26^th WJS Newsletter July 2008

Welcome to the 26^th WJS E-mail Newsletter!

This issue contains:

• Restyle of the TWI Website
• Branches
• Younger Members
• TWI Technical Group Meetings
• Meetings, Seminars and Conferences
• Information Services
• TWI AGM and Awards Ceremony
• Tom Supports Local Charity

Can you help?

We would like to research skills shortages and would like information relating to skills in your area?

Have you experienced skills shortages? Do you find it difficult to find training? Do you find it difficult to find employment? Are there too few people to cover demand for skills? Do wages match expectation? Any information relating to skills/training/employment would be really helpful to us. Please send any information you have to lois.appleyard@twi.co.uk

aws.org/pr/shortagefactsheet.pdf

1. Restyle of the TWI Website

The style and design of the TWI website has been updated. You will find the button for professional members on the top right hand section of the front page. Alternatively you can still access the Professional/WJS site directly using www.twiprofessional.com. Please report any problems with web links and any difficulties finding the WJS/Professional pages and we will investigate them. Please email: lois.appleyard@twi.co.uk

2. Branches

Branch Programmes for 2008

Please check our website for the 2008/2009 programme lists - Branches will be advertising their 2008/9 calendars shortly please check the website for local events being held in your area.
wjs_branchlist.html

Have you visited your local Branch yet?
What can your Branch do for you? WJS Meetings offer the opportunity to network, socialise, and gain valuable CPD** which can be verified. Please see local information for CPD** events. If you have any suggestions for events, workshops, social activities in your area please do give us a call and we will pass suggestions to local networks 01223 899000 lois.appleyard@twi.co.uk, tom.howes@twi.co.uk

**Continuing Professional Development CPD - updates your professional knowledge and improves professional competence. CPD demonstrates your commitment to being professional, keeping up to date and continuously seeking to improve and is a key to optimizing your career opportunities by broadening your knowledge and skills.

Branch News - from your area!

London

As usual the London Branch held no technical or committee meetings in May there was, however the May Mystery Trip which again proved popular. On a wet 17th May, 19 members and guests of the branch visited the 'Westminster Arms' for lunch. After partaking of various delights of the 'pub grub' the intrepid party braved the light drizzle of Horse Guards Road towards the basement of Her Majesty's Treasury to visit the Cabinet War Rooms. The Cabinet War Rooms are part of the Imperial War Museum and have been part kept and part restored to their appearance during the Second World War however many sheets of glass have been inserted to keep the visitors from the exhibits and vice versa.

Also featured in the complex is the Churchill Museum complete with iconic objects, documents, film and sound recordings to tell the story of the war leader's ninety year life. The war rooms feature the war cabinet meeting room, offices, map rooms, bed rooms, kitchens and even a radio studio to provide working and living accommodation for the political and military leaders and their support staff. From these rooms the British military effort was directed from 1939 to 1945 and it was fascinating to see the details of life from this period, which by today's standards, were by no means luxurious. Electronic guides were provided which described each scene and pointed out many details which the casual observer could have missed.

Contemporary recordings of radio broadcasts were played at certain locations however it was difficult to imagine the scene with the hustle and bustle of uniformed personnel, the air thick with cigarette (and cigar) smoke and the rumbling of bombs falling around some distant and some close. After a visit to the souvenir shop the party emerged back into daylight and into the drizzle where we quickly went our separate ways for the summer break.

Thanks must go to Bert Buckingham our Programme Secretary for organising yet another greatly appreciated event and also to those members of the committee who selflessly visited pubs to establish their suitability for the event.

Send your local news to us and it will be published it in our newsletter and some articles will find their way to the professional website

Do you need to advertise local Branch events or distribute local information?

If branches would like to contribute to the newsletter or advertise events/news from their area please send information to tom.howes@twi.co.uk

3. Younger Members

We still need younger member representatives for the following areas Leeds, Liverpool, North Western, South Wales, South Western and Southern Counties. We now have regional representatives for all other areas but would welcome more volunteers from all our networks. If you would like more information about this initiative please contact ymc@twi.co.uk

One of our aims is to connect with students and lecturers in schools, colleges and universities to inform them of the fun and challenge they can find in an engineering career. We are also going to organise events targeted at our Younger Members and help with their CPD and networking which is an essential part of career development.

