The President Writes

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Welcome to another jam-packed edition of Corrosion Management! I’ve had to content myself with reading the online version of the magazine in recent months as the printed version is delivered to my office at NPL and I’m still not permitted to access the site. The online version is fantastic but I have to say I do miss having a printed copy to leaf through. There has been debate for many years within Council about whether the magazine should transition to electronic format – at the moment the consensus is that most members still prefer to receive the printed version. However, this may change in the future, particularly as the demographic of the Institute continues to shift, and we are continuously reviewing the options. It may be that we decide to distribute the magazine by email to those who wish to receive it in electronic format, while keeping the printed version for those who prefer this option. If you have any views or suggestions on this please do not hesitate to contact our Editor, Brian Goldie.

As the world cautiously emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown, I’m pleased to say that our operations are returning to something like normal. Our Head Office at Corrosion House in Northampton has been open for several weeks now, with appropriate social distancing, protective equipment and sanitisation arrangements in place. I would like to thank Denise Aldous for her sterling work in coordinating working arrangements in the office during the lockdown to ensure that any disruption in our service to members was minimised.

This gives me great confidence that we will be able to transition smoothly back to lockdown again in the event of a second wave of the virus. Our classroom-based training courses have also restarted, both at our main training provider IMechE AR in Sheffield and at our international training facilities. Like many organisations and businesses, we expect to see a dip in revenue in 2020 but I’m encouraged by the fact that the preliminary accounts for the financial year to the end of June suggest that our finances are still holding up well, despite the recent significant investment in the upgrade of our training course offering. This bodes well for the longer term and I and the other Trustees are cautiously optimistic that we can ride out any temporary downturn arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

One thing you can do to help is to renew your annual membership! These are difficult times but we rely on your subscriptions to deliver the services, activities and events that you expect and deserve as members of a professional society. I greatly value the sense of community and professional pride that membership of ICorr entails and I know that this is reflected across the entire breadth of our membership.

Meanwhile, the success of our online events continues apace, with the Aberdeen Branch holding its second Week of Webinars in conjunction with the Marine Corrosion Forum, and delegates on the Young Engineer Programme attending informative lectures on Cathodic Protection (by Trevor Osborne) and Fire Protection (by Simon Thurlbeck). I would also like to draw your attention to two major conferences coming up in September that will be held online for the first time, the Corrosion Science Symposium (Sept 14-17) and EuroCorr (Sept 7-11). Registration for the CSS is free and I would encourage you to attend as this will be a unique opportunity to catch up on the latest cutting-edge research in corrosion presented by informed and enthusiastic PhD students (see news item later in this magazine – editor).

Two prestigious awards will be presented at these conferences. The first is the U.R. Evans Award, the premier scientific award of the Institute of Corrosion, which will be presented at the CSS to Prof. Robert Cottis of the University of Manchester. The second is the European Corrosion Medal, the major scientific award of the European Federation of Corrosion, which will be presented at EuroCorr to Prof. Stuart Lyon of the University of Manchester. This represents a very impressive double for the university and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Bob and Stuart for these significant achievements.

The President Writes

Latest News

t has been a busy summer for the Institute and I hope this issue of Corrosion Management gives you an idea of the number and variety of interesting activities that are bubbling away at the moment. It’s an exciting time to be involved! I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying my time as President, which is made so much easier by the number of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers who run the Institute activities, as well as our excellent and highly professional office staff.

I recently attended the EuroCorr conference in Sevilla and was delighted to be present at the awards ceremony to see Liane Smith receiving her EFC Honorary Fellowship. Liane gave an inspirational acceptance speech in which she emphasised to younger people in the audience the benefits of getting involved in both technical and professional committee activities. This is a top priority, not only for the Institute but for the corrosion profession in general, and I would strongly encourage our younger members to put themselves forward for these roles.
I would like to thank those of you who took the time to give us your views on the proposed refresh of the Institute brand. There were over 300 responses to the online survey, and of the three candidate brandmark/logo combinations, a clear preference has emerged amongst the membership. This has now been taken forward to the detail stage and the final brand assets will be rolled out to the website, stationery and marketing material during the autumn. While it is never possible to please everyone, we have been very much encouraged by the level of approval from our members.

