UNITED KINGDOM Association

NEWSLETTER
No 167 November 2001

Recent Events

IPENZ Barbecue
"The best for a long time"
The IPENZ barbecue at Henley on Thames was again brilliantly organised by Graham Withers, Ian Kirker and assistants. Thank you also to Mellisa Kirker for coordinating the salads and those who helped with laying tables and washing up. The weather throughout the day was sunny and warm. The company of the highest standard and the food and drink plentiful. A thoroughly enjoyable day was had by all. Our thanks to all who made it such a great day out.

Graduates Evening
IPENZ UK held a Graduate Evening in the Southern Cross pub at the start of this month. The evening was extremely successful being attended by 30 graduates and reviewers with our Professional Practice Assessment Coordinator Alan Raine giving a presentation on corporate membership routes and professional review requirements. Using the latest material from Wellington Alan was in hot demand from Graduates throughout the evening enquiring of their particular routes to membership.

If you were unable to attend then please contact Alan (see below) who will send you a copy of the presentation documents. He will also be able to match up Graduates and Corporate members for possible informal mentoring.

Future Events

The IPENZ/IEAust Pre-Christmas Soirée
This years pre-Christmas Soirée is to be on Friday 7th December 2001 in the Penthouse on the 17th floor of New Zealand House. We are taking our customary turn as hosts to our Australian colleagues for this popular and now long established event. For those who have not had the pleasure of attending this event, the views over London are amazing - one can walk around the perimeter of the building and look out over London. In 1 999 the event was attended by 80 members from the respective associations, their partners and friends. Your attendance on this date has added value therefore and with your active participation, the evening has every prospect of convivial success. Bring your friends to meet your and other friends who will be there, drink well from the stock of fine NZ beverages, eat fulsomely from the tasty buffet, spin your best yarns, (including a review of the most recent rugby results) and let the agreeable ambience of an accustomed gathering in prestigious surroundings take you forward through n enjoyable evening and on happily towards the Christmas season.

Note the Soirée details:
Location: The Penthouse, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London
Date: Friday, 7th December 2001
Time: from 7:00 pm for 7:30 pm and going on for 9:30 or 10:00
Price: £15.00 per head to cover food and drinks.

Please arrange your party and REPLY as promptly as you can to help ensure that the Committee can make all proper provisions to welcome you to a successful evening.

Combined Technical Talk 2001
Hosted by IEAust, this event has now been scheduled for 16 January 2002. The subject of this years Joint IEAust and IPENZ Technical Presentation will be:

"The World Trade Centre Towers - Collapse and Aftermath" by Stuart Alexander

Stuart is Group Technical Coordinator with WSP Group, leading a team providing multi-disciplinary technical support. This encompasses publications on the Group-wide Intranet, trouble shooting and training. He is a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers' newly established Working Group on Safety in Tall Buildings and author of technical papers an subjects ranging from gas explosions to the London rail network.

In his talk, Stuart will describe the events leading to the collapse of the twin towers and put into context the force of the aircraft impacts and the severity of the ensuing fires. He will then describe the magnitude of the clear-cut task remaining and conclude with some suggestions for enhancing the capacity of major buildings in future.

Note the details:
Location: Southampton Room, Ove Arup's Offices, 1 Fitzroy Square, London
Nearest tube stations are Great Portiand Street or Warren Street
Date: Wednesday, 16 January 2002
Time: 6:30 pm for light refreshments before the start of the talk at about 7:00 pm
Price: £5.00 per head to cover food and drinks.

Please gather your party, complete the enclosed REPLY SLIP and return it without delay so that the IEAust can organise the catering and let Arup's know the names for their security personnel.

Other UK Association News

Professional Practice Assessment (PPA)
Alan Raine is our Professional Practice Assessment Coordinator. His contact details are:

Ph 020 7957 3951 (wk)

Ph 020 8810 1916 (hm)

or e-mail PPACoord@ipenz.org.uk

Subscriptions
Our financial year ended at the end of March. Some 30 of you have already renewed your subscriptions but for the rest, your subscription for 2001/2002 is now over due. Membership forms were attached with a previous newsletter however they are available from the IPENZ website. If any corrections are required [to the the copy previously sent to you], please return the corrected form with your subscription.

Articles for the Newsletter
As always, contributions to the newsletter would be very much appreciated. If you have any news for us, events etc., that you would like us to tell people about in the newsletter, please e-mail or fax them to the Hon. Secretary. Feel free to write about the projects you are working on, any differences in British practice compared with NZ, or how you resolved any particular difficulties encountered.

Combined Technical Talk 2002
It is our turn next year to host the combined technical talk with the Aussies. The meeting will be scheduled for late early May. Recent past speakers have been Mike Smith on Crossrail, Tony Bracegirdle on Acid attack of cast iron tunnel linings at Old Street and Dr Robert Mair on Deformation of ground structures caused by tunnelling, Tom Elsworth on JET and fusion power; Energy for the neat millennia, and last year Ian Duncan on some aspects of the relationship between society and the disposal of radioactive waste.

If you know anybody that would be prepared to talk to our combined Institutions in early May next year please contact the Hon Secretary.

