NEWSLETTER
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UNITED KINGDOM Association NEWSLETTER |
| No 168 | April 2002 |
The IPENZ / IEAust Pre-Christmas Soirée
This years pre-Christmas soirée was held on Friday 7th December 2001 in the Penthouse on the 17th floor of New Zealand House and signaled the start of the Xmas season. For IPENZ members it also offered an opportunity to entertain quests and thank others who have helped and contributed to the Institution affairs over the past year. It was our turn to host our Australian colleagues for this popular and now long established event.
A healthy eighty Engineers, spouses, quests and some excellent food gave the Penthouse a buzz it has not seen in recent years which kept caterers and barstaff on their toes throughout the evening. In the past, we have reported the Australians have out-numbering their hosts by 2:1. This year's event saw a much improved turn out from the Kiwis giving greater parity in the race for the fantastic food and beverages. Our Chairman, Gordon Weir, touched on this aspect of the event in his welcoming speech thanking the Hon Secretary for organising the caterers and the evening.
It was also time for reflection and sympathy with the news of Sir Peter Blake's untimely death. For anyone to be killed in such circumstances is a huge tragedy but in this case the whole of New Zealand feels it has been robbed of a leader and an ambassador.
On the whole, though, a very enjoyable time was had by all - a date to put in your diaries for the equivalent fixture at Western Australia House later this year.
Combined Technical Talk 2001
Hosted by IEAust on the 16 January 2002, the subject of the annual combined technical talk was:
"THE WORLD TRADE CENTRE TOWERS - COLLAPSE AND AFTERMATH" by Stuart Alexander
Stuart is Group Technical Coordinator with WSP Group, leading a team providing multidisciplinary technical support. He is a member of the Institution of Structural Engineers' newly established Working Group on Safety in Tall Buildings. A large gathering at Arups office listened to a graphic description of the incident and the current thinking on events leading to the collapse of the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. It was interesting to discover that the forces generated by the plane were probably insignificant to the fire load generated by the fuel carried by the recently taken off jumbo. It was probably this fire load that lead to the loss of strength in the buildings columns. It was also of interest to hear that one of the towers may have been very close to withstanding the event. Stuart then describe the magnitude of the clear-up task remaining and concluded with some suggestions for enhancing the capacity of major buildings in future.
Your Editor was encouraged to note the large turnout particularly so soon into the New Year. It reinforces the belief that there is a willingness in our members to attend these events. We must continue to find suitable speakers for these events and to talk about our work more with our colleagues, both within and outside the profession.
The AGM of the Association will be held in the Penthouse, New Zealand House, on Tuesday 11th June at 6.30 p.m. The AGM will start promptly to properly precede the Annual Reception, which will follow immediately after at approximately 7.15 p.m.
This year we have the great privilege of having in attendance the IPENZ President John Webster and IPENZ Chief Executive Andrew Cleland. After the AGM, they will give a short presentation on future IPENZ activities. The material will be based on that given recently to all Branches in NZ.
The Agenda, minutes of the last AGM and copies of the Accounts for 2001/2002 will be available at the meeting. Nominations are invited for the posts of Chairman, Honorary Auditor, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and the Committee for the year 2002/2003.
This year our Hon Secretary retires due to a work move to Edinburgh and our Chairman Gordon Weir is at the end of his two year stint in office. We are also looking for volunteers to assist with the production of the newsletter and database management. Send nominations signed by the proposer, seconder, and nominee to the Honorary Secretary at the Association's address. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the meeting. A special thank you to the committee for the time and effort that it has put in over what has been challenging year.
So, please come along and take part in the meeting. This event is your best opportunity to make your views known on what we should do, what we should be, and anything else relevant to our function, to the IPENZ President and CEO and particularly to your committee.
Annual Reception
The Annual Reception releases the members to the agreeable task of meeting together with all the others who have come along and to enjoy a time of pleasant eating, drinking, and discourse with old and new friends. There will be plenty to discuss following the AGM. Be sure to be there.
