Reports

From the President

Welcome to the September 2020 edition of Materials Australia magazine. Since my last report quite a lot has changed in the world around us, as we learn to work and live in the new normal.

We have been quite busy since June, and I would like to give you an overview of some of the projects we have been working on and the activities we have been planning. The first project that I would like to mention is that this publication, Materials Australia, will adopt a fully online format from this issue onwards; the print format will be phased out. This will allow us to offer substantially more interactive content, including from our sponsors and advertisers who will be able to link to external sources. It will also enable us to provide links to recorded seminars from the eminent speakers who share their knowledge with our materials community. In the past months, several events and seminars, that would have otherwise been face-to-face, have been run online, or with an attendee login available. The feedback on all these events has been extremely positive, and the level of attendance has been very high. As an organisation with a national footprint, it may be that we aim to offer these types of online events more broadly, even once we are again able to meet face-to-face. We already have three online events scheduled for September 2020, and many more towards the end of the year and into 2021, including the Annual Technologists Picnic and the Borland Forum. In particular, I would like to draw attention to the fact that this may be the first time the Borland Forum, which involves a series of presentations from Research Students at Victorian Universities, is able to achieve a National audience. It may eventuate that this could be the largest audience for a Borland Forum. I would encourage everyone interested to register in order to be able to attend. I would also like to encourage you to take advantage of the online activities of some of our aligned societies, such as the Australian Corrosion Association, The Australian Institute of Non Destructive Testing, The Australian Foundry Institute, and others. These online activities offer a wealth of information, and are a great way to make new contacts in affiliated industries. On the topic of continuing professional development (CPD), this is a requirement for those who have attained the Certified Materials Professional Status (CMatP). We recognise that many members need to fulfil the criteria of more than one CPD scheme. As such, we are moving towards alignment of our CPD reporting requirements with those of Engineers Australia. The CPD reporting requirements of Engineers Australia are somewhat broader in context than what has previously been available to our members. As such, more activities may be considered as professional development. There will, of course, also be the provision for the fact that our members are engineers, scientists and technologists. The refresh of our CPD system should also make it easier for both Academia and industry based CMatP’s to easily complete the requirements. We will provide further information on this topic as the new requirements are prepared. Most of all, we want to ensure that professional development is a worthwhile and interesting activity for all our members. At the national level, Materials Australia is working towards ratifying our constitution. We hope to have this completed by the end of the 2020 calendar year. We have also recently reinvigorated our Materials Australia Awards process. Our awards have a proud tradition that dates back as far as 1944, reflecting more than 75 years of achievements from Australian materials scientists and engineers. Needless to say this is a particularly impressive list of recipients is particularly impressive, and it is important we continue to recognise the great work of the materials community. For further information on how to nominate someone for an award, please see the article on page 10. I am also pleased to announce that we have introduced a new award, honouring the memory of Ray Reynoldson. Ray was heavily involved in Australia’s heat treatment and surface engineering industries and pioneered many new industrial technologies. Ray was also instrumental in ensuring the inaugural Materials Innovations in Surface Engineering Conference (MISE), run for the first time in 2011. Like many members of our community, I worked on a project with Ray during 2011 and 2012, and found him to be a true gentleman, and a person who was respected and admired. We have recently made the decision to investigate a refresh of the logo for Materials Australia. The new Materials Australia logo needs to be modern, and should communicate that the organisation is progressive, innovative and future focused. We have decided to run a competition for design proposals for the new logo, with entries open to all members. For further information on criteria and how to submit your design, please see the article on page 24. If a suitable new logo is chosen, we plan to launch it in 2021.

2020 continues to be an especially challenging year for all of us. I would like to wish you, your family and colleagues the best of health, and to stay safe. Materials Australia looks forward to seeing you all at our online events, and then in person once it is safe to do so. Best Regards

Roger Lumley,

National President