Chamber of Engineering Technology & Lifting Equipment Engineering Association of SA Newsletter (OCT 2008)
In this issue:- Contents (Index).
No 1 ECSA Ad about the CBE Bill.
No 2 CBE Bill and Training Implications.
No 3 Note about next few items.
No 4 Improving Engine Performance.
No 5 New Thermocouple Material.
No 6 Solar Cell Efficiency Improved.
No 7 Safe Radioactive Waste?
No 8 Postal Delivery Statistics.
No 9 Tips for E Mail News.
No 10 Small Adverts Offer.
No 11 Small Adverts of Interest
No 12 Selection of Enquiries That We Get.
No 13 NSTF.
No 14 Electricity Levy Delayed.
No 15 The Joke Column.
No 16 Free Listing / Advert
No 17 Unsubscribe Option
No 18 Disclaimer.
No 19 Membership Information Update Form!
The Following Full Page Advert appeared in the Sunday Times of 12 Oct 2008.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT PROFESSIONALS FACE HARSH IMPACT OF NEW BILL
The Built Environment Professions (BEP) Bill which has been passed by the Portfolio Committee on Public Works proposes to collapse six (currently independent) professional Built Environment Councils into one “super council”. The affected Councils are:
Ø The South African Council for the Architectural Profession
Ø The Engineering Council of South Africa
Ø The South African Council for the Quantity Surveying Profession
Ø The South African Council for Landscape Architectural Profession
Ø The South African Council for Property Valuing Profession
The BEP Bill affords the Minister of Public Works extreme political control over the professions in the built environment and virtually removes the role of professionals in critical processes of regulation of each of these professions.
The far-reaching powers that the Bill proposes for the Minister of Public Works - some of which could even infringe on the authority of other Ministers, most notable the Education Minister - could also allow the Minister to arbitrarily exempt individuals or groups from the registration process.
From the effective date all rights, obligations, assets, and liabilities of the existing Councils will be taken over by the “super council” and all employees of the existing Councils will be regarded as being employees of the “new council”
Proponents of the Bill, led by the Department of Public Works, under the former honourable Minister, Thoko Didiza, believe that the consolidated move will see a more standardised approach across the built environment professions, as well as ensure compulsory registration, improved governance and regulation, and top of the agenda - ensure transformation amongst the affected disciplines.
The three largest independent Councils within the Built Environment Profession would like to draw attention to the Department of Public Works’ failure over the past eight years, since the enactment of the current legislation, to set or communicate any targets for transformation or to adhere to its own monitoring and review programme – this raises the question, are the Built Environment Councils the scapegoats for the Department’s own shortcomings?
No 2. The New BEP (CBE) Bill - Training and Registration Implications - One Size Fits All?
Compiled by Editor Viv Nel from a paper written by Prof Hu Hanrahan.
The current Engineering Professions Act describes the ECSA requirements for education and competency against standards for each category of registration.
The education requirements allow a number of alternative paths and include holding an ECSA accredited qualification or qualification recognized under an international agreement or by a qualification that is assessed as substantially equivalent to an accredited qualification.
The normal path from graduation to registration revolves around structured training and experience in the engineering workplace. The candidate, guided by a registered professional, first assists in the work doing defined tasks under supervision. The candidate progresses to contributing more and more individually and as a team member. By the end of the training the candidate must be performing individually and as a team member at a fully
proficient and responsible level which is the level required for registration by ECSA.
The new Bill brings in a council that has a minority of engineering professionals and demotes the present councils to boards. It also radically changes the development model from graduation to registration. This all done without prior consultation with the engineering profession.
The new Bill implies registration as an administrative process and peer evaluation is lost. A candidate who has completed their education and training applies, presents "documents' to the registrar who registers the person. This is a tick the box method. The Board has no direct powers over this administrative registration!
A person in training must register with the council. The Bill mentions a "training facility" that can only operate if accredited by the board. No definition or explanation concerning this is stated anywhere!
Speculating about a training facility gives rise to a number of possibilities.
# Employer training facility. (Many in RSA)?
# Examining authority who would examine and certify trainees.
Again no explanation or clarity on examination, qualification and accreditation etc.
Centralised training and centralised examining authorities are usually favoured by bureaucrats. Such systems seldom provide the essential and varied experience that is found in the real engineering environments. It is difficult to see a centralized system growing a candidate to meet the standards of registration.
The proponents of a uniform system for all built environment professions have defined a system that is drastically different from the best practice system currently in use.
The imposition of a system that is not appropriate to the engineering profession could well result in the inabitity to achieve the required present standards for registration and prove to be very costly in more ways than one.
(Industry will probably be getting professionals that are far from professional and without training / experience in the required field of expertise - they are not all the same)!
No. 3 Note.
The following four mini articles follow the trend we set in our last newsletter. We hope you find them of general interest!
Ed.
No. 4. Working to Clean and Improve Engine Performance.
Iowa State University assistant Prof SC Kong and some 15 graduate mechanical engineering students using all kinds of sensors in engines that record cylinder pressure, energy release, temperature and exhaust emissions etc are studying many small improvements that can increase efficiency. Using high-speed laser based sensors that can record images of injection sprays and the combustion process inside the cylinders they are looking at both diesel and petrol internal combustion engines.
Also being studied is the use of ammonia in engines as it's fairly easy to store compared with pure Hydrogen.
Other interesting items are the use of dissolved plastics in bio diesel to establish if waste plastics can be recycled by mixing it into fuel.
Source Science daily
No 5. New Thermocouple Material
The Northwestern University in the USA have discovered that by adding two metals, antimony and lead, to the well-known semiconductor lead-telluride, a new thermoelectric material that is more efficient at high temperatures than existing materials is produced.
Current thermoelectric technology is only used in niche items such as solid-state refrigeration and cooling as the materials are very inefficient (around 5% Max).
So the new breakthrough could eventually result in material generating electricity from a motorcar's exhaust pipe heat. This could replace the alternator and perhaps even add energy to the transmission. Car manufacturers are looking at this and other methods to increase cars mileage by 5 to 10%.
Source (adapted from Information from Northwestern University USA).
No 6. Solar Cells Efficiency Improved.
The Franhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg in Euope have clamed a new record of 39.7%.
This was achieved using semiconductor multi junction solar cells developed for photovoltaic concentrator technology for solar power stations.
The contact structures have been improved and withstand the concentration of between 300 and 600 suns.
Due to large material and manufacturing costs multi junction solar cells are usually only used in concentrating PV systems and in space.
ED. This is a hot topic!
Source Science daily.
No 7. Safe Radio Active Waste?
It may be possible to reduce radioactive waste isolation time from millions of years to a few hundred.
Prof H Leeb from the Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities in Europe indicates that actinides, that is elements whose nuclei are heavier than uranium, must be removed from the waste by transmutation into short lived nuclei. While the central idea was formulated in the early mid 20th century only the technological progress in the last decade has made this possible at an industrial level.
Efficient transmutation of radioactive waste requires the development of new facilities including specially designed fast reactors. These reactors are under critical and cannot sustain any chain reaction.
An EU project started in the year 2000 investigated previously unknown reactions of radioactive materials so that a thorough knowledge of neutron's interaction and reactions with other materials would be known.
This ultimately may also lead to a new safer nuclear fuel.
Ed. This should gladden the hearts of the anti nuclear group.
Source Science Daily.
