WANTED: EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS

During the visit of ASME President Thomas M. Barlow and ASME Executive Director Thomas G. Loughlin to Europe this March, the weather changed from spring-like sunshine in London, UK, to freezing snow in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, the main issue did not change: the current shortage of skilled engineers in many industries.
                
The ASME executives visited London, Brussels and Copenhagen to meet with sister societies, related organisations and companies to exchange views and best practices on effective workforce development.

It may seem strange that in these challenging economic times we can actually have a shortage of workforce. Still, in many engineering disciplines this is the case. In particular in energy production and energy distribution related activities, where a skilled engineering workforce is in demand.

Engineering workforce development is a strategic priority for ASME. Through a variety of initiatives and programmes, ASME aims to expand the capacity and effectiveness of the engineering workforce. The main pillars of the ASME programmes are the active promotion of inter-engineering collaboration to increase public awareness of the engineering profession; increase the value of ASME student and early career participation, and offering professional development programmes to prepare a global engineering workforce to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

When speaking about the grand challenges that society is facing, such as resources for our future energy supply, the environment, global warming and transportation infrastructure, the key message is that engineers develop the solutions. Similar to medical doctors, engineers directly contribute to the well being of people in their daily lives; a message that may especially resonate with the younger generation.
 
As many countries today consider the best course of action regarding energy supply and demand, the UK is at a key decision point about its future energy supply. Nuclear power is already a part of the energy equation. However, in order to keep that production secured for the future, the expertise of experienced engineers is required to manage the infrastructural developments, operations and maintenance. ASME’s codes and standards and technical courses allow engineers to meet the highest safety standards and to stay abreast of technology developments. However, if there is one thing that became evident from meeting with companies working in this field, it is the need to accelerate the experience and skill level of the younger generation to compensate the incumbent retirement of the baby boomers.

This inspired the ASME executives to organise a stakeholder meeting in Brussels with the topic: Nuclear Safety - How to Preserve and Manage Engineering Knowledge.

Both in Europe and in the United States, workforce developments in the nuclear sector over recent decades indicate that there is a real risk of losing nuclear engineering knowledge. On the one hand, this is due to the evolutionary process such as change in careers, retirement, industrial restructuring, etc. On the other hand, the profession seem to be less able to attract young talent to a career in nuclear engineering. It is also evident that nuclear energy will continue to play an important role in the energy supply for many countries, and in some cases these countries may even be at the brink of a renewed expansion. The stakeholder meeting allowed some 15 experts from the European Commission, the International Atomic Energy Agency, safety authorities and various companies to have an opportunity to exchange their views on the various strategies and programmes to ensure the management, preservation and transfer of nuclear engineering knowledge.

From Brussels, the journey continued to Copenhagen, where again, workforce concerns were high on the agenda. The Danish Engineering Society (IDA) is expecting a real influx of foreign engineers by 2013 in order to fulfill the market needs in Denmark.  Danish retirees may be asked to stay active part time to help bridge the engineers’ supply gap.  However, IDA is actively engaging in programmes to help building up the required engineering workforce of tomorrow, beginning with school children, by introducing them to the world of engineering with age appropriate learning tools including games and fun activities. Let them engineer the future! Signs are promising and enrolments in Danish universities are up.

ASME CODES AND STANDARDS –IMPACTING INDUSTRY

CONTRIBUTE!
This section of the ASME EMEA eUpdate is open for your comments, news and issues on the use and implementation of the ASME Codes and Standards in the EMEA region. Write a short one to two paragraphs of a maximum of 200 words answering the question: "How have you been implementing the ASME Codes and Standards, and which ones? How has it made a difference?"

This could be an excellent opportunity for you or your company / organisation to share your experience / success stories with over 27.000 mechanical engineering professionals in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Please also enclose your photo, company logo or a company photo (jpg format, high resolution if possible). Send it to fortesc@asme.org

UPDATE ON THE ENGINEERING SYSTEMS DESIGN AND ANALYSIS CONFERENCE (ESDA)

The Engineering Systems Design and Analysis Conference (ESDA) has its origins in the ASME Petroleum division. After some difficult years in the late nineties, the ASME Turkey Section revived ESDA with a very successful edition in Istanbul in 2002, attracting 450 participants. After Istanbul in 2002, ESDA has been run very successfully by various ASME Europe sections in Manchester (2004), Turin (2006) and Haifa (2008).

The core group of ASME leaders and volunteers who were the driving force behind the renewed ESDA success gathered in London, in March this year, to establish the ESDA Conference Council (ECC). The aim of the ECC is to ensure continuity, build on the previous ESDA successes and to develop a longer term strategy. Through knowledge management and best practice sharing the ECC aims to improve and further enhance ESDA towards reaching its full potential.

To this end, the ECC will assist and advise the organisation of future ESDA conferences with regard to venue selection, database management, organisational aspects, sponsorship and exhibition, budgeting and promotion. The Europe Office will assist the ECC and the ESDA organising committees with professional event management expertise and with marketing and communication tools.

For more information, please contact Yoram Halevi at: yoramh@tx.technion.ac.il

CONTINUING EDUCATION

If you need specific training on ASME Codes and Standards then don’t miss the new ASME training opportunities in Stockholm. Register now to benefit from the early bird fees and gain the knowledge you need on:

• ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code - Section VIII, Division 2: Pressure Vessels
• B31.1 Power Piping Design
• B31.1 Power Piping Materials, Fabrication and Examination

To register visit: http://www.asme.org/Education/Europe/

Testimonials from previous Trainings:
"Great course in terms of content; it will help me dealing with my contractors and suppliers"
(Mohammad El Oraby, BP Egypt, attended a course on Section VIII Division 1 in Amsterdam, March 2009)

"The best thing about this course was the professional experience of the instructor"
(Manuel J M Martinez, Felguera Calderería Pesada, Spain, attended a course on Section III in Barcelona, Nov 2008)

In Partnership with ALITUR (Associazione dei Laureati in Ingegneria di Tor Vergata, Università di Roma); BSMEE (Belgian Society of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering); Coordinamento Mecanica; DMS (Danish Society of Mechanical Engineers); FABI (La Maison de l'Ingénieur); SNE (Spanish Nuclear Society).

