IET WSW Chairman's Report 2006/2007

Firstly I should like to thank all our committee members for voluntarily giving up their valuable time often in the evening and sometimes on weekends. I believe we are the cornerstone of our Institution and directly contribute to its success. Whilst I would like to personally name all those who have contributed it is not practical, but one of our members has been recognized for his contribution to the IET, by being awarded the Local Network Individual Achievement Award 2006/7 at Savoy Place on 28 April 2007. From all our members, congratulations to Mr. John M Jones on this significant achievement.

One of the IET’s Mission is to enable and enhance the exchange of knowledge and skills between individuals and organisations within or community. By supporting and contributing to these interactions, the Institution of Engineering and Technology brings people and ideas into contact and helps to spark the innovations that benefit humankind.

We also continue to liaise with other professional Institutions especially the Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Swansea Amateur Radio Society with which we have a long association, and recently with the British Computer Society. There are other Institutions that we would like to liaise with and this also is part of our strategy for the future.

I wish to report that we had an extremely busy year with a number of interesting and exciting events including technical meetings and visits, career development events including a Prestige Lecture given by Professor Marc Clement, Chair of Innovation Swansea University and with the Rt. Hon Lord Trefgarne PC as presidential guest including a number of local dignitaries. It was also recorded by iet.tv and made available on the world web free of charge to everyone, including non-members of the IET. The Lord Lieutenant sent a congratulatory letter regarding this event.

There have also been a number of other SWS IET Events including very interesting lectures on Electromagnetic Surfaces from butterflies to battleships, Flexible Manufacturing and Lean Production Systems, digital Photography, Computer Control and Steel Mills and culminating with a very successful Members and Guests Evening at Trostre Works, Llanelli, led by the Curator of Trostre Museum, Mr. Keith Morgan.

I would also like to thank all the Technical Networks for their continued contribution to a very active and developing South West Wales Network. We also have a very active Young members section led by Mr. Luke Mainwaring and his team all of which we thank. A Young Members Competition was organized on April 26th and won by Mr. George O’Malley for his presentation Generation Technologies.

On April 30th I attended a House of Commons Reception Brief which was well attended by MPs and Lords the theme being What the IET does in your community. Meeting the Chief Executive Mr. Robin McGill and others proved extremely worthwhile.

The essential work of Professional Development, Mentoring and membership continue to be of paramount importance. Three members of South West Wales IET became recognized by the IET as Fellows: Dr David Doherty (Past Chairman), Mr. Mark Tomas (Chief Engineer, CORUS), Dr Ian Wells (Head of Computing, Swansea Institute).

The penultimate event of this year was the Swansea Living History Project which occurred September 18-22nd at the National Waterfront Museum & Swansea Museum. This innovative event the idea of Mr. John Jones who was also the producer was attended by 546 pupils and teachers (including 36 primary pupils) from 7 schools in the area and open to 60 members of the Public on the Saturday. Also in attendance were the President of the Royal Institution of South Wales, Mr. John Beale IET HQ and Mr. Mike Thomas IET Wales South East. The future looks interesting and we look forward to an exciting year ahead.

Dr Roderick Thomas PhD, MPhil, MEd, CEng FIEE, JP Chairman, Wales South West Network. The Institution of Engineering and Technology