NCAM Priorities
Initiated by Martin Dwyer’s explanations during the NCAM teleconference at the end of May, we have
discussed which particular priorities of our activities we would like to bring to the attention of EA.
The following three top priorities have been identified:
- Conferences (ACAM, Mechanical Congress)
The triennial Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics (ACAM) is the flagship event of NCAM. A number of activities are closely linked to the Congress, namely Student Awards, AJME Special Issue, Eminent Speaker Tours and Workshops / Short Courses.As an extension to the standard ACAM event we are currently investigating, if there exists some interest within EA’s Learned Groups and external societies and interest groups to organise a Mechanical Congress around 2013.
Suggesting and promoting Eminent Speaker Tours is probably our primary CPD activity. We plan to continue to do this at least at the current level. Possible Eminent Speakers in the next couple of years are one or two of the international keynote speakers from ACAM 6 as well as the AGM Michell Award winners. In addition we plan to become more active in suggesting presentations on the Divisional level, for example of Student Award winners.
Some of the above activities address the committee’s priorities of promoting the area of Applied Mechanics to the engineering community, the general public and current and future engineering students. The committee is keen on further increasing this area through contributing to existing EA educational activities or developing local contacts for example with the John Monash Science School in Victoria and the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
As Martin Dwyer had explained the list above does not preclude other issues and actions, but provides a focus for EA to manage resources better and to offer optimal support to the Colleges, Committees and Panels.