News From New Zealand

Clamps on farms as goat disease infects cows
Controls have been imposed on eight farms because of cattle being infected by a contagious goat disease. The disease, mycoplasma, is found in goats in many countries, but has just been confirmed in goats here for the first time. Eight Waikato and South Canterbury farms have had movement restrictions placed on them to stop the spread of the disease, after a Waikato dairy company unwittingly sold a tanker-load of unpasteurised infected milk to calf rearers. The "restricted" farms include a dairy farm producing milk from both goats and cows, two goat farms, and four dairy farms in the Waikato and a dairy farm in South Canterbury. Some of the farms are big operations, milking more than 1000 cows. A biosecurity official, Matthew Stone, said 34 cases of the organism in goat kids and 39 cases in calves had occurred in the Waikato and six kids and 10 calves had died or been put down. The organism concerned causes polyarthritis in goats, and has been a chronic problem in Californian milking flocks. It was reported to have occurred in New Zealand once before, in a single goat in the 1970s, but agriculture officials said there were no records documenting the case. The outbreak could also have implications for the sheep industry as the disease has been recorded in sheep flocks in other countries. MAF has set up a technical advisory group to establish control measures.

No Christian Cullen. No Jeff Wilson. No Taine Randell.
Those omissions, plus the shock inclusion of Waikato first five-eighth David Hill at the expense of Tony Brown and Carlos Spencer, were the big surprises contained in John Mitchell's All Black squad for the end-of-year tour of Ireland, Scotland and Argentina, named this morning. Members of the two teams who played out last night's NPC division one final dominate the squad, with 16 Canterbury and seven Otago players named in the travelling 30. Just one Aucklander, Doug Howlett, will make the trip with the team. Coach Mitchell warned of changes, and he delivered them - in spades. A concussion received in last night's final won't have helped the chances of winger Jeff Wilson to retain his place: although it was being mooted in rugby circles this week that Wilson, after a mediocre season by his own high standards, was likely to be axed anyway. Christian Cullen has not been 100 per cent fit for most 2001 and Mitchell may consider the talented flier may need more rest before returning to All Black duties. No explanation was given for why Qtago's Taine Randell, a former All Black captain, seems to be on the outer with selectors. Another Mitchell move to raise eyebrows was the inclusion of Canterbury's rugby league convert Brad Thorn, apparently to act as utility between the positions of loose forward (No. 6) and lock. While giving the touring party some flexibility, this comes at the cost of all-important height in the lineout. Lineouts have been a major problem area for the All Blacks in their test matches this year. Towering lock Mark Cooksley didn't make Mitchell's final cut of 30, while Wellington's Dion Waller, another who many had tipped for All Slack selection, was also absent when the roll-call of 'rnen in black' was read out. Anton Oliver remains as captain.
The squad as announced by coach John Mitchell is:
Outside backs: Leon MacDonald (Canterbury), Ben Blair (Canterbury), Jonah Lomu (Wellington), Doug Howlett (Auckland), Caleb Ralph (Canterbury), Roger Randle (Waikato).
Midfield backs: Tana Umaga (Wellington), Nathan Mauger (Canterbury), Aaron Mauger (Canterbury), Pita Alatini (Otago).
Inside backs: Andrew Mehrtens (Canterbury), David Hill (Waikato), Byron Kelleher (Otago), Justin Marshall (Canterbury).
Loose forwards: Scott Robertson (Canterbury), Paul Miller (Otago), Marty Holah (Waikato), Richard McCaw (Canterbury), Reuben Thorne (Canterbury), Jerry Collins (Wellington).
Locks: Norm Maxwell (Canterbury), Chris Jack (Canterbury), Simon Maling (Otago), Brad Thorn (Canterbury).
Front row: Greg Somerville (Canterbury), Kees Meeuws (Otago), Greg Feek (Canterbury), Dave Hewett (Canterbury), Anton Oliver (Otago, Captain), Tom Willis (Otago).

NZ science companies report gains in overseas income
The nation's largest providers of science research, the nine Crown Research Institutes, have announced big increases in export income for the year ended 30 June 2001, as they collectively achieved record revenues of more than $482.6 million. The annual reports of all nine CR]s have now been tabled in Parliament. The CRIs provide science and commercialised research in the industrial, environmental, agricultural, horticultural and forestry sectors, as well as water and atmospheric research.
The President of the Association of Crown Research Institutes, Dr John Hay said, "The significant increase in overseas income demonstrates that New Zealand science has both the ability and the credibility to generate healthy returns to the nation.
"For example, HortResearch contributed significantly to growth of $200 million in the value of New Zealand's horticultural exports in the 2000-01 year to a record $1.9 billion. Exports of baked goods, such as frozen pastries and roux sauces, have more than doubled to approximately $100 million in large part because of research by Crop and Food on quality improvement and product specifications. The work by Landcare Research to help businesses offset the environmental impact of greenhouse gas emissions will have ongoing benefits to the nation."
Dr Hay says CRIs are pivotal in the development of New Zealand's knowledge economy. "We must continue to invest in the capabilities of our people, attract and retain the best, and provide the right facilities and environment to encourage world class research.
"The significant re-investment by CRIs in new technologies and equipment will deliver income benefits in later years. It enables CRIs to better meet the developing needs of New Zealand's business and environmental sectors. "CRIs also remain committed to the continued provision of blue-skies research, to encourage discovery and innovation outside the existing boundaries of scientific knowledge," he added.

Dates for Your Diary
Christmas Soirée at New Zealand House

 Friday, 7 December 2001
2001 Joint Technical Meeting with IEAust

 Wednesday, 16 January 2002
Visit: Rolls Royce aviation engine plant and heritage museum in Derby

 April 2002
2002 Joint Technical Meeting with IEAust

 Early May 2002
IPENZ UK AGM and Annual Reception
and potential visit from IPENZ CEO		 2nd week June 2002

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