Big Bird
07-21-2013, 11:33 AM
Hi all,
I wasn't going to start a new thread for this - but it will get lost elsewhere. Please excuse the self-indulgence. Anyway we can use this thread for a bit of planning.
As some of you may know, last year I became the Exec Director of SAE Australasia. This has been quite a dream job in one sense, as I finally get an income from the time I spend on FSAE. The condition is of course, that before the fun FSAE stuff, I’ve got to attend to a few other little things like preparing financial predictions and reports, attending board meetings, planning and running events, dealing with insurance and tax and OH&S and complaints and standards and book sales and staffing issues and rental premises and … umm … there was something else but of course the big question is why I haven’t made FSAE perfect yet.
Anyway, I just wanted to announce that I will soon be standing down from my role as ED, quite a bit sooner than I thought I would be. I’m afraid it is for health reasons, as I have been diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and it has progressed to the point where it is affecting my work performance. It affects people in different ways, and in my case I am beginning to have real trouble with fine motor skills stuff like typing and doing up buttons, and also with some full-body co-ordination activities like synchronized swimming and break-dancing…
OK, so I’m taking the ssip out of myself a bit here, but the PD thing is for real. It also might explain why I haven’t been on these boards much of late, as my ability to type comes in spurts.
Anyway, I’m not here to feel sorry for myself, nor to make anyone out there feel sorry for me either. Down to business.
Firstly, my sincere apologies to those of you who have been inconvenienced as my capabilities have dropped off. There are a few of you who have sent emails that I haven’t responded to yet, or took ages to do so (Mad Tonks, Matty Chapman, Z, to name a few). Also to the USyd guys whose 2012 fuel economy issue was pretty well resolved in March or April or something, but it just needed a few things for me to finalize but I never managed to do so. I promise I will get around to this soon, but I’ve got to get a Board meeting and a newsletter and a journal out of the way first.
So, where to from here. Most of you are on these boards because you love FSAE. That is the reason I’m here too. Best educational program on the planet. I’ve hung around because I continue to learn from it, and because I continue to be impressed by the professionalism and skill and outright maturity of you lot – the competitors. And because it is fun too.
Now, FSAE here in Oz is run by a skeleton staff here at National Office. We are helped immensely by a dedicated band of volunteers from industry and also a few students from our participating unis. FSAE is a great program, is doing well and should continue on for many years to come. But it is linked to the ongoing viability of the SAE Australasian branch itself, and with the automotive manufacturing industry here struggling, we need to remain alert and on guard.
Now there are some very dedicated people both within our circle of friends here on these Boards (I’m thinking of Scott and Kev and Jon and Mad, to name a few), and of course the lead industry people (Rob Chadwick, Adrian Feeney, Mark Morarty, plus many more), who put in great effort at quite often their own expense to run FSAE and to expand its influence. The more people who help out, the more we can do and the better it is for all of us.
Now I do not know who will replace me. I want to stay around and represent you lot, but the final decision is not mine. It is in your best interests to pull together to make the most of your SAE experience.
Firstly, pay up your membership. The student membership fee of $55 is cheap, for the amount of time and energy that goes into serving in has student members. If you got members on your team who have not paid up, gives them a rev. They are cheating all of us.
Secondly, get involved. We have taken on volunteers at the National office, they have done a brilliant job and have come a long way towards securing an engineering career through the contacts they have made in the process. We have a number of big jobs ahead of us, including all of the preparation for this year's event. Come along and join in the fun. All we ask is that you are reliable, able to work under your own initiative, and able to commit at least one day a week. We'll supply the jobs - PM me for details.
Alternatively, form your own volunteer group. For examples, the teams in Queensland have done a brilliant job in recent years building their own SAE community work group. They have taken it on their own initiative to to meet up with noncompeting universities to try to help them back into the competition. They are also putting on their own social events, holding their own design schools, and even leading the charge in resurrecting SAE is Queensland committee. If you've got big ideas about how to make this society better, and you are willing to actually put in the energy to do it, then why not go the whole hog and nominate a position on State committee. Its up to you what to do, so just jump in and make stuff happen.