One of the most rewarding aspects of being President is recognising the achievements of our members and others in the wider corrosion community. It was a privilege to present our two premier awards during the Electrochem 2019 conference in Glasgow, with Prof. Tetsuo Shoji receiving the 2019 U.R. Evans Award and Dr Steve Paterson accepting the 2019 Paul McIntyre Award. It was a particular pleasure to present the Paul McIntyre Award, having worked with Paul at NPL for many years. He was a true gentleman and the embodiment of dedicated and loyal service for the public benefit.

The Electrochem conference itself was a huge success and included for the first time a joint meeting between the Corrosion Science Symposium and the Corrosion Engineering Division Annual Working Day. It was great to see the students mixing with experienced corrosion engineers to exchange knowledge and make connections – this is certainly something that we would like to see more of in the future.

I’m pleased to say that we have recently simplified the ICorr membership application process. It is now possible for non-members to apply directly for Technician, Professional or Fellow membership, without the need to join as an Individual member first. Updated application forms and guidance notes are now available on the ICorr website. Please have a think about who you might prod – new members are always very welcome!
Finally, the date and venue for this year’s AGM have been confirmed. The meeting will take place in the Council Chamber at Birmingham Council House in conjunction with the Midland Branch meeting on the afternoon of Thursday 31st October. Several interesting and entertaining technical talks have been arranged and I would encourage you all to mark the event in your diaries.

Icorr President, Gareth Hinds

New Vice President Bill Hedges receives his Regalia from President Gareth Hinds at the recent Council meeting.

The President Writes

Latest News

I hope you are all enjoying the summer weather and trust that it will be possible for everyone to take a well-earned break at some point. The battle against corrosion never ends but it’s important that we all have the opportunity to recharge our batteries from time to time.
I was pleased to see such a great turn-out at the formal opening of the new Corrosion House on 6th June. The weather played its part, with a warm and sunny afternoon in Northampton allowing the attendees to gather in good spirits around the front door of the building for the official ribbon cutting ceremony. We were also delighted to recognise the tremendous contribution of two stalwarts of the Institute in the purchase of this, and the previous incarnation of Corrosion House, by naming the meeting room and the training room in their honour. To find out more you will need to read the report on the event in this issue!
One of the other highlights of the day was the formal signing of a new training provision agreement between ICorr and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Argyll Ruane (IMechE AR). This has been over a year in the making and I would like to thank Sarah Vasey, David Mobbs, Brian Wyatt and John Fletcher for their unstinting efforts in bringing it to fruition. Revenue from training courses makes up a significant fraction of our income and we see the continued partnership with IMechE AR as key to achieving further growth in both existing and emerging markets.
On the subject of training, it was with regret that Council recently accepted the resignation of Chris Atkins as Chair of the Professional Development, Training and Certification (PDTC) committee. Over the past few years Chris has devoted a huge amount of time and effort to ensure that ICorr courses are fit-for-purpose and the correct governance is in place. I would like to put on record my sincere thanks for the great work he has done and extend a warm welcome to his successor, David Horrocks.
Our student numbers have exploded over the past couple of years, increasing to 213 at the last count. This is largely thanks to the efforts of former Young ICorr Chair Chris Bridge, who arranged visits to the Materials Science Department at the University of Oxford to sign up undergraduate students for free membership of the Institute. His successor Simon Bowcock is now rolling this out to other universities and we are looking for volunteers for these visits. If you can spare the time to visit your alma mater or local university to speak to students about the benefits of ICorr membership, please get in touch with him via the Northampton office.
The Institute continues to recognise excellence in corrosion science and engineering through our prestigious international awards and I am pleased to say that this year, for the first time, our two premier awards will be presented at the same event. This has come about due to a joint meeting between the 60th Corrosion Science Symposium and the annual Corrosion Engineering Division Working Day, which will be held in conjunction with Electrochem 2019 at the University of Strathclyde, on 26th-28th August. During the conference, Prof. Tetsuo Shoji will receive the 2019 U.R. Evans Award, while Dr Steve Paterson will be presented with the 2019 Paul McIntyre Award. I look forward to congratulating both of them in person for these significant achievements!
A resumé of their work is given in the current issue of Corrosion Magazine (editor).
ICorr President, Gareth Hinds.