Firstly, I need to thank the Council for the trust they placed in me to elect me to be the President of The South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering for the next two years. Andre Roos has been elected as Vice-President and Gideon van den Berg National Treasurer. I look forward to work with Andre, Gideon and Vaughn the next two years to ensure the Institution serves the interest of our members and the public at large.
My priorities for the term will be:
On ECSA: I think we are all concerned with the current developments in the Engineering Council of South Africa and the implications it may have for our profession. I do however think we have a duty to our members to engage with ECSA on a collegial, constructive level and ensure the interest of both the public and our members are protected. I will therefore endeavour to engage with both the leadership of ECSA and the other voluntary associations in a constructive manner to make sure that the integrity of the profession is maintained and the interest of the public is safeguarded.
On our Members: I strongly believe that the main purpose of the Institution is to serve our members. I am of the opinion that this can be done very effectively through the electronic media, as we are already doing, but there is still space for face to face meetings and events where members can network and exchange ideas and contacts. I believe that the Institution should support our branches and share ideas between branches of how to better serve our members. I will also communicate regularly with our members through this column.
On the PDP: The Institution has spent a substantial amount of effort to develop the material of the Professional Development Programme (PDP) with valuable inputs from two Council members, Malcolm Black and Chris Reay. I believe that the way forward for the PDP is to roll it out in three or more branches, making use of volunteers from our members to act as mentors for the young engineers. When we have been able to successfully demonstrate the value of this programme to these young engineers and their employers we will have a better base to proceed with the PDP and motivate for external funding. I am committed to raise external funding for this activity, mainly from industry.
On Council: During my tenure I will make it a priority to convince some of our younger, female and black members to make themselves available for election to Council in order to assist with transformation and diversity of this body.
I look forward to work with our members, our branches, our staff and Council to make this an exciting and memorable two-year term. You are welcome to contact me with your ideas and offers of assistance to make this VA (Voluntary Association) the most active and influential VA of all the VAs in the field of Engineering.
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