please send your information to the address below in order for us to reach you. I sometimes wonder if anybody ever reads this column, everybody who reads this and sends us an e-mail in response, can come to our next meeting for FREE beer, FREE snacks and the best conversation this side of the Jukskei.
Council matters
The Johannesburg Branch is represented by two Committee members on Council this year; Cornu Perold, our Chairman, is the Honourary Treasurer and Johan Steyn, our Vice Chairman has been elected Vice President Council. The President for 2002 is Graeme Bell, Managing Editor of this publication.
Branch activities
As usual, our monthly branch meetings are held every second Wednesday of every month, except December, at the Rivonia Country Club in Achter Road, Rivonia. Topics and the programme for the evening are sent out the previous week via e-mail. Bookings for the first of our two Golf days are also now open, please contact Warren Mitchell at idconline@icon.co.za
Johan Steyn, Vice Chairman, SAIMC Johannesburg
johans@kubler.co.za
Further reading:
SAIMC: From the office of the COO
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SAIMC: Johannesburg branch: Distilled to perfection: Women’s Month gin experience
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The SAIMC Johannesburg branch celebrated Ladies Month with a gin tasting event.
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SAIMC: Durban branch
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The SAIMC Durban branch hosted S’yabonga Langa, systems performance engineer at eThekwini Electricity, who presented on applying substation automation to improve operational efficiency and service quality in modern power distribution networks.
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SAIMC INSPIRE conference extends abstract submission deadline
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Following requests from our sponsors, the SAIMC INSPIRE conference has officially extended the abstract submission deadline to 28 August 2026.
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Recognising practical engineering talent is a missing link in the South Africa’s skills pipeline.
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SAIMC: Durban Technology Evening
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The SAIMC Durban branch hosted a Technology Evening on mobile machine automation.
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SAIMC: Eastern Cape branch
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The SAIMC Eastern Cape Branch co-hosted a satellite viewing site for ICRA 2026 at Nelson Mandela University, giving postgraduate students, academics and local industry professionals access to premier international robotics and automation keynote sessions.
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SAIMC: Johannesburg Technology Evening
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The SAIMC Johannesburg Branch July Technology Evening, hosted by WIKA Instruments, covered key level measurement technologies and featured live product demonstrations from area sales manager Anthony Terblanche.
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International robotics conference streams live to Africa
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The SAIMC hosted five live-stream viewing events across South Africa for the IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation in Vienna, bringing global robotics research and technology directly to local industry and academia.
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