Tuesday 28th April saw Southern Branch's 51st AGM.  Held in Midhurst the AGM was well attended and the matters dealt with promptly and efficiently to enable the main event to get underway, the annual Branch Young Engineer's Competition.  At the AGM the attendees were brought up to date with the branch activities through the year including the Presidential Conference in Portsmouth which was a fantastic event. All credit to Marcus Stanton and his team for making the dinner and conference a success.
 
Key positions taken up in the branch were a change of Chair.  Due to personal circumstance Marcus has stood down as Chair and took up the post of Vice Chair with Ian Cross also as Vice Chair.  Luke Meechan took on the office of Chair and will serve for a 2-year term.  Other key positions John Wright stood down as Branch Treasurer and many thanks to John for serving as Branch Treasurer for the last 6 years.  The post of Branch Treasurer has been taken up by Tim Groves.  Mike Jones is the Branch Membership and Recruitment Officer.  Dr Alani has stood down from the branch committee due to a new job opportunity and we thank Dr Alani in his time on the committee and wish him every success in his new job.
 
The Young Engineer’s Completion is always a great event and the event exceeded the expectations with utmost respect for the courage of the presenters to stand up in front of a group of professionals and talk.

The presenters were:

• Richard Mallinson from Amey with a presentation on the A24
• Leah Harrell from West Sussex CC
• Joseph Westwood also from West Sussex CC

Leah was first up with a very well crafted and interesting presentation on Winter Maintenance in West Sussex looking at innovation in Winter Maintenance through using molasses.  Joseph presented on the ever hot topic of parking and controlled parking zones which again demonstrated Joe's knowledge and interest in the topic going beyond the engineering and talking to the community.  Both Leah and Joseph are on West Sussex's trainee Technician Programme and have been with WSCC for 8 months.  Both presenters are a credit to WSCC and the industry and the importance of nurturing young talent.  Our 3rd presenter Richard presented on safety improvements to the A24 Ashington to Southwater scheme, focusing in on the Buck Barn junction and the challenges faced by designers in meeting design standards and the expectation of businesses.  The fourth and final speaker Shine Salur, presented on the recent site clearance and enabling works at the M27 airport junction.  Shine outlined the purpose of the scheme and her involvement as Resident Engineer and then focused on the environmental impact of the scheme with the diverse flora and fauna and dealing with the public and clients through an awkward scheme.
 
All presenters can be proud of the effort and time they put into preparing for the event with much interest from the audience in listening, questioning and support.  However there could only be one winner and Leah, who received the unanimous votes of the 3 judges.  Leah performed well throughout the presentation, with a strong confident style and a clear presentation structure.  Well done Leah.
 
We hope to see you at events that will be run through the year and as we are finalising the programme for 2009/10, although any ideas or suggestions for evening meetings would be welcomed.


Andrew Ekinsmith

Andy.Ekinsmyth@westsussex.gov.uk