During the course of the reception, John Webster and Andrew Cleland will give us an informal lecture based on presentations given to IPENZ Branches in NZ. This presentation was titled Whiter or Wither. It outlined IPENZ strategic goals for 2002 - 2006. These included:
Prior to the AGM they also wish to have a working meeting with all of the current committee to discuss the future modus operandi of the UK Association and the future of Professional Practice Assessments in the UK. This meeting will commence at 5:30.p.m. and last for one hour.
Please gather your party, complete the enclosed reply slip and return it to the Honorary Treasurer without delay so that we can organise the catering and let New Zealand House know the names for their security personnel. Please note that if your name is not listed with security there will be strictly no access to the Penthouse.
| Location: | The Penthouse, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London |
| Date: | Tuesday, 11 June 2002 |
| Time: | CEO/Committee Premeeting | - 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm |
| AGM | - 6:15 pm for 6:30 pm | |
| Reception | - 7:15 pm for 7:30 pm |
| Price: | Free for members of the Association paid up prior to 1st June 2002 otherwise £12.50 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.
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. Now is the time to renew your membership. Membership forms are attached with your records as they stood last year. If any corrections are required, please return the 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.
Your newsletter editor is standing down at this years AGM and so we are looking for volunteers to take over this pivotal and rewarding role. With the increase in the use of new technologies, increased cooperation and sharing of information between ourselves with IPENZ HQ, the new newsletter editor will have an exciting time.
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.
Hodgkins tour planned
The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is planning a rare, international survey of Frances Hodgkins paintings for a tour in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The proposed exhibition is in its early stages of planning, but if it went ahead it would draw on up to 100 Hodgkins works owned in both hemispheres. No other Hodgkins exhibition in either country had drawn on key works from galleries in both countries, except for a 1969 centennial exhibition. Hodgkins' contribution to British modernism had not been properly assessed or acknowledged in the United Kingdom, despite her popularity here in the 1930s and 40s. Hodgkins' works were scattered among various British galleries and, with half of her output now in New Zealand, it is hoped the planned project would elevate the painter back to the status she deserved in Britain.
New Zealand slow to forgive stars who jumped ship
Russell Coutts hopes he has been forgiven for abandoning our America's Cup team but he will have to parade up Queen St in a New Zealand flag to win over many.
Skipper Coutts told CNN the country now understands and accepts his and tactician Brad Butterworth's reasons for joining the Swiss Alinghi syndicate shortly after they retained the cup in 2000. "Nah, it's about loyalty," said one as he nursed a pint. He had been fooled by the spin about Kiwi battlers who had to sell socks to survive ... that had just been about making money.
Clare Allington, of Napier, cast doubt on Coutts' parentage as she perused Viaduct Basin menus. "Like everyone else, I thought it was a rotten thing that he did and, if he comes back here and beats us he'll be even more of a bastard." Hamiltonian Jack van den Nakken regretted we didn't use brainwashing technology before they jumped ship. "It's the same with everything we're good at - these people go and teach everyone else how to play and then we wonder why we don't win any more. "Coutts wasn't just a sailor, he knows all our secrets and ideas." He predicted the outrage voiced when Butterworth and Coutts left would be nothing compared to the vitriol if Switzerland wins.
Eric Dyason, a yachting fan from Papakura, said if you're not with us, you're against us. The America's Cup was us versus the world. "What would we say if Mehrtens went to play for South Africa at the next World Cup?"
Dates for Your Diary
| IPENZ UK AGM and Annual Reception and visit of IPENZ CEO and President |
Tuesday 11 June 2002 |
| IPENZ Barbecue at Henley | Sunday 11 August 2002 |
| 2002 Joint Technical Meeting with IEAust | TBC |
| Graduates Evening | TBC but in November 2002 |
| Christmas Soirée | Early December 2002 |
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