We held our last YMC regional meeting at Abington on 22 May and we have another planned for 24th September at TWI Yorkshire. YMC members will have the opportunity to link to the Yorkshire meeting via a conference call links and we hope to move future YMC meetings around the UK.

We encourage YMC members to attend the next event. This will give you the opportunity to work with likeminded people and inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

For further information, please contact ymc@twi.co.uk

Recent YMC links with schools, colleges and universities include:

Long Road Sixth From College Cambridge

Richard Freeman and Lois Appleyard made two separate visits to the college to offer year 11, 12 and 13 students a flavour of welding and the alternative careers possible. 250+ students asked questions and listened to presentations.

Farnborough International Air Show - www.farnborough.com/Site/Content/intro.aspx

TWI were at Farnborough International Air Show. Richard Freeman and Carol Wilson handed out TWI information,TWI bugs, TWI stickers and met families on the 19^th and 20^th July 2008.

Small Piece Trust - www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk

Students from the Small piece Trust experienced two days of nanotechnology with Aurelie Brun

Visits to Abington

The YMC assist with tours of the site. Universities and Colleges who have visited Abington recently include:

Cambridge University	The College of North West London
Sheffield Hallam University	Central Sussex College of Further Education
Oxford University	College of West Anglia
Ecole Centrale Paris	Grimsby College
Writtle College	Strode College
Cranfield University	Redcar and Cleveland College
Stockley Academy	EAGIT

A YMC event for your diaries - Places need to be booked in advance! Engineering at the Cutting Edge

The Welding & Joining Society, together with the University of Sheffield's Department of Engineering Materials, presents a celebration of Sheffield's engineering heritage, an insight into the research and development capabilities flourishing within the region and a foretaste of the exciting careers available in the fields of engineering and metallurgy. Combining a series of informal talks and lectures followed by a dinner at Sheffield Town Hall, 'Engineering at the Cutting Edge' promises to be an exciting, informative and enjoyable event not to be missed at any cost! The Hume-Rothery Lecture Theatre, University of Sheffield 18^th October 2008,

TWI Graduate recruitment programme - Please see the TWI website.

4. TWI Technical Group Meetings

Members and non-members are welcome to Technical Group meetings. The organisers for each group are drawn from The Welding Institute Professional/WJS Members and TWI's industrial membership teams. Speakers will include a blend of leading academic researchers and engineering practitioners who will offer a unique insight and perspective into the technical area being discussed. Each Technical Group has an annual seminar and attendance offers CPD, information sharing and networking opportunities. Meetings will start again in the autumn 2008 please check our events section for details wjs_techgroups.html

Materials Group

The next Materials Technical Group meeting will be held at Abington on 27 November 2008. Further details will be available on wjs_tg3_materials.html

On the same web page is a link to the previous Materials Technical Group meeting on 'Materials Issues on Creep Service' on wjs_tg3_report2007.html

5. Meetings, Seminars and Conferences but please check our website for new updates and meetings.

Conference - Innovations in Joining Technology
Thursday 18 - Friday 19 September 2008
Contact: s.i.fox@herts.ac.uk

4^th International TWI/EWI Seminar on Joining of Aerospace Materials
Wednesday 1 - Thursday 2 October 2008, Toulouse, France

REMTEC Opening
Thursday 2 October 2008, Middlesbrough

Call for papers To Asia with Structural Integrity
7 October 2008, British Embassy in Tokyo

Joint Arc Welding and Pressure & Process Plant Technical Group Meeting 'Repair of ageing plant'
8 October 2008, TWI Ltd, Granta Park

Engineering at the Cutting Edge
The Hume-Rothery Lecture Theatre, University of Sheffield 18 October 2008

