Built Environment Professions Bill withdrawn

The new Built Environment Professions Bill has lead to much controversy around the future of ECSA as official engineering council for professional engineers. Subsequently the IMESA Council decided during its meeting on 28 October 2008 in Bloemfontein to state that “IMESA supports an independent engineering professional council in the interest of technological development in South Africa and to maintain our international technological standing”.

In the mean time Engineering News of 18 November 2008 reported that "The controversial Built Environment Professions Bill has been temporarily withdrawn, newly appointed Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge said on Tuesday, citing technical and legal issues. The objective of the Built Environment Professions Bill was to foster the accelerated transformation of professions, such as engineering, architecture, and quantity surveying, and also proposes the establishment of a new South African Council for the Built Environment (SACBE). This supercouncil would incorporate all the existing professional councils, including the influential Engineering Council of South Africa, and transform them into subsidiary boards" .  Read the full report on .....

 2008 Presidential Address

Out going IMESA President Mr Moses Maliba on 28 October 2008 in Bloemfontein: "Today, I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am proud of the fact that we are still one of the biggest players in the municipal engineering arena, due mainly to our members". (Read whole address ... )

 IMESA President for the 2008/10 Term Mr Johan de Beer

The new IMESA President for the 2008/10 term Mr Johan de Beer from Cape Town, during the inauguration on Tuesday 28 October 2008 in Bloemfontein. Congratulations!!

Most Senior Member of IMESA Exco and Council Retires 

One of the most senior members of the Executive Committee and Council and previous President of IMESA decided to retire. Frik Bosman and his wife Vida were well known for the faultless operation of the IMESA office until 2006. Vida assisted him as Secretary/Treasurer between 1997 and 2006. Frik Bosman (Pr Eng) made an unprecedented contribution to IMESA: He is a member of IMESA since 1976 (32 years) A member of Council since 1985 and of the Executive Committee since 1989

Second Vice President from 1991 to 1992, First Vice President from 1993 to 1994 and President from 1994 to 1996 (see picture left) Secretary/Treasurer from 1997 to 2006 and assisted by his wife Vida during this very demanding task Deputy President from 2007 to 2008 and Represented IMESA at IFME during their conferences in Oslo in Norway in 1994 and Jerusalem in Israel in 1997 Frik, we thank you and salute you and your wife Vida for the unselfish and extended contribution that you made to IMESA. We wish you both a well earned rest from the IMESA activities with the hope that we can still rely on you for advice in the future.

More than 300Mb Legal Freeware on 2008 Conference CD

The 2008 Conference Committe provided more than 300Mb of legal freeware on the 2008 Conference CD (see more under Computer Applications under Knowledge Sharing). The following software is provided:

IPWEA and IFME Call for Abstracts / Speakers (click here)

The Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) and the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME) invite proposals for papers for the Melbourne International Public Works Conference to be held from Sun 6th - Thurs 10th September 2009 at the Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre. Abstracts are to be submitted by email to ipwea@aomevents.com using the Word template (click here) by Wednesday 3rd December 2008

Thank you for Your Support for the 2008 Conference  

It was a great pleasure to welcome you to the 72nd IMESA conference, exhibition and Project Excellence Awards in Bloemfontein this year. It was a wonderful opportunity to be involved in the planning and organising of this event. We hope that you experienced a pleasant and entertaining conference.

Our theme for this year, Innovation - the Road to Service Excellence, was intended to demonstrate to what extent engineers and suppliers are able to think innovatively. My impression was that they indeed surpassed all expectations in that regard. The conference furthermore concentrated on knowledge-sharing and I’m confident that everyone could learn something from the well prepared and presented papers of the presenters.

The conference was held, for the first time, in a theatre complex and delegates could enjoy the luxury and comfort of an international-style auditorium. To highlight the presentations, two motivational/ special presentations have been organised for the after-lunch sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. We received very positive feedback on the special presentations by Prof Hoffman on astrophysics and Ian Thomas and the behaviour of the king of the animals.

The IMESA 2008 conference could not be a success without the kind contribution and presence of those who support us as IMESA colleagues, delegates, presenters, sponsors and exhibitors. We gratefully thank you for the exceptional contributions, team spirit and support in that regard.

Delegates’ Comments on Conference

35 Delegates commented on the 2008 Conference. Delegates could evaluate different aspect of the conference, like:

• The IMESA Website
• 2008 Conference Exhibition
• Printed Announcements in IMESA Journal
• Printed Proceedings (new format)
• Conference Bag
• Conference Lunches
• Tuesday Social Function
• Thursday Social Function
• Standard of Presentations
• Standard of Audio Visual
• Standard of Chairpersonship
• Was your attendance at the Conference Worthwhile (worth it)?

Delegates could score each of the aspects on a scale of 1 (poor)  to 5 (excellent) or red to blue as shown in the frequency diagram below:

Excepts for the lunches that were provide by the Sand du Plessis staff (they wouldn’t allow us to use private suppliers) Delegates rated all aspects of the conference as excellent (blue) or good (green) as shown in the diagram above. It is evident that Delegates preferred the new bounded format of the Proceedings instead of the old file system and the new approach followed with the audio visual presentations that were menu driven.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank all the members of the 2008 conference organising committee over the past 12 months for their dedicated commitment. They were in random order:

• Anton Naude for his dedicated control of presentations from the Control Room
• Henry Böning who was responsible for the papers and presentations
• Janu de Beer for handling sponsorships and keynote speakers
• Jeff Letsie, responsible for the golf day and liaison with the Mayor’s office
• Coen Bezuidenhout for support at the Control Room
• PW Labuscagne for support in the auditorium
• Marianne Oosthuizen for the organisation at the Sand du Plessis Theatre Complex
• Adri de Vos for the organisation of the social functions
• My wife, Toucha, for the companions’ function and general support

Gerhard Fritz (Pr Eng)
Chairperson of the Organising Committee
 

Proud Sponsors of the IMESA Website www.raubex.co.za

 

Thank You for Your Contribution to the 2008 Conference