I
am thankful for the honour and privilege to serve as President of the Institute
of Corrosion. I am particularly proud to work with such enthusiastic and active
Trustees, members of the Executive and Councillors. The many major achievements
are a testimony to everyone’s commitment. Our Institute has come of age and
solid foundations have been laid during this past year to secure a bright
future with real growth. My aim is to offer all members a range of benefits
such that membership of ICorr is seen to be worthwhile and advantageous.
Networking and Fellowship have long been the hallmark of our Branches, but we
can now underpin these with our educational and training programmes,
recognition by the Engineering and Science Councils and general acceptance by
Industry and Science of the role played by our professional members. A
significant development has been the appearance of the designatory letters of
TICorr and MICorr in job adverts in the UK and overseas. I
am very pleased to announce that this year the Institute will report a
financial surplus for the first time since the mid-nineties. This has not been
easy to achieve and is the result of work started by Dr Cox and enhanced by Dr
Edyvean during their terms as President. The strengthened financial controls
and additional quality system procedures that have recently been introduced,
together with a partial re-structuring of Head Office and the implementation of
the first phase of our development plan will guarantee the long-term financial
security of the Institute. One
major fiscal commitment has been the purchase of our own Head Office premises -
Corrosion House. Not only is this a prestigious new office building, but it
provides an excellent environment with no upheaval for our existing staff as it
is also situated in Leighton-Buzzard, but with more idyllic surroundings
overlooking the Grand Union Canal. We have rented out some of the office space
and this together with the savings on the leasing of our previous accommodation
will make a significant positive contribution to our finances. Looking back, it
is frightening to recall all the work and effort that was required during the
purchase of our new office. I am deeply grateful to the three members of the
Building Committee - David Deacon, Robert Edyvean and Eddy Field, who moved
heaven and earth to complete the contract against very tight schedules. Others
also contributed to this process, most notably Gill Inwood, Jim Burnell-Gray
and Tony Collins who made numerous trips at very short notice to enable the
considerable quantity of legal documents to be duly signed and returned by hand
to meet the deadlines. There
have been many notable achievements during this past year. On the 19th
of June, our Institute was admitted as a Full Member of the Science Council. I
believe this is a major recognition and step forward for the Institute and was
mainly driven by our Hon Secretary, Dr. Burnell-Gray who together with myself,
now represent the Institute on the Board of the Science Council. Our
application to become an Affiliate Member of the Engineering Council has been
much more prolonged. We missed a number of key dates, but all the delays rested
with us and these were not helped by the holiday period, however I am pleased
that all the audit / assessments and peer reviews have been completed with a
satisfactory recommendation going forward. I
am grateful to Steve Barke, Treasurer of the London Branch and Fellow of the
Institute for carrying out a comprehensive appraisal as part of his MBA from
the Henley Management Centre. This included a questionnaire sent to all
members. The information gained and the recommendations made will be of real
benefit to the Executive and Council as we formulate our future development
plans. Although not within the time period covered by this report, I am pleased
to announce that following one of Steve’s major recommendations we have
appointed General Secretary as of the 1st
August 2001. Our previous Hon Treasurer, Eddy Field has taken over this role
and I warmly welcome Roger Walker who has been co-opted as Hon Treasurer. There
have been a number of changes on personnel. Don Harrop, who becomes President
of EFC this year, has stepped down as Standards Officer and I am very grateful
to Dr Paul McIntyre for taking over as Co-ordinator of Technical Committees and
Standards. Don Harrop and Bill Cox both received Honorary Life Fellowships in
recognition of their many years service to the Institute and Fred Palmer
received the H.G. Cole Award. A new award entitled the President’s Plaque for
Outstanding Service to the Institute was introduced in time for the London
Branch Christmas Luncheon. This has been presented to Brenda Peters and Paddy
Corr and to Les Wolfe to mark his retirement of Chair of the Governing Board
for training and certification. Roger Hudson is the new Chairman and the Board
has been strengthened by new members, Lucia Fullalove, Keith Umpleby and Brian
Wyatt who have joined the existing members of Bill Cox and Brendan Fitzsimmons.
Our Training Scheme continues to grow and Dave Griffiths, Scheme Manager at
Argyl-Ruane has played a major part in this success. Mike
Allen also received the President’s Plaque to mark his retirement as Secretary
and then Chairman of the London Branch. Trevor Osborne is the new Chairman,
while Paul Lambeth succeeds Nick Thoday as the Chairman of the North-West
Branch. The Corrosion Science Division (CSD) is also under new Management.
Allison Davenport of the University of Birmingham has taken over the
Chairmanship with Sue Impey of Cranfield University as the Secretary. Dr
Davenport has greatly encouraged student involvement in the Institute and one
of her post-graduate students Flavie Moulinier, our Hon Assistant Secretary
Marion Challis and Ben Wilson have set up a “Younger Members” section. I have
great hopes for the growth of this group to invigorate the Institute and
provide an effective counter-balance to what might otherwise be seen as an
ageing membership. I
also have great pleasure in announcing that David Deacon has accepted the post
of Vice President. David has had a long association with the Institute and is
actively supporting the development of Branches and their technical programmes.
A most interesting one-day seminar, hosted by the Scottish Branch, has been
arranged regarding the planned maintenance of the Forth Road Bridge. Last
year’s conference as part of EuroCorr was very successful although less so for
the CSD which had combined it with their annual symposium. This year’s
conference in conjunction with NACE (UK) promises to be equally successful and
plans are well under way for next year’s conference in Cardiff. This will be in
late October and in partnership with Advantica Technologies Limited which was
formed from the BG Research Division and the Transco Engineering Group. I
am deeply grateful to the Branch Officers and all the members of the Council
for their work on behalf of the Institute. Very little would have been achieved
without the hard work and support of the Principal Officers and I am personally
grateful to Robert Edyvean, the Immediate Past President, for his friendship,
advice and encouragement, especially during the many difficult times. There is
hope of starting two new Branches in the UK and another Irish Branch based
around Dublin. Thanks are due to Peter Morgan for setting up the Catap Training
Scheme in Bahrain which should shortly help to support the first Middle-East
Branch of ICorr. I
believe that our fiscal policies will insure the future of the Institute, but
the growth and development is the responsibility of its members. A major
success has been the modification of the Sustaining Membership Scheme where
companies receive a tangible return for their subscription with free annual
membership for two or three of their employees, an advert in the Source Guide
in every issue of the Journal plus other benefits. A portion of their
subscription may also be credited to the Branch or Division they wish to be
closely associated with. Please could I encourage all previous Company Sponsors
of Branch Evening meetings to convert to this more comprehensive way of
supporting the Institute, its Branches and the Journal. The improvements in the
Journal have been well received and Bob Akid has greatly improved the Institute
website. The financial support of Sustaining Members will make a major
contribution to expand the services that the Institute can provide for its
members, but the biggest factor is the size of our membership. From my visits
to Branches and talking to members generally, I have little doubt that our
membership can be doubled by the 2002 AGM when David Deacon will take over as
President. Steve’s
survey showed that around 45% of new
members have joined by personal recommendation. This is much higher than with
other institutes which by contrast to us, are showing a decline in their
membership. Throughout
this next year, I shall be asking every member to recruit just one new member
each. This is the quickest sure way to double our membership. The joining
procedure has been simplified and a business card or telephone call to Head
Office will produce an application pack by next post. Your Officers and
Councillors have devoted much of their free time for the good of the Institute
and I now ask you to respond. 31st
August 2001 John T. O’Shea, President, Institute of Corrosion. Presidential Report for 2000-2001