The Newsletter of the SAMPE UK & Eire Club
Volume 3,
Issue 1
March 1999
The UK and
Eire Club AGM
The UK & Eire Club AGM held at British Aerospace, Filton was well
supported and around 20 members enjoyed an excellent day including
tours of the Sowerby Research Centre and the Airbus AMCAPS Laboratory.
The main business of the AGM was the formal approval of the move to
Chapter status for the UK and Eire Club.
“It is a major step forward for us,” says Club Chairman Roy McCarthy,
“and paves the way for better representation for SAMPE Europe at the
International
Board.”
Following the AGM, members were able to witness the exciting work going
on at BAe in M&P both at SRC and in the AMCAPS manufacturing
development programme. Thanks to SRC’s Dr Dan Kells for the splendid
arrangements.
McCarthy’s Lore
UK and Eire Club Chairman, Roy McCarthy writes:
“ A new Chapter opens, literally, as we move forward with our plans for
the UK & Eire Club to become a fully fledged chapter. The AGM
confirmed the
membership views in favour of the proposals and I am confident that we
can progress
to benefit from the greater influence and autonomy that these
structural changes
will provide in Europe.
“1999 promises to be a great year with the International European
Conference
in Paris in April and our own exciting One-day Technical Seminar in
collaboration
with Cranfield University in May. We also have further events planned
for later
in the year including another Student Seminar, industrial visits and
our very
own web site.
“Even in these tough
commercially-driven times, SAMPE membership is still great value for
money. It offers substantial professional benefits to all those with an
interest in materials and process engineering and provides access to a
global membership network of over 15,000 like-minded engineers and
technologists. Can’t be bad! Thank you as always for your continued
support.”
- Roy McCarthy -
Student participation in SAMPE is a vital link to future membership development. Special rates are available for full-time students. Contact Secretary David Carlton Tel: 01455 552077 for details.
Student Excellence at Imperial Seminar
Armstrong and Souter Win Trips to Paris
The 1999 SAMPE Technical Seminar ‘Cost Effective Composite Components
UK & Eire Student Seminar held at Imperial College, London on 12
November 1998 was an outstanding success and two excellent candidates,
Gordon Armstrong and Ben Souter, were selected from a very strong field
to attend the European Student Seminar in Paris in April. Seminar
organiser Bob Griffiths reports:
“We were extremely pleased
with the response to the Student Seminar both in terms of the quality
and quantity of the presentations. Nine students entered and the most
difficult problem we faced as judges was picking just two winners. All
the presentations were of a very high standard and we were very
impressed by the commitment and professionalism demonstrated by all the
students. The two winners, selected to go forward to the International
Student Seminar in Paris in April, are Ben Souter from Nottingham
University with a paper on ‘Deformation in Woven and Warp Knitted
Preforms using Geometric Evaluation’ and Gordon Armstrong from
University of Strathclyde, who presented on ‘Moisture Take-up in Bonded
Joints’. The seven other participants were E Heardman (Surrey), HK
Joeong (Southampton), GS Padhi (Southampton), R Neumann (Queen Mary), S
Madhi (Imperial), R Avila (Imperial) and A McIhagger (Queens, Belfast).
We had splendid co-operation from Imperial College and special thanks
are due to Frank Matthews at the Centre for Composite Materials for
providing the excellent venue and setting up all the facilities. SAMPE
Chairman Roy McCarthy was delighted with outcome: “Our best wishes go
to Gordon Armstrong and Ben Souter for success at the International
Student Seminar - definitely names to look out for in composites in the
future. Clearly none of this would have been possible without help and
guidance from the University supervisors and we are very grateful to
all the Departments that supported entries. Congratulations to all the
participants. On this basis it is evident that the future of the
composites industry in the UK is in very capable hands.”
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SAMPE Networking
Web Sites Growing and Composites Information Exchange Planned
Networking continues to be a buzz word these days and there are already
good opportunities to see what’s happening in SAMPE in other parts of
Europe and the US through the Internet. Secretary David Carlton
reports:
“The National clubs in Italy and Spain both have successful web sites
up
and running. SAMPE HQ in Covina also has a web site -
http://www.et.byu.edu/~sampe.
There are plans under discussion for a UK & Eire Club web site, at
www.sampe.uk,
so look out for further details soon via member Pete Ives. “Based on an
idea from Bob Allanson, GKN Westland Aerospace, we are currently
exploring ways
of setting up a system of technical information exchange covering
composites
design and manufacturing expertise. There is wealth of experience
amongst club
members and we believe a register of skills and expertise could be
invaluable
as a platform for network exchange.”
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The UK SAMPE Diary
European 20th Jubilee International Conference/JEC, CNIT, Paris
13-15 April 1999
“Cost Effectiveness in Composite Components manufacture”
UK Technical Seminar,
Cranfield Univ.
13 May 1999
44th International SAMPE
Symposium & Exhibition, Long Beach, CA, USA
23-27 May 1999
UK & Eire Club
Industry Visit and Social Event
October 1999
UK SAMPE News is produced around twice a year to provide information for UK and Eire members, mainly but not exclusively, about SAMPE happenings and events in the UK and Europe. Comments and contributions are most welcome to:
Ed Trewin,
4 Rushton Close,
Balsall Common,
Coventry, CV7 7PA
Tel/Fax: 01676 534045