Looking back through the history of the SAIMC I recognise some big names in the industry:
* Professor WJ Taute, who taught me how to act as a professional engineer while I was his student at the PU for CHE, now University of the North West.
* PAA van Wyk, who was my mentor at Sasol and from whom I took over the reins as instrumentation manager.
And then more recently, Johan van Jaarsveldt, a man that never wavered when new suggestions and challenges came his way and under whose leadership the SAIMC grew to where it is today. His knowledge of the industry and its roots is of tremendous value to us all.
Taking over from men such as these is a humbling experience, one that leaves me with a sense of awe. But then I realised something: it was not just these men who transformed the SAIMC; it was actually the whole SAIMC team along with their spouses. Yes, we should never forget the people who stay at home while their other halves are working for free at transforming the SAIMC into a real home for our profession.
Johan Maartens
Where to from here?
Johan van Jaarsveld already took the lead when he sent out a letter to our branches at the beginning of the year. We have three goals for 2011:
1. Get the youth involved in our industry. Here we have embarked on a venture with First Lego League.
2. Create a network in which our distributed knowledge and experience can be leveraged for the benefit of industry in our country. This has been made possible by a new website that will be rolled out this year. The website was designed by a group of SAIMC members in Durban and Cape Town under the leadership of Vinesh Maharaj. The implementation is not yet complete, but the result is an already stunning design that is there for everyone to see.
3. Improve the knowledge of our members. This will be done through the new CPD system, Technical Evenings, articles in SA Instrumentation and Control and many more.
These are exciting times for the SAIMC. We have been blessed with so many men and women who could take over the role of president at a moment’s notice and make a success of it. I am proud to be associated with ‘my pals at the SAIMC’ as my wife calls them. Visit us at http://www.saimc.net and see why we are so excited!
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