LATEST ISSUE OF LANDWARDS
Landwards Magazine Summer 2010
The Summer 2010 edition of Landwards magazine, produced by Nelson Publishing on behalf of IAgrE, includes a report from the Institution’s recent annual Conference which had ‘Natural Turf for Sport – Engineering Safe and Sustainable Surfaces’ as its theme and which saw Peter Leech installed as the new President. Elsewhere Editor Chris Biddle meets newly appointed Principal of Harper Adams, Dr David Llewellyn who believes engineering drives everthing. There are also reports from this year’s Young Engineers competition and the new Centre for Contemporary Agriculture.
FEATURE
Young Engineers 2010
The Coventry Motor Museum played host to this year’s Young Engineers Competition, which saw records broken and rules flouted (by some). View pdf
LATEST NEWS
- IAgrE licence extended
- New Chairman for FEG
- Lantra develop greenSKILL
- Single voice for Soil Science formed
- Engineering Council appoints new CEO
- Sustainable Use will require Professional Registration status
IAgrE licence extended
Following joint audits of IAgrE carried out on the 16th March 2010 by the Engineering Council and the Society for the Environment, the Institution is pleased to announce that both organisations have agreed to re-license IAgrE for a further five years. The Engineering Council ratified this decision on the 22nd April at their QAC meeting and the SocEnv RA did likewise at the meeting on the 8th of June of their Registration Authority.
New Chairman for FEG
Members of the Forestry Engineering Group, one of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers’ specialist technical groups, held their AGM at BRE, Watford on 10 March. At the meeting David Sulman, (UK Forest Products Association), was elected Chairman in succession to Jim Christie, with Steve Penny, (Forest Research), elected Vice-Chairman.
Lantra develop greenSKILL
Recent research published on the green space sector has revealed the full extent of skills shortages and the need for new ways of improving skills. Key findings of the research, contracted by CABE and English Heritage identified that although 44% of the sectors workforce is qualified to degree level or above, there is a shortage of skills in particular careers from park managers to tree surgeons. To reduce skills gaps such as this, Lantra has developed in partnership with Greenspace, a skill assessment tool specifically for the sector called greenSKILL.
Single voice for Soil Science formed
The British Society of Soil Science and the Institute of Professional Soil Scientists have united to form a single voice for Soil Science. Kathryn Allton, Executive Officer of the British Society of Soil Science, said “The creation of a single soil science organisation will enable stronger, more effective representation and help support all aspects of soil science into the future.”
Engineering Council appoints new CEO
The Engineering Council has announced the appointment of Jon Prichard as its new CEO. Jon will be joining the regulatory body at the beginning of August to replace Andrew Ramsay, who is retiring after 13 successful years at the organisation including eight years as its CEO. Jon is already well known to the Engineering Council, having served on the Board from 2003 - 2007 and is currently Chairman of Trustees for the organisation’s pension scheme.
Sustainable Use will require Professional Registration status
The Sustainable Use Directive will oblige all advisers and agronomists to renew their qualifications regularly.
According to Rob Simpson managing director of BASIS, “That will probably mean every three years, so it is something that everyone needs to be aware of and start planning for now,” he warns.
“There will be two options available to meet the requirement to renew. Re-sit the BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection exam, or demonstrate three years of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) through membership of the BASIS Professional Register.”
NEXT ISSUE
The Autumn issue of Landwards will contain the latest news and technical articles from the Institution of Agricultural Engineers.
