Chairman's Report 2005
2005 AGM
Victoria Branch
2005 Annual General Meeting
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
2005 has been another busy year for the IEE. I am sure that at the top of most members’ mind is the merger with IIE to form the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). While we still have to wait until next year to understand most of the changes, I am sure it will be an exciting time for the Institution and its members.
At a local level, we have seen the continued growth of the Younger Members Section. There is now a student IEE presence at most Victorian universities, with the number of committee members growing. These enthusiastic students are being supported by an energetic group on the YMS committee, made up of both students and recent graduates. They are maintaining their international reputation as being a best practice example of what a YMS should be by supporting the new generation of electrical engineers. I feel proud to be involved with one of the most active (if not the most active) YMS in the IEE world.
Recently, we have also begun creating closer ties with our sister institutions, particularly Engineers Australia. While we have been involved in organising joint technical seminars for many years, there is no doubt that there are mutual benefits from working together in other areas, such as major events.
This year has also seen many other activities and events, some of which I have detailed below.
Thanks for your continued support in 2005 and we look forward to welcoming you to our many exciting events planned for 2006.
Marguerite Fitzgerald
Honorary Chair
Competitions And Awards
2005 IEE Buddy Scheme - the mentoring scheme for IEE student members, joined forces with Ericsson to run a design competition. Mentor-mentee pairs from Melbourne and Monash Universities designed products based on IP Mulitmedia Subsystem technology and were judged on innovation, market research and design sensibility. The winning team was Dilani Kahawala and Sebastian Castro from Monash University, with their ‘Virtual Wallet’. This extremely successful event will run again next year and include more local universities.
The State Final of the Australian Technical Presentation Prize was held in March with a quality group of entrants. The winner was Darren Hayes of La Trobe University. Darren put on an impressive performance in the National Final in Perth in April, but was beaten by the South Australian entrant, who went on the win the International Final, held in November in the UK.
Events
The IEE Annual Dinner 2005 was held in August this year. It was a smaller event than in previous years, with 17 members enjoying the evening. Next year will once again see the return of the larger dinner, with a speaker and other special guests
2005 Faraday Lecture entitled ‘Control Freaks? How Robots Affect Your World’ was held during Science Week at ScienceWorks.
Administration Support
Early 2005, Mrs Melanie Williams took over the role of IEE Victoria Secretariat. Melanie is based in Canberra and has been involved with the IEE Australia for many years. As such, she has a deep understanding of how the IEE operates as well as knowing many of the administration staff in the UK
Communications
With the introduction of the single central database located at Head Office, IEE Victoria has been compelled to change its way of communicating with its members. All emails are now sent out from Head Office. If you have any comments on this or have not been receiving email communication and would like to, please contact our Secretariat at ieevictoria@iee.org
The IEE Victoria website is now complemented by the YMS website, located at www.iee.org.au. This website has enhanced functionality that allows members to register for events and join discussion forums
Membership
Sam McLaughlin has continued his excellent work around Australia in the recruitment and retention of Student and Younger Members. In the last year, his work has paid off for Victoria:
Number of members increased by 72 over the year
There were 55 new Student Members
The retention rate of Student Members is now over 90%
Australia Forum
Recent focus of the Forum has been on the re-signing of the Tripartite Agreement. The new document will be signed in the coming months and will be available on the IEE website soon after
There has been significant work around the new IEE Australia Strategy, which was developed last year. Unfortunately, there have been a number of setbacks, due partly to the merger and partly to a change in international focus towards China and India
UK
As has been advised in recent correspondence, the merger between IIE and IEE was voted in by both membership groups and subsequently ratified by both boards. The new Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) will come into being in March 2006. At this stage, there is only a limited understanding of what changes will be made. Working groups are being put together to define the new organisation, with further details available in the new year
Upcoming Events
State Final of Australian Technical Presentation Prize, 2006 – Tuesday 6th December, 2005, RMIT
Presidential Visit – 9th-12th April, 2006
YMS NetWork Student-Industry Dinner – April 2006
2006 Faraday Lecture “Emission Impossibleâ€