Annual report 2010

1. Board membership
Mr Gwilym Lloyd has stepped down as Honorary Secretary of ICTa and has been replaced by Mr Mike Chapman. Following the retirement of Eric Turner from Proskills Sector Skills Council, his successor Andy Rotherham has taken his place on the Board.

2. Board meetings
The following Board meetings were held in 2010:
January 28th 2010 8/19 board members attended
September 14th 2009 14/19 board members attended.

3.  Opportunities for growth of Division Community or constraints

Overall the Ceramics Sector is still suffering in the current economic climate. However initiatives on student membership have been undertaken by the Membership Department, in which they have been working with several Universities to increase the visibility of the Institute and membership.

The Society has continued to review its board and overall structure as some committees within the Society are currently inactive, largely due to the downturn in business and the difficulties in participating in meetings. A proposal to merge some of the existing committees into a larger “manufacturing Ceramics” committee has been discussed at board level. In addition to this, a proposal to form a new group looking at ceramics and design has been tabled. It was suggested that there should be an open Town Meeting with the membership early in 2011 to discuss these proposals and to consult the membership on what they want from the Society and the wider Institute.

Education Courses
The Level 2 and 3 Technical Certificates in Heavy Clays Technology run by the International Clay Technology Association continue to be very popular and successful. The management of these conferences has now been taken on by the Institute and the training team at Grantham. The teaching materials have all been revised and brought up to QCF standard. A level 3 course commenced in November with 18 students, all of which have been enrolled as student members of the Institute.

Work continues with Derby University to develop and pilot a Foundation Degree in Applied Professional Studies – Clay Technology. The students on the course are currently working on their second management unit and it is expected that the first technical unit on Geology will be started early in the new year.

4    Technical programme

Events Held

17 February 2010 ICTa Technical Roadshow – Firing, Various Locations online
Organised by the Education and Training Trust of ICTa.
This was the second successful meeting using the Interwise web conferencing software to broadcast a live presentation between multiple sites. Four local ICTa Societies participated in the meeting.

13 – 14 September Cement and Concrete Science, University of Birmingham
Organised by the Cementitious Materials Group. Approximately 80 delegates attended the event from 10 companies. 40 papers were presented at the event.

23 November 2010 Building a Greener Future – Bretby 2010, Bretby Conference Centre
Organised by ICTa and the Building Materials Committee.
This was the 9th annual event at the venue. 116 delegates and exhibitors attended the event. 29 exhibition stands were sold at the event.

Events Planned

16 February 2011 Technical Roadshow – Packaging
This event is being organised by the Education and Training Committee of ICTa. It will be hosted at Keymer Tiles and will be broadcast online to various venues as with the previous event.

12 – 13 Sept 2011 Cement and Concrete Science, Imperial College, London
Organised by the Cementitious Materials Committee.

22 November 2011 Bretby 2011
This will be the 10th Annual Bretby Event.

5. Foresight / Innovation and Growth
Nothing to report

6. Professional membership developments
Please see comments above regarding the development of the Foundation Degree.

7. National and international linkages with other Societies /Institutes
ECerS
Several members of the Ceramics Society are involved in the new Construction Materials Group.

The Chairman and Vice Chairman, Professor Jon Binner are both representatives on the ECerS Executive Committee.

Professor Binner attended the ICS Conference in Japan in November.
 

9. Government interfaces
The Ceramics Society continues to work closely with Proskills Sector Skills council and has several representatives on the Building Products Industry and Glazed Creamics Industry.

10. Publications
Nothing to report.

11. Awards/prizes
Mr Alan Baxter, Chairman of the Brick Development Association was awarded the Holland Award in 2010 and was presented with his award at the Bretby Conference.

The Ceramics Society Board feel very strongly that the seemingly common practice of staff within university departments nominating each other for awards should be discouraged and should not be considered unless the nomination is exceptional and has been endorsed by an external referee.

12. Other matters