1
LIGHT METALS DIVISION
Minutes of Meeting Held at Sheffield University on 10th July 2009
1. Present
Martin Jarrett;
Geoff Scamans;
Martin Jackson;
Hong Dong;
Terry Hirst;
Tim Wilkes;
Mark Jolly;
Roy Woodward;
Joe Robson;
Gary Critchlow,
Steve Harmer;
2. Apologies
Richard Bolingbroke,
Roger Darlington;
Gordon Lorimer;
Zhongyun Fan;
Sophie Oldham;
Marina Galano; `
Fernando Audebert;
John Fowler;
Geoffrey Doyle;
Matthew Lunt;
Steve Court;
Andrzej Rosochowski;
David Harris;
Mike Clode;
Chris Newton;
Malcolm Ward-Close;
No responses from:Howard Price;
Andrew Kennedy;
SAPA (Chairman)
Innoval Technology (Vice Chairman)
Sheffield University
University of Leicester
Aero Engine Controls
Magnesium Elektron
Birmingham University
Aluminium Advocates (deputy for David Harris)
Manchester University
Loughborough University
IOM3 (Secretary).
TIMET
NAMTEC
Manchester University
Brunel University
EPSRC
Oxford University
Oxford University
Rolls-Royce
AlFed/Power of Aluminium
DSTL
NAMTEC
Strathclyde University.
Aluminium Advocates.
Kings College London
QinetiQ
BAe Systems
Nottingham University
3. Welcome
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Martin Jackson
and Sheffield University for their hospitality in hosting the meeting.
4. Minutes
4.1. Minutes of previous meeting.
1
2
These were agreed without amendments.
4.2. Review of Action Items.
Minute 5.2.2.2. In Marina’s absence there was no update on the progress in
developing the list of “capital equipment” held at the universities. It was
considered that this listing should be made available generally via the LMB
microsite.
Action: The Secretary to contact Marina Galano for an update and to retain
this as an agenda item.
4.3. Matters arising not covered elsewhere.
There were no other matters arising.
4.4. Additional items for the agenda.
The Chairman advised that he had attended a Council meeting recently and a
number of items discussed there should be brought to the attention of the Board.
4.4.1. Statistics had been presented that showed that the LMB microsite had
slipped to 10th position in the number of hits recorded from a much higher
position in the previous listing. There was a discussion around possible causes
and it was agreed that fresh, and continual new material, was essential to maintain
interest in the site. Hong Dong offered to contact Richard Cooper to seek
clarification. All members are urged to look at efforts to improve the site and its
content. This subject was also discussed later on the agenda.
Action: Hong Dong
4.4.2. The forward position for IOM3 Conference Department in 2010 is very
bleak. The Chairman asked that the Board look at any possible events that might
be suggested to them, perhaps in collaboration with other IOM3 divisions e.g
Surface Engineering Division and Automotive Applications Board. Future Events
were discussed later in the agenda.
4.4.3. IOM3 Congress 2010 is planned to run in Malaysia, with 2012 planned for
the UK.
4.4.4. Star Pack Awards. It was suggested that there should be some linkage
between the “Star Pack Awards” and the Aluminium in Packaging awards
operated via AlFed. Roy Woodward agreed to contact Will Savage, in order to
investigate feasibility.
Action: Roy Woodward.
5. Feedback on TSB.
It was agreed that the discussions at the previous meeting had been of value and
that the links to TSB need to be maintained. The Chairman thanked all those who
had contributed to, and compiled, the document prepared in response to Alan
Hooper’s challenge. It was suggested that it was not obvious that the document
had influenced the call when it appeared. However it was agreed that perhaps it
had arrived too late in the cycle and that it was valuable to have put down a
marker and that further feedback should be provided as and when appropriate.
It was agreed that the Chairman would formally write to Alan Hooper and that the
Secretary would draft something for him.
Action: The Secretary and the Chairman.
It was agreed that the Board needed to maintain and develop links to TSB.
6. Links to Materials KTN and other Government Activities.
6.1. Materials KTN Contract renewal.
In the absence of Steve Court there was no formal report. It was agreed to hold
the item over until the next meeting. It was advised by the Secretary that, so far as
2
3
he knew, matters were still not resolved although a number of extensions beyond
the original end April finish date had been provided.
Action: Steve Court to report.
6.2. UK Trade and Investment Light Metals proposition.
In the absence of Steve Court there was no formal report. Steve court was asked,
if possible, to provide a text before the next meeting so the matter can be
discussed then.
Action: Steve Court.
7. Editorial Programme.
7.1. Materials Technology.
Steve Harmer thanked all Board members who had provided papers and
contributions to this special Light Metals issue. He understood that the issue was
in good shape.
7.2. Materials World.
As before Geoff Scamans is co-ordinating this issue and requests that all copy be
with him by mid September at the latest. A number of Board members have
offered contributions including Hong Dong, Terry Hirst, Mark Jolly, Joe Robson
and Tim Wilks.
8. Conference and events programme.
8.1. Events held
8.1.1. Titanium event Q2 2009.
Although Steve Court was not present so a formal report was not available Martin
Jackson advised that it had gone well. Some 150 delegates had attended and the
feedback was reportedly good.
