NEWSLETTER
|
UNITED KINGDOM Association NEWSLETTER |
| No 152 | June 1998 |
Following on from our excellent visit to the JET research establishment we have been lucky enough to secure one of their main presenters to give us a detailed technical talk on "JET and Fusion Power: Energy for the next Millennia". The presenter will use video and OHT material to describe the role likely to be played by fusion in meeting future energy needs.
Starting with a brief explanation of fusion theory and practice, he will move to an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of fusion as a source of electricity. Finally, the presentation will cover the current state of world fusion research and the plans for further development.
Our speaker is Tom Elsworth who started life as a mathematician with a penchant for philosophical discussion. On discovering that management was better paid than science he joined the UK Atomic Energy Authority as a management trainee. Subsequently a career of 24 years with UKAEA revolved around company external relations and presenting the public face of research (in London, Washington DC and Brussels). Latterly, this took him to JET as Head of Public Relations. Tom is now freelance having set up his own PR consulting firm, Communiqué PR.
| Date of talk: | 7th July (Tuesday) |
| Time: | 6.30 p.m. for 7.00 p.m. |
| Venue: | Shell UK Ltd. (Next to the Savoy) The Strand London |
| Price per head: | £5.00 (to cover refreshments) |
Don't forget that this is a multi-discipline project of interest to all branches of engineering.
Many people are sceptical of the possibilities of nuclear fusion. At present more energy is required to produce fusion than can be harnessed. However, if the reaction can be encouraged to produce the required energy and continuity then as engineers we need to know about it. Britain will be at the forefront but once it is shown how safe it can be we may be able to replace some of our ageing hydro schemes in New Zealand.
Our thanks to Robert Minchin once again for organising this for us.
So gather your party and come along to the talk. We don't want to be outnumbered by Australians.
Please send your reply slip in promptly so that the Hon. Secretary can organise the catering and let Shell know names for their security personnel.
The AGM at New Zealand House was well attended. With plenty of food and drink to ensure the success of the evening. As a break from tradition it was decided to organise the catering ourselves in order to reduce costs. Jenni Withers, Melissa Kirker and Alistair Saywell worked hard in the kitchen to ensure that the lack of professional waitress/bar maid and chef went unnoticed. We are all grateful for the hard work they put in particularly whilst we were busy with the AGM itself. Thanks to everyone who helped with the clearing up afterwards.
A new committee was voted in as follows:
| Chairman: | Graham Barber | |
| Honorary Secretary: | Joanna Saywell | |
| Honorary Treasurer: | Selwyn Aickin | |
| Committee Members: | Brian Anderson | Ian Kirker (ex-officio) |
| Lindsay Barr | Robert Minchin | |
| Malcolm Davidson | Nicholas Smith | |
| Gerry Hetherington | Graham Withers |
As required by the rules of the Association, Ian Kirker retired from the position of Chairman but has agreed to remain on the committee. We are all very appreciative of Ian's work as Chairman particularly as most of it has had to be done at a distance. We are hoping that later on this year Ian will be able to give us a talk on some of the interesting overseas projects he has been supervising.
Fred Hughes is bowing out from his long-standing and important role as Professional Interview Co-ordinator. Brian Anderson has agreed to take over this essential work and will be assisted by Lindsay Barr and other members as required. There are currently six or seven graduates at various stages of their submissions so there may be some overlap required in the hand over of responsibility.
John Webley returned to Auckland earlier this year. We are very grateful for all the hard work John did for the association whilst he was here and his encouragement of younger members. We wish him well in his retirement.
Another long serving committee member, Keith Armstrong has also handed in his notice from the committee, but thankfully not from the Association, Keith has been producing our Newsletters for longer than the Hon. Secretary and outgoing Chairman can recall. His announcements of our events and snippets of news and politics from the shores of New Zealand have always been a pleasure to read. Any volunteers who would like to write articles or even edit the newsletter would be very much appreciated.
Ian Kirker thanked Fred, John and Keith for all their good work and contributions to the Association over the years and was supported in his thanks by all the members at the meeting.
If you would like a list of New Zealand contacts it is available from Public Relations at New Zealand High Commission. It includes,amongst others, the New Zealand Graduates Association, New Zealand Society and New Zealand Women's Association.
The correct address is:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~skaickin/ipenzuk.htm
If you are interested, there are a couple of other web sites which should cover everything anyone needs to find something about engineering.
Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library. This is a good place to start looking for any engineering topic or link. It looks very comprehensive, has links to latest engineering news, most popular sites, etc. and also has a search engine dedicated to engineering.
Another useful address is:
This is the Engineering Council homepage. It has a listing of affiliated institutions with addresses so anyone looking to join the relevant body can get all info in one place
We understand that a number of publications are also available on the IPENZ web page:
for those wishing to make application for professional review or other types of membership.
However if you do not have access to the Internet and you need anything posted to you please contact the Hon. Secretary.
New Zealand's women rugby players are on top of the world after winning their first Rugby World Cup at Amsterdam on 16th May. The women were a class above the other teams competing as no other team came closer than 33 points. They beat the United States 46-12 in the final. England beat Canada 81-15 in the play off for third place. Rumour has it, they could achieve a similar score against the male England squad currently touring New Zealand.
An ancient earthwork discovered in a remote New Zealand forest has suggested that the first New Zealanders may have been descendants of the Incas. An amateur researcher, Noel Hilliam, said yesterday he had discovered the site at Kaipara, in the far north of the country, and was certain it was not of Maori origin. The earthwork could have been built by a South American civilisation that arrived 1,000 years before the Maoris arrived.
Mr Hilliam, 60, who lives at Dargaville, near the site, said: "I have spent the past 40 years looking at hundreds of Maori sites and I can tell you that this is completely different." Mr Hilliam said he had now arranged for an anthropologist to examine the earthwork, which covers one square mile and consists of a series of overgrown circular banks. He said local Maori oral tradition told of a race that lived in the area for more than 1,000 years before their own arrival. He believes the descendants of those earlier settlers survive as the Waitaha people, now regarded as a Maori tribe.
A recent blood test on a Waitaha woman had revealed a factor otherwise seen only in Peru. Another researcher, Gary Cook, has spent the past three years photographing and recording stone structures that he says are also pre-Maori. He says the Waipoua Forest, also in the province of Northland, conceals a "treasure trove" of such artefacts.
The disclosures come just a few weeks after a Christchurch scientist, Richard Holdaway, confirmed that radiocarbon dating on rat bones he had discovered in the South Island proved they were about 2.000 years old. Dr Holdaway, a fossil researcher, said that because New Zealand had no indigenous mammals, the rats could only have arrived with humans on seagoing craft.
The Employment Minister has released figures which he says show the new community wage will be a real success. From October 1 the unemployment benefit will be replaced with a community wage, and those getting it must be available for up to 20 hours work a week. Opposition parties have condemned the plan, but Peter McCardle says a 70% rise in people on the community task force indicates the community wage will work.
The Minister of Local Government is encouraging the country's councils to consider merging with their neighbouring authorities. Maurice Williamson met with members of Auckland's community boards this morning to discuss the future of local government. Williamson says the country has too many councils and he would support councils considering joining forces with their neighbouring local authority.
In the Budget, the Government removed parallel importing restrictions, saying it would mean lower prices and easier access to some goods. Yesterday the Ministry of Consumer Affairs warned that if goods are brought into the country by an unlicensed dealer, they may be unable to be returned to the manufacturer for refund or repair.
New Zealand's El Nino summer may have caused drought conditions in many parts of the country but it has delivered a record crop of high quality grapes. Wine Institute chief executive Philip Gregan says the institute's 1998 vintage survey reported that 78,300 tonnes of grapes were harvested during the vintage - sufficient for about 58 million litres of wine, and up 30.5 percent, or 18,300 tonnes, on the previous year.
An economist says interest rates will rise further as overseas lenders realise that the New Zealand dollar is not about to bounce back to the levels of the past few years. Peter Harris of the Council of Trade Unions says that for 3½ years overseas lenders have been able gain from an appreciating kiwi dollar, and this dampened their demand for higher interest rates. Now he says many lenders will realise they are getting negative returns with the value of the kiwi down against many major currencies. He predicts a rise in interest rates as these lenders seek to compensate for the loss of exchange rate gains.
| Combined Technical Talk | Tuesday 7th July 1998 |
| Family Day and Barbecue | Sunday 2nd August 1998 |
| Big Ben Visit | Thursday 22nd October 1998 |
| Graduates Evening (to be arranged) | November 1998 |
| Christmas Party at Australia House | Friday 4th December 1998 |
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