Upcoming Courses
Don’t miss the upcoming educational opportunities in Europe to gain the necessary know-how and expertise to advance in your career!

Other Educational Activities
ASME organises a variety of educational activities worldwide. Check the upcoming dates and locations and further your knowledge and ensure the next steps in your professional future.

For the Online Educational opportunities please click here

CONFERENCE AND EVENTS

ASME EMEA Events Calendar
See all the events in EMEA and select the event you want to attend.

ASME EMEA Events

The ASME Bioprocess Technology – Europe conference is built as an essential learning experience from which participants can benefit from  practical applications described by experts in the field.

By attending the technical seminars and industry exhibition you will benefit from:

• Presentations of real case studies from key industry players
• Interactive workshops on BPE standard
• Panel discussions
• Attendance by industry experts, top companies
• Valuable networking

For more information and to register please visit:  http://www.asmeconferences.org/bioprocesseurope09/

 

The International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE) is the premier global conference for addressing the needs of the nuclear industry. The conference will take place July 12-16, 2009 and will be held at the Sheraton Brussels Hotel.
Topics are divided into 15 tracks:

• Plant Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Modifications and Life Cycle
• Component Reliability and Materials Issues
• Structural Integrity
• Advanced Applications of Nuclear Technology
• Next Generation Systems
• Safety and Security
• Codes, Standards, Licensing and Regulatory Issues
• Fuel Cycle and High & Low Level Waste Management and Decommissioning
• Balance of Plant for Nuclear Applications
• Thermal Hydraulics
• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Neutronics Methods and Coupled Codes
• Current Advanced Reactors – Plant Designs, Construction, Workforce and Public Acceptance
• Instrumentation & Controls (I&C)
• Student Paper Competition
• Nuclear Industry Forum - Panel Sessions on Current Topics

There are also two workshops taking place at the event:

• Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Seminar: targeted at young researchers and engineers and discusses the basis and results for selection of several CFD applications for certain flow problems.
• Engineering Reliability and Life Cycle Management (ER & LCM) Seminar: discusses the basic principles of engineering risk and reliability analysis of engineering systems, and the principles and requirements of equipment failure and life cycle management database development and applications.

For more information and to register: http://www.asmeconferences.org/icone17/

 

This major event on the ASME calendar provides participants with opportunities to further their knowledge base by being exposed to, and exchange opinions and ideas on, different topics related to Pressure Vessel and Piping technologies for the power and process Industries.

The conference’s Technical Programme contains over 600 technical papers organised into more than 150 technical and panel discussion sessions, tutorials, and the Student Paper Symposium and Competition. The NDE and Software Demonstration forums are organised as part of the technical programme. Technical papers presented at the conference will be published in the form of a CD ROM. 

Topics covered in the main programme include Codes & Standards; Computer Technology and Bolted Joints; Design & Analysis; Fluid-Structure Interaction; High Pressure Technology; Materials & Fabrication; Operations, Applications & Components; Seismic Engineering; Non Destructive Examination; and Nanotechnology.

Tutorials and Workshops at the conference offer both the experienced and early career engineers excellent opportunities to refresh their knowledge and to venture into specific technical areas outside their expertise. 

For more information and to register: http://www.asmeconferences.org/pvp09/

DISTRICT AND COMMUNITY NEWS

After a break of two years, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) in Winterthur, in cooperation with ASME Europe, will host the one-day Blade Mechanics Seminar on 2 September, 2009. Just as the last 13 seminars, which were organised by ABB Turbo Systems Ltd in Baden, this one will continue to be a discussion forum for engineers interested in current technical issues of blade mechanics. Therefore, each presentation will be followed by a comprehensive discussion about the understanding of the presented problem and practical manners of its solution. The key target of this seminar is to offer a platform for know-how and experience exchange among engineers from various turbomachinery companies. The Blade Mechanics Seminar aims to answer the participants’ needs coming from their daily work on axial and radial bladed discs. All presentations will be given in common engineering terms by using comprehensible mathematics.

The deadline to send abstracts (up to 100 words) is  25 May, 2009. For more information on the 14th Blade Mechanics Seminar please visit: www.imes.zhaw.ch

 

In a world of change, ASME Europe also continues to develop. For the community of ASME members and volunteers in the EMEA region we assist section leaders and the District H Board in developing and implementing their activities.

During almost three years, our Community and Corporate Coordinator, Bertrand Mbiaffié, has played a pivotal role in assisting the European Sections and the District H Board, reaching some very tangible results together with the UK& Ireland, French and Swiss Section Leaders. He is also driving current initiatives to establish sections in Italy and Belgium. Moreover, he has been able to set up joint membership schemes with BSMEE (Belgium) and AITEM (Italy). Bertrand is leaving our office, moving on to new challenges. We would like to thank Bertrand for his great work and for being such a fantastic colleague, and wish him all the best in his new endeavours.

We are welcoming our new Community and Corporate Coordinator, Leonardo Victorazzi. Leo is a physics engineer, with broad experience in the association world. Having been introduced to his new job still by Bertrand, Leo has already made a very smooth start!

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