Fifth Annual General Meeting of the IoRW

   
   
   

The fifth Annual General Meeting of the IoRW under the Corporate Membership scheme was held on Wednesday 29 April 2009 at TWI Ltd, Cambridge.

The AGM was attended by members of the current Management Committee who are representatives of Corporate Member companies. The proceedings were as follows:

  1. The IoRW Constitution was re-approved with minor changes in respect of the terms of office of members of the Management Committee to allow continuity. It will be updated every two or three years if necessary.

  2. The Annual Report of activities for 2008 was presented and approved. Progress Rail Corporation joined as a new Corporate Member in 2008. This brought Corporate Membership to a total of 18 organisations and these included most of the 'main players' in the UK rail sector, see below.

  3. Two Business Briefings were organised in conjunction with Management Committee meetings. The first on Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome by Jonathon Sanders of Saint-Gobain Abrasives was held at BOC, Guildford. The second was by Andy Foan of Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies on S&C manufacture, followed by a tour of the Balfour Beatty Sandiacre facility.

  4. Two Technical Seminars were held in 2008, the first in May at the Derby Conference Centre on Rail Welding - Challenges for the Future, the second in November at Wolverhampton, kindly hosted by BOC Ltd, on Innovations in Flash Butt Welding of Rail. These events continued to attract a high number of participants, and around 70 people attended each one. The feedback from the second one was particularly positive and highlighted the benefit of hearing from an international team of speakers.

  5. Three issues of Welding Lines had been published and the IoRW website continued to be regularly visited. The Technical Enquiry Service was also used continued to be used in 2008.

  6. The Fourth Annual General Meeting was held in April 2008 and the IoRW Management Committee met three times during the year. All these meetings were well attended, with a high percentage of Corporate Member representatives present.

  7. A financial statement was tabled and approved. It is intended to keep the subscription fee structure under review in future.

  8. The promotional campaign will be sustained to recruit 'hot prospect' companies in the UK as well as some relevant organisations overseas.

  9. Further progress was made in the development of two draft guidelines: Diploma in Rail Welding Engineering and Rail Welding Instructor. The IoRW certification scheme for training organisations continued but at a much lower level.

  10. The RAILSAFE Phase 2 project proposal on arc welding of rails had been accepted and the project was launched in October 2008. Six partners from five countries are involved. They are: TWI Ltd, UK; Ir. J.B. van den Brug Raadgevend Ingenieur, The Netherlands; European Welding Federation, Portugal; ISQ, Portugal; Swedish Welding Commission, Sweden; National R&D Institute for Material Testing, Romania. The project has a duration of two years and progress will be reported regularly at IoRW. More information on the project can be found at www.ewf.be/Railsafe2

  11. The current IoRW Management Committee is composed as follows:

    Brian Whitney Network Rail (Chairman)
    Bob Sawdon Balfour Beatty Rail (Vice Chairman)
    William Capps Serco Docklands
    Ian Moore Vital Rail
    Gordon Harding Tube Lines
    Jonathan Hawthorn BOC Ltd
    David Philpott VolkerRail (formerly Grant Rail)
    Robert Taylor Carillion Rail
    Jay Jaiswal Corus Rail Technologies
    Tim Jessop TWI Ltd
    Trevor Jipson London Underground Ltd
    Chris McCormack Bridgen Enterprises
    Bill Mosley Network Rail
    John Oates Babcock Rail
    Raj Suchak Metronet Rail
    Joe Small Jarvis Rail
    Jonathon Sanders Saint-Gobain Abrasives
    Peter Wilkins ESAB Group (UK) Ltd
    Richard Frostman Progress Rail Corporation
    Barry Evans SkyBlue
    Eoin Colleran Lloyds Sersa (IE) Ltd
    Carol Colegate TWI Ltd (Secretary) - non-voting

    Under the IoRW Constitution, when a new Corporate Member joins they have the right to nominate a representative to the Management Committee.

    Brian Whitney and Bob Sawdon will continue as Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively. The Committee members and officers were approved.