Back in London

Now I can bring my blog back up to date with my post recent event which happened last night when Association for Project Safety (APS) President, Richard Habgood, was elected President of the International Safety and Health Construction Co-ordinators Organisation (ISHCCO).

Myself and Karl Grace MCIAT, President Elect, were invited to a reception hosted by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and the President and Directors of the Association for Project Safety (APS) at The Building Centre to celebrate Richard's recent election as the first UK President of the International Safety and Health Construction Co-ordinators Organisation (ISHCCO) for a three year term.

It was great to see Richard again and able to congratulate him in person. It was also good to catch up with other friends within the built environment sector.

Richard and me

All good friends: me, Peter Caplehorn and Karl Grace

AAE 2013 Conference

This month I had a very interesting time at the inaugural conference of the Association of Architectural Educators UK held at Nottingham Trent University.

The aim of the conference was to raise issues in architectural education and bring academics together to resolve problems, pose questions and explore further development in education.

I look forward to the papers being published.

Delegates at the conference

ARB meeting

The other week I had the pleasure of meeting up with Beatrice Fraenkel, Chair at ARB (Architects' Registration Board) and Alison Carr, Chief Executive along with Diane Dale, Practice and Technical Director at CIAT.

It is positive that the two organisations continue to enjoy a relaxed and collaborative relationship which I'm sure will continue.

Beatrice, me, Diane and Alison

United in architecture: Beatrice, me and Alison

LABC Conference

CIAT had the pleasure of supporting the LABC (Local Authority Building Control) Conference which was attended by our President Elect, Karl Grace MCIAT.

I was pleased to join Karl, as a guest of the LABC, at their Dinner on 19 March.

Details about LABC can be found at www.labc.uk.com

Not the best of photos but me and Karl at the Dinner

New membership route and Professional Assessment Panel

I recently had the pleasure of being part of the interview panel for the new Professional Assessment membership route to Chartered Membership - full details can be obtained by emailing membership@ciat.org.uk

It was great to welcome academics from the Republic of Ireland to Chartered Membership of CIAT.

The Professional Assessment Panel - me, Paul Laycock MCIAT and Vice-President Education , Norman Wienand MCIAT

With fellow academics and newly Chartered Members from the Republic of Ireland: (from left) Robin Stubbs, Gordon Chisholm, me and Brian Dempsey

Construction Youth Trusts Duke of Gloucester Young Achievers Scheme

On Wednesday 13 March, I was honoured to be a guest at the Construction Youth Trusts Duke of Gloucester Young Achievers Scheme.

The Duke of Gloucester's Young Achievers Scheme is an opportunity for exceptional young professionals to be commended and celebrated for their achievements.

The event was held in Portland Place and was another demonstration of exceptional young talent in the built environment sector.

It was an opportunity to also see old friends and make new ones

From left: Nick Raynsford MP, Barry Clarke President ICE, me and Graham Watts, CIC Chief Executive

March already?

I haven't been on here much and sorry for not keeping it updated as regularly as I would like. There is so much going on at the moment at the Institute and in my working life that putting finger to keyboard has not been possible.

On Saturday (9 March) I Chaired our first Council meeting of 2013 and it was here that the new route for membership was approved and will be launched on 1 May 2013. If you would like details on this method of qualifying then please contact our Membership Department (membership@ciat.org.uk) who are busy getting everything ready for the route to go live.

If you want to keep up to date with what is happening at CIAT, then please do follow us on Twitter (@ciatechnologist), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CIATechnologist) or join us on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chartered-institute-of-architectural-technologists/1a/b9/4bb).

For members, there is an additional unofficial group on LinkedIn which you may like to also join - search for the CIAT Member Hub. LinkedIn is a great way to network with other members and you can do this through both our official presence and the aforementioned Hub.

I'm always pleased to hear from you with any thoughts or comments so please do email me - president@ciat.org.uk