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Aberdeen Mechanical Society
(Instituted 1888)
Annual Report of Council 2003-4
President’s Message
The AMS was founded 116 years ago as a society to bring together Engineers working in diverse areas. The purpose of the society was to help its members broaden their experience by hearing of the activities of others. Compared with the scene today, there were then comparatively few Engineering Societies, Institutes and Institutions in existence and AMS meetings were also a local opportunity for engineers in different firms to discuss technicalities in their field. With the proliferation of highly specialised societies over the next century, this rôle of the AMS has largely passed. However, the need for the AMS is equally great today, just because of the very highly focused, technical life that many engineers now lead.
If my colleagues at work are representative of professional engineers, the pressure to specialise and the opportunity to do so leave people with little energy to broaden their experiences. I’m not surprised that we have difficulty recruiting new members in spite of our interesting programme of activities. However, the natural world gives us plenty of examples that in the long-term narrow specialisation is a dangerous route for survival. You haven’t got to look hard in the commercial world either for examples of the same message. I see the AMS as having a vital rôle today in providing a forum for members to broaden their experiences. Looking at our lecture programme in recent years you can see at least three broad themes: the theme of environmental topics, a driver for more and more projects these days, the theme of historical topics, pertinent to the rôle of engineering in society, and the theme of technical topics of particularly relevance at the moment.
I really believe that the AMS provides a valuable forum that a great many people would get something out of if we could only persuade them to come along. Any ideas on how to do so will be grateful discussed by our Council. I have found out for myself that telling people it is interesting and suggesting it is beneficial isn’t enough. Perhaps the Engineering Institutions themselves need to give guidance on the value of general broadening lectures to CPD. I don’t know. But I do know that the AMS still plays a very valuable rôle and I’d like to thank everyone, Council and ordinary members, who make its continuation possible.
Programme for 2003/2004
Winter talks
Our series of excellent winter talks continued. The practice of recent years of organizing some talks jointly with the IMechE and other professional bodies active in the area helps all the societies and institutions concerned and brings a wider range of speakers to members than we would otherwise get. On behalf of members, Council would like to record the Society’s thanks to these bodies and repeat our thanks given at the time to all speakers at our meetings. In summary the talks over the past year were:
23rd Oct / Dr John S. Reid / AGM & address by President on "Nanotechnology"12th Nov / Prof. Douglas Faulkner / The Derbyshire - Lessons Learnt and not Learnt
3rd Dec / Prof Carl Ross / Recent Advances in Underwater Structures
22nd Jan / Dr John Dunn / Steam Traction
18th Feb / Dr Christopher Crolly / Industry & Production in Medieval Aberdeen
Mar17th / Prof Steven Salter / Diversification in Offshore Engineering: Rain Making in Drier Climates
22nd Apr / Bert Hosie / Engineering Developments of the Camera
14th May / Annual Dinner at Treetops Hilton
The summer visits
The long visit was attended by more people than we have attracted in recent years, so much so that it covered its costs. Everyone was rewarded with a fascinating and memorable outing. Our thanks go particularly to Jim Cruickshank, who organized the logistics of the day and came on the trip in spite of indifferent health, to Mark Ferguson and to Myra Wattie for their contacts with Babcock Engineering at Rosyth and with Zeebrugge Fast Ferries respectively.
Uncharacteristically we had two problems with summer visits this year. Our visit to RGIT Montrose at Altens was cancelled when we arrived, due to an emergency callout of the local organiser. We were given a profuse apology and a short tour of the helicopter crash training pool with a promise that we would be most welcome in future if we can re-arrange the visit. Council are considering this for next season. Our proposed visit to North Sound Radio was also cancelled, or postponed, due to lack of availability of the venue at the time. These incidents do highlight that we are greatly indebted for our summer visits to our hosts, who go out of their way to make us welcome. We must accept, though, that occasionally problems occur and priority has to be given by our hosts to their own business. The remaining visits were well attended and may be summarised in one word: ‘excellent’. Our thanks again, both to the organisers on Council and to our hosts.
In summary, the visits were:
20/05/04 / RGIT Montrose19/06/04 / Babcock Rosyth Naval Dockyard & Zeebrugge Fast Ferry
18/08/04 / Oceanlab (Newburgh)
15/09/03 / Wood Group Turbine Testing (Dyce), with I.Mech.E.