Aerospace and Defence NDT Open Day
Thursday 23 October 2008, TWI Wales

TWI Annual Dinner (Invitation only)
Tuesday 4 November 2008, London

AWFTE Conference
13-14 November 2008, Abington

WJS/DVS Conference on Joining Plastics
19-20 November 2008 TWI, Cambridge, UK
International conference on the latest developments in joining plastics in mass production and fabrication. e19-20112008.pdf

14^th IoRW Technical Seminar
26 November 2008, Wolverhampton

Materials Technical Group Meeting
Materials Issues in Weld Integrity
Thursday 27 November 2008, TWI Ltd, Granta Park
e27112008.html

Joint WJS/BCSA Seminar (Title TBC)
4 December 2008, Leeds

Contact for all the above except where indicated: meetings@twi.co.uk

6. Information Services

Earlier I talked briefly about skills shortages. This prompted me to use our library to source reference books and papers and I was impressed by the speed and quality of service. Copies requested from the British Library appeared on my desk as if by magic. It was a speedy, hassle free method of obtaining the books I needed and if you haven't used the service yet please do try. Not only is the service speedy and hassle free the library staff are an absolute mine of information. info_libserv.html

One of the services the library offers is the Document Delivery Service

What is TWI's document delivery service?
It's the supply of loan copies of publications and photocopies of published material on joining-related subjects. TWI's library has a world-leading stock of publications which covers all forms of joining, metallic and non-metallic materials, engineering aspects of joining, NDT, corrosion, QA and health & safety.

Who can use the service?
Loans and photocopies are available to Industrial and Professional Members of TWI. Photocopies are available to Members of the Welding & Joining Society and non-members, but loans of publications are not.

How should I identify what I need?
You can do a search on Weldasearch^® (info_weldas.html), TWI's bibliographic database covering information on welding and joining over the past thirty years. If you are a Member you can also ask the library for help. Details of your requirements for photocopied material should be sent to TWI's library; contact library@twi.co.uk

What happens if what I need is not in TWI's library?
We will do our best to direct you to another library or organisation that may be able to help.

How much does the service cost?
Photocopy charges depend on the number of items requested, your membership status, copyright fees and how quickly you want the copies. TWI's library staff will be pleased to advise on costs. Please note that if you are a non-member your payment is required in advance.

TWI pays the outward postage on loan items. Return postage is the responsibility of the borrower.

7. TWI AGM and Awards Ceremony

The 2008 AGM was followed by our annual awards ceremony.

Awards were presented to:

Brooker Award	Professor J F Knott
Sir William Larke Award	Dr Kehai Li
Lidstone Medal	Dr M J Russell
Richard Weck Award	Dr D P Baxter & Dr R I Hammond
TWI Commendation Award	L J Dumper

The Lincoln Electric Prize for the Certificate Course May examination was awarded to Kirsten Meyer from Queens University Belfast.

The purpose of the Certificate Course is to introduce the basic principles of welding and joining technology that can be taught to materials and engineering students as an integral part of undergraduate studies, and to provide a sound foundation in welding engineering.

The scope of the course, sponsored by The Welding Institute since 1992 is based on the International Welding Engineer syllabus and comprises a minimum of 33 hours of lectures and 10 hours of practical work. An examination is held in the final year, set by The Welding Institute, and successful candidates are awarded a Certificate in Welding and Joining Technology in addition to their degree. They are also awarded Graduate Membership of The Welding Institute.

The industry sponsored prize of £500, which has been kindly sponsored by Lincoln Electric is awarded to the student with the best results in the examination.

8. Tom Supports Local Charity

When most people think of summer holidays, sun, sea and sangria come to mind. Not for Tom Howes the WJS administrator. Tom spent his holiday cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats to raise awareness and funds through sponsorship for Headway Cambridgeshire. Tom was joined by five friends taking on the gruelling challenge of cycling the 986 miles starting in Cornwall on Sunday, 1 June and completing the epic journey on Monday, 16 June. If you would like to read Tom's story please go to the following link niglejog.blogspot.com

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