The President Writes.
I have always found writing difficult.

Thirty years ago my English teacher told me that my clear lack of ability would preclude any career that involved cobbling sentences together. I particularly remember being petrified when attempting any piece of imaginative prose that required handing in for marking. I was especially rotten at punctuation; still am! Would he, I wonder, be horrified if, 30 years later, he found me essentially writing journalistic editorials? I hope that he would be proud, though in truth I think that he was probably correct. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to follow his advice.

Although writing comes with great difficulty to me and I still get writer's block every time I face a blank sheet of paper, in practise an academic job in science and engineering is all about writing. Indeed, I write all the time: Lectures, Research Papers, Reviews, Research Proposals, References, Memos, etc., etc. It seems that to even have a rather modest academic career requires, of necessity, the writing of reams and reams of stuff. Worse still, we are assessed by the quality and quantity of our written output, which is really terrifying!

This is all a long way from what I imagined a career in science and engineering would be like while I was attending school or university. I had a vision of playing with chemicals in test tubes at the laboratory bench, or of breaking things with mechanical testing equipment or of undertaking forensic analyses of failed components using analytical microscopy. What I had not understood is that nothing is of any consequence unless it is reported and recorded. What I did not understand is the necessity of doing difficult things. I had not believed Edison's maxim about inspiration and perspiration!

Any now for something completely different as they say.

The Institute plays a role and has influence in the UK and elsewhere that is much greater than its size and this is something of which we are rightly proud. In particular, the Institute's training programmes run in conjunction with Argyll and Ruane are very highly regarded and provide significant underpinning income streams to the Institute. However, the latest scheme, the "Industrial Coaters Applicator Training Scheme: ICATS" is a significant step-change in what we have done before. Thus, it targets and delivers high-quality accredited training for the key remaining variable in a protective organic coatings scheme - the applicators and painters - and that it will require a large effort to manage.

Of course, you will all have heard about the genesis of ICATS in previous editorials and generally in the magazine. We have already made a serious start in developing this programme and I would like (again) to pay tribute to all those involved. In particular to David Deacon, who incidentally led the Institute through several crunch points in the past and without whom the Institute would not have survived; he had the vision to support this scheme through its very early gestation. To Roger Hudson and his predecessor Lucia Fullalove on the Governing Board for Training and Certification who foresaw the industry need for such a scheme and chaired the sub-committee overseeing the development of the course syllabus, content and learning outcomes. To their colleagues on the Governing Board who assisted in every way possible. Also to Brendan Fitzsimons, who was contracted to write the content and devise its method of delivery. I have spoken to a large number of people from different industry sectors and they are all uniformly impressed with ICATS . It is particularly satisfying that ICATS has been recently endorsed as equivalent to an NVQ Level 2 by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). We appear to have a very good product.

ICATS is still been largely driven by David, Roger, Brendan and others although we also have the assistance of Bob French as interim scheme manager. Thus, I am making this very public affirmation of thanks deliberately to acknowledge all the key inputs in an appropriate manner although if I have unwittingly missed someone, I apologise.

Although it might seem that the worst is over - after all, the scheme is now in operation and has had pump-prime funding. In fact, the most difficult job is still to come. Over the next few issues of CM, I hope that we will be able to report significant progress on the operation and outcomes of the scheme.

The time for inspiration is over and I hope for all your support.

Stuart Lyon
Corrosion & Protection Centre,
Manchester, 22nd May 2005
stuart.lyon@manchester.ac. uk