The issue - Watt Now Magazine

Message from the SAIEE Presidentear valued member and advertiser,We are now well into the 2012 year and looking forward to the Institute'sAnnual General Meeting (AGM) to be held at the end of March 2012. TheSAIEE staff is settling down well in the new SAIEE House offices. We arenow looking at the renovation, restoration and future use of Innes House.This will be a new project under the guidance of the newly established FacilitiesManagement Committee. They are currently investigating various options andbudget implications for presentation to Council for approval.All of us were shocked to learn about the passing of our Past President: Mr RonLeigh in December 2011. In the new year, the passing of Ms. Ester Manne atthe end of January 2012 also shocked us. Ester was a long serving and hardworking employee of the Institute for more than 15 years. Our condolences goto the family and friends of the departed. May their souls rest in peace.The National Planning Commission (NPC) has called for submission ofcomments on the National Development Plan (NDP). Office Bearers took adecision for SAIEE to contribute to a consolidated submission from the widerEngineering fraternity of South Africa, under the auspices of ECSA. Mr. Paul vanNiekerk has kindly volunteered to champion the SAIEE contribution to ECSA.Members are invited to contact Mr. van Niekerk if they have some input to make.The theme of this edition of wattnow is 'Power'. This is most relevant at the timewhen the Eskom generation capacity is under huge pressure. The reserve margin is atan all time low. Hence, we are all requested to use electrical energy most conservatively.In accordance with Eskom's request, we are all expected to save 10% of our normaldemand in order to help keep the lights on. Also, energy is responsible for approximately40% of global carbon emissions. We are, therefore, expected to play a huge role in thereduction of carbon emissions in order to limit global warming. South Africa successfullyhosted the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17), on climate change in Durban.Deliberations resulted in an agreement on the way forward, although some majorcountries have not yet made binding commitments on carbon emissions reductiontargets. We are also seeing the distribution network coming under more pressure asdemand increases and as the lack of investment over many years begins to result inunreliable performance by the old distribution network."Living amongst the stars at the Johannesburg Observatory"Written by Dirk J Vermeulen, vice-chairman of the Historical Section of theSouth African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), has traced thefascinating evolution of the Johannesburg Observatory from theearly 1900s to its current ambitious goal of becoming adynamic science and education centre.Own it now for only R275 *"The First Ten Decades - the historyof the SAIEE"Written by Mike Crouch, Past President of theSouth African Institute of Electrical Engineers(SAIEE), was commissioned by the CentenaryCommittee to record and celebrate the contributionsthat electrical enigneers and in particular, members ofthe SAIEE made to the profession and the betterment ofsociety over the past century. Own it now for only R250 *The editorial team has put together a most informative assembly of contributions onthe theme.Enjoy reading this edition of wattnow.To place your order, please email all your details, i.e. name,surname, postal address, etc. to wattnow@saiee.org.za orcontact 011 487 3003.* All prices quoted are inclusive of VAT, but excludes Postage of R30.00 per book.6 | wattnow | february 2012 wattnow | february 2012 | 7