8.2. Future Planned and Proposed.
8.2.1 Future technologies, applications and opportunities for light metals. Q3
2009. This proposed joint event with West Surrey Local Society seems to be in
some difficulty and therefore the Chairman proposed that we withdraw this event
from the 2009 calendar in order to provide more time and support to Matt. The
Board members present concurred with this. The Chairman and Board thanked
Matt for his efforts to date and expressed the hope that we can revisit the idea
again for an event in 2010/11.
The Board confirmed its view that the model and approach are excellent and
asked that ideas for future events of this type be brought forward as and when.
8.2.2. Future technologies applications and opportunities in Surface Engineering
and Light Metals.
Gary Critchlow advised that, in his role in East Midlands Materials Society, he is
developing a meeting in collaboration with IOM3 Surface Engineering Division to
be held at the Riverside in Derby on 29th July 2010. The Board was happy to
endorse and support this meeting. Gary agreed to provide further details
Action: Gary Critchlow.
8.2.3. IFHTSE 19th Congress to be held in Glasgow in September 2010.
Steve Harmer advised that there was an opportunity for the Board to organise a
session at this prestigious international gathering. This was accepted by the Board
and Steve was asked to seek additional information. Subsequently he has
confirmed that the Board can have up to 2 sessions (i.e. a whole day) to provide
input probably in collaboration with SED. The format can be flexible, indeed a
Future Technologies Application and Opportunities workshop would be very
3
4
attractive to many delegates including those from Japan and Mexico. This could
therefore become the proposed meeting that Andrzej Rosochowski has in hand.
Further a Plenary presentation could be offered (a chance perhaps for Geoff
Scamans to put across his message to another audience?) and a visit to the new
Strathclyde Metal Forming Centre would be very attractive. In discussions with
the Chairman Steve has agreed to take this forward with IFHTSE and will act as
Divisional Champion for now.
Action: Steve Harmer
8.2.4. Sustainability event.
Mark Jolly advised that the IOM3 Sustainability Group in collaboration with the
Institution of Chemical Engineers have agreed a joint event to be held in February
2010. It was suggested that sustainability based upon the Light metals could be a
theme for such and event. Mark agreed to pursue and develop a scope for such a
meeting and to keep the Board informed of future discussions with IChemE.
Action: Mark Jolly.
8.2.5. Dawn Bonfield’s proposed meeting n Green Materials scheduled for late
2010.
Geoff Scamans made the Board aware of this meeting and was prepared to help
develop a scope that included Light Metals. There was some discussion around
whether it might be combined with the “sustainability” meeting but no firm
conclusions were drawn. It was agreed that Geoff Scamans would first develop a
scope for the meeting.
Action: Geoff Scamans.
Geoff and Mark would then discuss the feasibility of having either a separate or a
joint event and would advise the board accordingly
Action: Geoff Scamans & Mark Jolly
8.2.6. Olympics 2012.
Information had been received that there is very little, if any, aluminium in the
infrastructure that will form the legacy of the 2012 Olympics. It was therefore
decided to withdraw this idea.
However on an Olympic, or better still Paralympic, theme a meeting on Light
Metals in Sport was suggested for early 2012. Gary Critchlow and Joe Robson
agreed to champion and to begin to develop the idea.
Action: Gary Critchlow and Joe Robson.
8.2.7. A meeting aimed at the “Design Community”.
The Board was reminded about the very successful MADE event when the Design
community was very constructively engaged. The Chairman asked if another,
bigger event, perhaps in collaboration with MADE and other IOM3 divisions
(SED and Automotive came to mind) was worthy of development. It was agreed
that the idea should be taken forward with a 2 day event, run by IOM3 conference
Department, as the template for either mid 2010 or early 2011. Gary Critchlow
agreed to champion the idea and to come with some ideas to the next meeting.
Action: Gary Critchlow.
9. Light Metals Board Microsite.
Marina and Hong were thanked for their continued efforts in managing the site.
The questions raised by the Chairman were, in no way, any criticism of them or
their work.
9.1. LMB site ranking in recent listing.
There was a discussion around this matter but no firm conclusions could be
4
5
drawn. The following was agreed:Hong Dong will discuss the matter with Richard Cooper and also compare our
content and statistics with those of other, more highly rated, sites. It was
suggested that it might be a symptom of the fact that our site had been one of the
first up and hence people were visiting others as they become available.
More detailed statistics to be sought to determine who is looking at what content.
We also recognised the need to continually refresh the news and content of the
site.
We need to increase the constituency that uses the site by including material of
interest, e.g. the design community, this may take a longer time but could be
supported by the development of closer links through for example the joint
conference idea; item8.2.7.
Geoff Scamans also agreed to look out and forward materials from the MADE
event for uploading.
It was agreed that we need to look at ways of increasing the Google visibility of
the Micro site.
10. Any Other Business.
10.1. Relationship with the Technician membership.
The Chairman raised the matter of our lack of interaction with the IOM3 members
at IEng and Eng Tech grades and he wished to explore the matter further.
As a first step the Secretary agreed to seek a listing from the Membership
Department of members in these grades to determine numbers and locations. It
was recognised that these people do not always have the same freedom from the
day job to attend Board meetings. It was considered however that there are
substantial free or low cost educational resources that can be made available to
these members. The Secretary agreed to seek details of the colleges and other
training providers from the Education Department so that these resources can be
come available to them.
Action: The Secretary
11. Future meetings
The next meeting is scheduled for 16th October 2009 at Birmingham
University.
The subsequent meeting will be held on 15th January 2010, location to be
confirmed.
Please note these dates and make every effort to attend or send a deputy.
5