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IOR President highlights diversity and inclusion objectives during the 2023 Annual Dinner
I
OR President, Graeme Fox addressed members and guests at the IOR Annual Dinner, which took place in London on 23 February 2023. The speech was an opportunity to focus on the Institute’s past, current and future work to promote inclusion and diversity in the RACHP industry, whilst addressing its skill shortage challenges.
The IOR has been working actively to attract a more diverse workforce to the sector and the speech showcased IOR initiatives boosting the profile of RACHP to a wider audience including the Fantastic Fridges website. An online STEM resource for KS2, KS3 and KS4 children, the website will soon be expanded to include a section for 16- to 18-year-olds. Mr Fox commented on the great work of IOR members who are also part of the STEM ambassadors’ scheme and how the IOR will further support them with new IOR STEM Ambassador kit bags. The recent partnership between STEMAZING and the IOR was also mentioned - thanks to the IOR President’s fund, three female members will be able to attend the STEMAZING Training Academy providing them with the resources to present exciting STEM sessions to school children. The above campaigns along with other long-term initiatives such as the IOR’s Women in RACHP Network are making progress in improving awareness of diversity in the industry but much remains to be done as it is estimated that only 17/18% of the RACHP workforce is female and just 4% is from an ethnic minority. Graeme Fox reminded guests and members that there is also much to gain in
The Ted Perry Award for Student
Research was given to Henrique Lagoeiro studying at London South Bank University for his PhD research on decarbonising heating and cooling. His work was described by the judges as “original with high potential impact” something that could be “rolled out worldwide and adapted to different applications from data centre cooling to district heating”. The IOR’s RACHP Engineering
promoting inclusivity and diversity “A more diverse workforce in terms of gender, ethnicity or a more neuro-diverse one is more dynamic, has different viewpoints and perspectives from which to attempt to find solutions to problems as they might occur – so we do need to collectively work on improving our performance here.”
This led to the final part of his speech where he announced the participation of the IOR in the first-ever pan-industry gathering to address diversity and inclusivity with bigger-picture collective thinking. Organisations including the BESA, FETA, CIBSE, the Women’s Engineering Society, the Association of Black and Ethnic Minority Engineers (ABFE-UK), ASHRAE and the Black Professionals In Construction Network will take part with the aim to tackle this issue which has been a long term problem for the engineering sector. Known as the original Fridge
Dinner, the IOR Annual Dinner has been bringing together members and guests for the last 122 years
6 March 2023 •
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to celebrate the RACHP industry and to support the IOR’s work in education and promoting industry standards. Four awards were presented by
Mr Fox during the evening which honoured individuals at various stages of their careers. The J&E Hall Gold Medal
recognises the most noteworthy practical contribution to the field of innovation in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump technology. This year’s winner is Alexander Cohr Pachai for his contribution to the growing acceptance of natural working fluids in a wider range of applications – particularly carbon dioxide. Currently the chair of the International Institute of Refrigeration’s Safety Working Group and chapter lead author on industrial refrigeration for UNEP’s Refrigeration Technical Options Report, he is known for consistently sharing his expertise with the industry through UNEP, the International Institute of Refrigeration and of course, the IOR.
Technician Section makes an award to an individual who has spent their whole career in a hands-on role, having displayed exceptional dedication to their customers, employers, and their sector. This year’s winner is Andrew Christie of J&E Hall Cardiff who started his career as an apprentice over 40 years ago, and now mentors many younger engineers, passing on not just his experience but also his work ethic to help develop future engineers. Judges who interviewed him remarked “this is an individual who embraces a challenge. He has stepped up to the monumental technological, environmental and regulatory changes he has faced over 40 years in the industry and even welcomed them.” The Lightfoot Medal awarded for the best IOR Talk and Paper of the 2021/22 session was made to Dr Dermot Cotter for his paper Carbon Dioxide Hazard Assessments and Safety System Requirements. The winner of this award is made by vote of IOR members. You can read the paper and see the recording of the presentation on the IOR website Both Alexander Cohr Pachai and Henrique Lagoeiro have been invited to give talks to IOR members in the next papers programme to share their work in more detail with the RACHP Community.
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