Annual dinner
We now hold our annual dinner jointly with the IMechE but this innovation has not made much impact on numbers attending, which have remained fairly steady in recent years in the 40s. Participants have certainly enjoyed the evening but Council have been wondering whether a different format of annual dinner might find favour with more members, and with more IMechE members. Accordingly, we shall canvas membership with a questionnaire that contains suggestions for alternative formats and we shall review the results in time to consider a possible change for this coming year. Watch this space, and your letterbox. Meanwhile, let Council would like to record their thanks to Henry Barber who has continued to organise our traditional format dinner and ensure it runs very smoothly for the benefit of all who attend.
Prizes and Honorary award
We offer two annual prizes. The R V Jones memorial Trophy is awarded to the S1/S2 school team that shows the best design initiative in the annual design and build event held under the auspices of SetPoint. Last year it was won by a team from Kincorth Academy, whom we were able to present with the trophy at the last AGM. This year the competition is being held after our AGM, on 5th November, and the winning team will be presented on the day.
We also award an annual certificate and cash prize to the best 2nd year B. Eng. Mechanical Systems student at RGU. It is our pleasure today to present the prize to Mr David Devine, with our good wishes for his continued success in his chosen career.
It is also a pleasure to record here the presentation of Honorary Membership of the Society to Professor Tim Spracklen. Tim Spracklen is Professor of Electronic Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. He runs a group with a high international reputation that develops communication protocols, software and hardware particularly for satellite and other high-bandwidth communications applications. Tim has given several talks to the society in the areas of communications and neural networks and strongly supports the general aims of our Society. His popularity as an adviser to the UN, to ESA, to satellite company Intelsat and other bodies often prevents him attending our meetings but the AMS value his friendship and support. We are pleased to welcome Professor Spracklen as an Honorary Member.
Membership
Membership is steady at around 80, being at present 16 Honorary members, 39 Ordinary Members, 22 Retired Members and 3 Student Members.
Financial report
The financial report is submitted separately by our Hon Treasurer.
Council Matters
First, I should like to record my personal thanks to Council for their enthusiasm for the Society and for the work they have put in. Council meets 3 times a year for business. Council meetings have been well attended and the task of organising talks and outings, and attending to related business, have been shared by all. This lightens the load all round. Council would like to record their thanks to Andrew Dundas, whose enthusiasm for our society will be missed for at least two years due to his emigration, hopefully temporary, to Perth in Western Australia. Andrew has kept on his membership in order to stay in touch. We would also like to record our sincere thanks to Mark Ferguson who has acted as Secretary for many years, arranging meeting venues, keeping the rest of the Council in order and, equally importantly. keeping membership informed of activities. He will retire from this post during next year and we will get a chance next year to give him the fuller thanks he deserves. We shall also need a replacement Secretary.
Council would also like to re-iterate their thanks to both The Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen for supporting the society - in the case of RGU for 116 years. The President and his wife would particularly like to thank the Aberdeen Maritime Branch for their hospitable invitation to the Branch’s enjoyable Annual Dinner as the Society’s representatives.
Council is looking for two new members. Our current office bearers are:
PresidentDr J.S. Reid
Immediate Past PresidentMr I. Wattie
1st Vice PresidentMrs M Wattie
2nd Vice PresidentMr R Holloway
Council MembersMr J. D. Thornton
Mr J. Cruickshank
Mr H. Barber
Mr A.F Mess
Mr J. Ganley
Honorary TreasurerMr D.J. Moore
Honorary SecretaryMr M.J. Ferguson
Honorary AuditorsMr A.G. Falconer
Mr R. Hosie
Programme for 2004/2005
This season’s programme this winter is outlined, as usual, in the PET booklet and on our web-page at In summary:
date / speaker / title28th Oct / Dr John S. Reid / AGM & talk by President on "Building the Eiffel Tower"
10th Nov / Norman Ramsay / BP N W Hutton Decommissioning - an Operators View
1st Dec / Alan McAskill / Talisman Beatrice Offshore Windfarm
12th Jan / Prof Tom Redpath / Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Medicine
17th Feb / Dr John Dunn / Copepods - "Why should I care?"
18th Mar / Dave McGrath / Fuel Cells - from Hype to Happening
21st Apr / David Moore / Kinlochleven Power Station
13th May / Annual Dinner
JSR for the Council, 28th October 2004
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