Proceedings 2002/2003 - IRSE

94
NINETIETH ANNUAL REPORT
Institution and these changes account for the
significant year on year differences recorded in the
table above.
With the expanding workload in dealing with
membership and EC (UK) registration matters and in
preparation for the membership recruiting campaign
reported in the last annual report it has been
necessary to recruit a Membership Manager. Mr
Derek Edney commenced in this role with effect from
1st July 2002 and, working with the Recruitment &
Publicity Committee, is preparing plans for a future
membership recruitment campaign.
Membership Committee met ten times throughout
the year and processed 270 applications or transfers
of membership. In addition, a small working group of
the Committee prepared guidelines for “Equivalents
to the IRSE Examination or Licence” as required by
the revised membership requirements contained
within the Byelaws. These guidelines have been
approved by Council and subsequently published in
the Information Pack obtainable from either the IRSE
office or the website.
The Council is grateful to the Recruitment &
Publicity Committee and others concerned, both in
the UK and overseas, for the work they do in recruiting
new members and publicising the Institution and
its activities and also for the work of the Membership
Committee in their consideration and recommendations
to Council of applications for membership and/
or registration.
Obituary
It is with regret that the Council records the
decease of the following 13 members during the
year: A A Cardani (Honorary Fellow); R Pope, F W G
Smith (Fellows); K Hosobuchi, L J Kruger, M J
Mullen, M B Sadler (Members); D Wilding (Associate
Member); R C Hawkins, P Bandu De Silva
(Associates); S Rudland-Wood (Technician); D
Grimshaw (Accredited Technician); and A S Langer
(Student).
Council was saddened by the loss of all these
members, a number of whom were strong
supporters of the Institution for a considerable
number of years and in their various ways
contributed significantly to the Institution’s work. In
particular, the contribution made by Armand
Cardani, a member for over 60 years and President
in 1970, who was instrumental in revising and raising
the standard of the Institution’s qualifying examination
and also Roger Pope who served for many years
on the Examination Committee. Both will be greatly
missed. A memorial collection made in remembrance
of the life and work of Armand Cardani has
been donated to the Institution’s Scholarship Fund
to further the education and training of young signal
engineers, a cause that Armand would have heartily
approved.
LONDON HQ OFFICE
The workload of the Institution continues to
increase. Membership numbers continue to grow,
albeit slowly; T&D activity is expanding at an
exponential rate; and the Licensing Scheme has
seen significant growth over the last year and much
more is anticipated shortly.
The Institution staff continue to occupy modest
office accommodation on the third floor in Savoy Hill
House. The accommodation comprises four small
offices and a small storeroom is also available to
store the Institution’s publications, stationery,
publicity stand, archives etc. The office is staffed
continuously Monday to Friday, 0900 to 1800 (UK
time) and outside these hours messages can be left
on an answer machine. Communication via e-mail or
fax is possible at all times and the telephone system
is connected to the UK railway telecommunications
network thus enabling calls to be made on this
system as well as via the national telecommunications
operators.
Linda Mogford, the Office Administrator, is the
initial point of contact for requests and queries from
members and non-members alike. The workload on
the training and development front continues to
grow apace and Karen Gould, the Training &
Development Manager, has had another very busy
year expanding the work that the Institution
undertakes to facilitate the training and professional
development of signal engineers. Two temporary
project staff, funded by the Strategic Rail Authority,
were recruited this year to assist Karen with the
training and development workload. Mark Watson-
Walker, the Licensing Registrar, and Linda Collins,
the Licensing Administrative Assistant, continue to
be responsible for the operation of the Institution’s
UKAS accredited Licensing Scheme. Because of the
heavy and expanding workload in licensing, a further
permanent staff member, Gordon Thorne, funded by
the Licensing Scheme, was recruited as Licensing
Assistant. Derek Edney, commenced work part-time
as Membership Manager on 1st July 2002 to deal
with all membership and registration matters and to
manage a membership recruitment campaign. Ken
Burrage, as the Chief Executive Officer of the
Institution, is responsible for managing the London
office, for implementing the decisions of Council,
providing the focal point of contact for other institutions
and external organisations, liaising with the
Engineering Council (UK), Government departments
and chief executive officers of other professional
bodies to make certain that the IRSE viewpoint is
heard and also for ensuring that the legal requirements
of the Institution’s Articles of Association, the
Registrar of Companies and the Charities
Commission are met.
The Institution’s IT system has been successfully
updated and a new database system was
introduced during 2002 to manage the Institution
membership and licensing databases and to make it
easier to keep track of members’ change of address
details etc. The new IT system will also be used to
manage subscriptions, invoices and also the
administration of conferences, seminars, technical
visits and the Institution examination.
FINANCE
The finances overall remained in a sound position
against a difficult year for the economy generally in
the United Kingdom. A surplus of income over
expenditure of £25,574 is shown in the Main