Institution of Mechanical Engineers
PATRON HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
Eastern Region, South Essex Area
2008/ 2009 Programme - Chairman’s Letter
Dear Members and Fellows,
Let me start by introducing myself for my second year as Chairman of the South Essex Area of the Eastern Region. I have been a member of the Institution for over 37 years and have been actively involved in many IMechE activities over that time.
I am also Chairman of the Automobile Division and since retiring from Ford Motor Company spend much of my time working on Alternative Energy for Low Carbon Vehicles and teaching students at Universities.
Once again we have put together a programme of lectures for our local members which are closely aligned to the Institution “Key Themes” defined by the Technical Strategy Board to provide more focus for Institution activities and to allow us to provide a simpler explanation of the priorities of engineers to the media and public.
The Key Themes are:
Energy – Environment – Transport – Education
Last year we had a successful programme of events around our theme of “The Year of the Environment” and I hope that you enjoyed any of our lectures which you attended. South Essex Area has decided to continue this approach and present a series of lectures this year which address “Energy and Transport”. We hope that you will find something to interest you in all our lectures and look forward to welcoming you to our meetings. Details of all events and venues are shown on the enclosed programme card.
In closing, I would like to thank all the Committee Members of the South Essex Area for their hard work over the years in organising the programme of events. I would particularly thank Mike Cable who has recently stepped down as Treasurer after more than 10 years of excellent service to the South Essex Area. We wish Mike all the best with his future free time, but will not be saying goodbye to him quite yet as Mike will be presenting the after dinner lecture at our first social event in October. This is a return appearance by Mike arising from the popularity of the last presentation he made, so I am sure it will be most enjoyable.
Please feel free to contact me or any of the Committee members if you have suggestions for improving our future events or if you would be willing to join us in organising them.
I look forward to welcoming you to our meetings which I hope you will find interesting and enjoyable.
With best regards
Prof. Richard Folkson
Chairman – South Essex Area
26 November 2008 | 19:30 - 21:00
There is general agreement on the need to reduce the world's dependency on fossil fuels, but the case for moving substantially to bio-fuels as an alternative is no longer clear because of pressures on land for food production. John Cooper from BP will present different alternatives for decarbonising road transport looking at the potential for bio-fuels as well as other alternatives
28 January 2009 | 19:30 - 21:00
The UK Government has given the go ahead to replacing Britain's ageing Nuclear power plants. The speaker, who has 27 years experience in power generation, has recently returned from 2 years secondment to the World Association of Nuclear Operators in Paris. He will examine the challenges facing the Nuclear Power Industry and describe the
18 February 2009 | 19:00 - 21:00
Parry Peaple Movers (PPM) Ltd. supplies lightweight tramway systems for smaller towns, and lightweight rail vehicles for use on regional railways. PPM vehicles incorporate flywheel energy storage, allowing electric tramway systems without overhead wires and railcars powered by small prime movers running on gas, diesel or hydrogen - all with very high energy efficiency and very low emissions of pollutants and noise. PPM technology responds to the need for high quality, environmentally sound, affordable local public transport for both urban and rural communities.
10 March 2009 | 20:00 - 21:30
Trained initially as an engineer and later in accountancy, our speaker was actively involved in small and medium sized businesses before entering aviation. Southend Airport is recognised as an important driver for inward investment and regeneration and is well placed to serve the London Olympics in 2012. The talk will cover the past, present and future of the airport.
03 April 2009 | 19:30 - 22:00
Our speaker will tell us how he came to be working as a civilian fingerprint expert in the Metropolitan Police, give a brief history of how fingerprints came to be used as the premier method of proof of identity, explain how this is done and will describe his involvement in a high profile murder case.