CIBSE News
news
Tel: 020 8675 5211 Fax: 020 8675 5449 Email:
secretary@cibse.org President: Rob Manning BSc (Hons) ENg FCIBSE Chief executive and secretary: Stephen Matthews
News in brief Don’t do politics?
Subscription reminder
Members are reminded that payment of subscriptions was due on 1 January 2010. Those who have not yet paid risk their membership being lapsed, and therefore will no longer receive the benefits of membership. To renew, please enter your details online at www.cibse.org or contact the subscriptions team on 0208 772 3621/3691, or email
golateju@cibse.org or
skamal@cibse.org
City walk planned
The successful annual City Walk, run by the Society of Façade Engineering, will take place on 10 June. The event will start with two technical presentations followed by the walk, which this year will be around the Holborn area of London, looking at new and old facades. Visit www.cibse.org/sfe
New addition to CIBSE bookshop
Another book has joined the shelves at the CIBSE bookshop.
The Colour, Light and Contrast
Manual: Designing and Managing Inclusive Built Environments,
is endorsed by the Society of Light and Lighting and offers comprehensive guidance on how colour, light and contrast can be incorporated within buildings to enhance their usability. It is suitable for professionals involved in the design or management of new and existing environments, priced at £39.99 for members and £49.99 for non-members. Details of the CIBSE Book of
the Month and special offers – including 10 per cent off CIBSE books until the end of July – can be found in the new bookshop e-newsletter. Make sure we have your up-to-date email address so you don’t miss out. Visit www.cibse.org/publications or call 020 8772 3618.
www.cibsejournal.com
Engineering IS politics!
n
Pick up any newspaper, listen to any media and, in
the UK anyway, all the talk is about the imminent general election. It is a great privilege to live within a democracy and it gives us many freedoms and choices on how we live our lives. Yet, as I write this, I can hear a small voice deep inside my consciousness: ‘We may have rights, but we also have responsibilities.’ As professionals within a
democracy, we clearly do have responsibilities to society – to apply our art and science to benefit others. But what about politics? I would argue that apathy is a cop-out. All of us have opinions,
hopefully backed up with cogent argument – so, by definition, if you have an opinion you do politics! Politics and engineering are not
new bedfellows. Any knowledge of Isambard Brunel with his breathtaking, visionary engineering projects, some of which were less than successful, will know that he engaged fully with the political class of the day. Much of his time was spent not engineering but influencing politicians and the public to support and endorse his work. At about the same time, in
1860, it took parliament just 18 days to vote the funds across for Joseph Bazalgette to implement his
London sewerage system to solve the ‘great stink’. I think there are plenty of historical precedents to galvanise us into action and ‘do politics’. So, when a prospective parliamentary candidate knocks on your front door, have your views at the ready. If you get a tweet or email seeking your vote – get engaged. There is no shortage of issues for us engineers to get excited about. Your institution has a view, do you? I would commend the recently launched Construction Industry Council manifesto to you. Let us all do politics! www.cic.org.uk
Stephen Matthews Chief executive
Merseyside and North Wales Young Engineers Network – an update
The Merseyside and North Wales Young Engineers Network (YEN) has been busy since its formation in April 2009. Together with help from the
regional chairman Steve Hunt, five young engineers launched the new regional YEN group. Once formed, they agreed their mission statement, enabling them to have a clear view of the group’s aims, which include commitments to: • Provide a forum and support network for young engineers; • Provide a platform for new thinking, and knowledge exchange; • Ensure that young engineers engage more closely with our professional institution at an early stage in their careers; • Encourage more women to join building services; and • Promote building services engineering to school and university students. As all the founding members
were graduates of either a ‘pure’ electrical or mechanical
Merseyside and North Wales YEN promote building services in Liverpool.
engineering degree, they decided that one of their main aims would be to promote the building services industry to students at university. Finding out that the University
of Liverpool – the same university three members had graduated from – was holding an ‘Engineering in the limelight’ recruitment fair, they arranged to represent CIBSE at the event, giving students the information that hadn’t been available to them previously. With promotional material from CIBSE
HQ and significant support from the regional committee, they were able to explain to students what the building services industry entailed and why it is so important. The regional network is now
looking to expand its membership and encourage fellow young engineers to bring new ideas to the group, and hopes to hold both social and technical events across the coming year. Visit www.cibse-mnw-yen.org, or email
cibse_yen_mnw@live.com
May 2010 CIBSE Journal
13
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