Chairman's Report 2006

Victoria Branch

2006 Annual General Meeting

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Things keep get busier and busier in the world of the IET Victoria. 2006 started with a bang – the Student Recruitment drive saw more student members join up in the first few weeks of semester than at any other time since free membership was discontinued.

This was quickly followed by the Presidential visit and NetWork 2006. These two events were timed to coincide with the launch of the new institution - Sir John Chisholm’s first official duties as President of the IET were in Australia. And I take this opportunity to welcome all the former IEE and IIE members to the new IET.

The Presidential visit once again confirmed Victoria’s status as one of the best practice branches in the IET world. Not only has the Australian Technical Presentation Prize, which was developed here, been taken global as the Present Around the World competition, but Victoria’s Younger Member and Student model as well as NetWork have caught the attention of head office, who are now looking for ways to replicate our successes.

2006 has also seen significant cooperation with local industry. The Power Careers In Focus Mentoring Scheme was launched by the YMS Industry Group in July, with strong support from many power companies. Later year students have also embraced the opportunities the program provides, including seminars, site visits and one-on-one time with a young professional working in the industry.

Our relationship with the Power Industry is anticipated to grow, with IET Victoria currently in discussions with power companies to launch a Power Academy in Victoria. This is a scholarship program based on the successful IET Power Academy, where second year electrical engineering students will be awarded scholarships to continue their studies in Power Engineering. We are hoping to launch this program officially in the new year, so keep your ears open.

We have also strengthened at an organisational level in the past 12 months. The YMS Committee now comprises over 20 students and young professionals, being supported by significant activity at the universities and through sub-committees, including the Industry Group, the Events sub-committee and the Communications sub-committee. The Branch committee has also increased in size, with a new permanent member, Mike Gill, as well as supporting advisors. But we are always looking for new faces – if you are interested in joining, or would even like to know more, I’d love to hear from you.

One of the areas that I know has been of concern to many members is how we communicate with them. We have been endeavouring to rectify the issues that have been brought to our attention. In particular, we have now launched our new website, which can be found at www.theiet.org.au/vic. I think you will agree that it is much more aesthetically pleasing as well as being easier to use. Thanks to Nick Car, from the YMS, and Dr Richard Kirsner, from the Branch Committee, for doing such a stellar job.

We are also pushing to make our communications more efficient. Most of you will note that we send regular member emails with details of upcoming events and other news. From February next year, we are looking to stop sending out hard copies of the newsletter, relying on emails and the website. If you wish to keep receiving hard copies, please let one of the Committee members, or our Secretariat, Mrs Melanie Williams, know.

Finally, we are about to embark on a survey of our members, to understand how the Institution can better look after them. We are starting with a pilot survey, which will be sent out to a random selection of 50 members, in the next few days. The survey will then be sent out to the remaining members in the new year. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to fill in, so please find the time to help us help you.

This year has also seen many other activities and events, some of which I have detailed below. Thanks for your continued support in 2006 and we look forward to welcoming you to our many exciting events planned for 2007.

Marguerite Fitzgerald
Honorary Chair

Competitions And Awards

• 2006 IET Buddy Scheme - the mentoring scheme for IET student members, joined forces with Ericsson for the second year in a row to run a design competition. Mentor-mentee pairs from RMIT, Melbourne and Monash Universities designed products based on IP Mulitmedia Subsystem technology and were judged on innovation, market research and design sensibility. In 2006, Ericsson's IMS consortium partner, MAP venture partners also got involved, offering unique consulting services to the winning team. The winning team was Dane Reid, Edwin Yap, Justin Senn Tiew and Evguenia Sashina from Melbourne University. This extremely successful event will run again next year.
• The State Final of the Australian Technical Presentation Prize was held in December last year with a quality group of entrants. The winner was Sorrel Grogan of Monash University. Sorrel put on an impressive performance in the National Final in Sydney in April, but was beaten by the New South Wales entrant, who has just won the International Final, held a couple of weeks ago in the UK.

Events
• IET NetWork was held in April and was a great success. Over 150 students and industry representatives spent an enjoyable evening at Melbourne Park, with some of students finding jobs and work experience. NetWork will be run again in 2007, with many of the 2006 sponsors once again being involved.

Administration Support
• Mrs Melanie Williams has continued her excellent support of the IET Victoria. Despite being physically distanced from us, residing in Canberra, in this virtual world, she provides us with a timely, efficient and effective service.

Communications
• As mentioned in the report, the IET Victoria has launched a new website, located at www.theiet.org.au/vic.
• As of February 2007, the newsletter will no longer be sent as a hard copy. Should you wish to continue to receive hard copy, please inform Mrs Melanie Williams on ietvictoria@theiet.org or (02) 6299 8300 (fax and phone). If you have not been receiving email, please let us know and we will make sure your details are on the central database in the UK.
• We are also trying to improve the quality and speed of communications. With the launch of a new Relationship Management database in the UK in the next few months, we hope that things will continue to improve

Membership
• Membership has continued to grow. IET Victoria now has 777 members, up from 735 last year. Part of this growth is due to the inclusion of the former IIE members, who we welcome to our growing and active branch.

Australia Forum
• The Tripartite Agreement, between IET, IEEE and EA was signed in April. The new agreement no longer includes a membership discount for members who join more than one organisation – it was found that there were only 15 members in Australia who were taking up this option.
• The Australian Forum has just revised its strategy, focusing on the three years to 2010. When the documentation is finalised, it will be available on the IET Australia website, located at www.theiet.org.au
• It is hoped that in 2007, Australia will be getting a full-time employee, who will focus on the development of the IET in Australia. Confirmation of this is anticipated before the end of the year.

Upcoming Events
• State Final of Australian Technical Presentation Prize, 2007 – 6pm, Thursday 7th December, 2006, Engineering House, 21 Bedford St, North Melbourne
• YMS NetWork Student-Industry Dinner – 20 March 2007. Including a presentation by the winner of Write Around the World
• 2007 Faraday Lecture “Winning Formula – Technology in the Fast Lane”