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President’s Column and Institute News


a lifetime experience and can of course not be dealt with in only one day, however, the fundamentals were clearly illustrated by the short exercise given to the tables. Interesting discussions were overheard from each team, illustrating the complexity of design.


This year will be yet another exciting year for the conference. More and more waste to energy plants are being erected in this country, but also worldwide. The challenges, not only from a process point of view, but also the way we as refractory engineers need to consider designing these units are great. The 2018 conference at the end of October will be “scary”, very definitely towards the evening!


Currently the South African branch has gone very quiet as well as some of the UK branches. The Australian branch is, however, still going strong and promoting the objectives of the IRE even though they are also reporting more difficult times. I had the privilege to do a remote welcome note to them over Skype using a mobile phone during their conference at the end of November 2017. Indeed a strange experience as one all of a sudden realises how much you rely on eye contact from the audience: something missing in these type of presentations. In the past we have made a few attempts using video links. It has never been a complete disaster, but it did prove challenging and every time it was left for a few years before another attempt was made with improved technology. This year we will yet again attempt


www.ireng.org


it and try to improve on the interaction between presenter and audience.


The first council meeting took place on the 5th of January 2018 and the most important issue under discussion was how the IRE could be more relevant to its members. At the moment there is the annual conference which could of course be attended by any person and the journals which every member receives. As with all things, some members take much interest


in the information provided in the


journals, however, it is also evident that some cannot find the time to read it. This could potentially indicate that articles in the journal do not meet their expectations. Before moving forward it is important that we, the committee, understand the different dynamics of our members. It will therefore be the task of the committee to establish over the next few months what the real requirements of our members are, as well as those that may not have considered membership. As always, everyone is welcome to contribute to this fact finding exercise even though the ones we need to hear from are most likely not reading this!


I am sure to keep all updated on what we found and how we foresee to move forward. Therefore, keep an eye on this column. Till next time.


Jan DuPlessis Theron President


Institute of Refractories Engineers INSTITUTE NEWS PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE!


In late 2015, in my final Presidential Address, I spoke of the major geographical changes that have taken place both in refractory manufacturing and usage over the past 50 years , since the IRE was formed.


In the latter half of the 20th Century, much of the worlds refractory usage


was centred in Northern Europe and North America. Today that picture has changed markedly, mainly driven by lower cost manufacturing in developing countries. In fact, currently, over 80 % of the worlds refractory consumption takes place in China, India and South America. Three continents where the IRE has little or no membership! Further the Institute has seen a fall in its membership and little growth in new younger members, who are our future. As one of the 2015 IRE Conference speakers said “Refractories is not seen as COOL, by the younger generation.”


Those of us who have worked in the industry know, refractory manufacturing and usage is a very demanding and fascinating business. Their use stretches from construction to atomic research and a whole range of industries and applications in between.. We need to get this message out there!


Unfortunately, the Institute has been slow responding to these major changes in the industry for a variety of reasons. However, the principals and ethos of the IRE remain and are still valid today. However, what the Institute must do is to re-access its;


4


By Keith Andrews, B.Met., B.Sc., M.Sc., F.I.Ref.Eng. (Past President IRE) -


- -


and MARKETING.


More specifically, the IRE must raise its profile, through the quality of its technical articles, news and information and be topical and reflect the issues and best practice of Refractories Engineering worldwide AND communicate interactively with its market.


Further, in the UK there is a serious lack of formal training in refractories engineering across all age and capability levels. The IRE did provide NVQ level training until relatively recently, but this foundered through lack of grant funding and the retirement of the key Assessors from the industry.


In this first of two articles I want to look at the use of SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING as a modern medium for communicating with our market and attracting potential new members to the IRE. In my second article I will look at the case for a BRAND REFRESH for the IRE and what needs to be done to ensure the IRE profile and offerings are appropriate for the market place we aim to represent.


SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING for the IRE: Over the past 6 months I have been liaising with a marketing company


ENGINEER THE REFRACTORIES January 2018 Issue


IMAGE (a brand refresh) OFFERINGS


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