There is a lot of stuff that I wanted to implement in my time at SAE. Unfortunately I will not get the opportunity now to do it, but I am sincerely hoping that I have set a bit of an example that you don't need to be a 30 year industry veteran to have your say where the society is going.
I've got a bit more to add to this, but it will have to wait until later because it is time to go to bed.
Cheers all,
Geoff
I wasn't going to start a new thread for this - but it will get lost elsewhere. Please excuse the self-indulgence. Anyway we can use this thread for a bit of planning.
As some of you may know, last year I became the Exec Director of SAE Australasia. This has been quite a dream job in one sense, as I finally get an income from the time I spend on FSAE. The condition is of course, that before the fun FSAE stuff, I’ve got to attend to a few other little things like preparing financial predictions and reports, attending board meetings, planning and running events, dealing with insurance and tax and OH&S and complaints and standards and book sales and staffing issues and rental premises and … umm … there was something else but of course the big question is why I haven’t made FSAE perfect yet.
Anyway, I just wanted to announce that I will soon be standing down from my role as ED, quite a bit sooner than I thought I would be. I’m afraid it is for health reasons, as I have been diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease and it has progressed to the point where it is affecting my work performance. It affects people in different ways, and in my case I am beginning to have real trouble with fine motor skills stuff like typing and doing up buttons, and also with some full-body co-ordination activities like synchronized swimming and break-dancing…
OK, so I’m taking the ssip out of myself a bit here, but the PD thing is for real. It also might explain why I haven’t been on these boards much of late, as my ability to type comes in spurts.
Anyway, I’m not here to feel sorry for myself, nor to make anyone out there feel sorry for me either. Down to business.
Firstly, my sincere apologies to those of you who have been inconvenienced as my capabilities have dropped off. There are a few of you who have sent emails that I haven’t responded to yet, or took ages to do so (Mad Tonks, Matty Chapman, Z, to name a few). Also to the USyd guys whose 2012 fuel economy issue was pretty well resolved in March or April or something, but it just needed a few things for me to finalize but I never managed to do so. I promise I will get around to this soon, but I’ve got to get a Board meeting and a newsletter and a journal out of the way first.
So, where to from here. Most of you are on these boards because you love FSAE. That is the reason I’m here too. Best educational program on the planet. I’ve hung around because I continue to learn from it, and because I continue to be impressed by the professionalism and skill and outright maturity of you lot – the competitors. And because it is fun too.
Now, FSAE here in Oz is run by a skeleton staff here at National Office. We are helped immensely by a dedicated band of volunteers from industry and also a few students from our participating unis. FSAE is a great program, is doing well and should continue on for many years to come. But it is linked to the ongoing viability of the SAE Australasian branch itself, and with the automotive manufacturing industry here struggling, we need to remain alert and on guard.
Now there are some very dedicated people both within our circle of friends here on these Boards (I’m thinking of Scott and Kev and Jon and Mad, to name a few), and of course the lead industry people (Rob Chadwick, Adrian Feeney, Mark Morarty, plus many more), who put in great effort at quite often their own expense to run FSAE and to expand its influence. The more people who help out, the more we can do and the better it is for all of us.
Now I do not know who will replace me. I want to stay around and represent you lot, but the final decision is not mine. It is in your best interests to pull together to make the most of your SAE experience.
Firstly, pay up your membership. The student membership fee of $55 is cheap, for the amount of time and energy that goes into serving in has student members. If you got members on your team who have not paid up, gives them a rev. They are cheating all of us.
Secondly, get involved. We have taken on volunteers at the National office, they have done a brilliant job and have come a long way towards securing an engineering career through the contacts they have made in the process. We have a number of big jobs ahead of us, including all of the preparation for this year's event. Come along and join in the fun. All we ask is that you are reliable, able to work under your own initiative, and able to commit at least one day a week. We'll supply the jobs - PM me for details.
Alternatively, form your own volunteer group. For examples, the teams in Queensland have done a brilliant job in recent years building their own SAE community work group. They have taken it on their own initiative to to meet up with noncompeting universities to try to help them back into the competition. They are also putting on their own social events, holding their own design schools, and even leading the charge in resurrecting SAE is Queensland committee. If you've got big ideas about how to make this society better, and you are willing to actually put in the energy to do it, then why not go the whole hog and nominate a position on State committee. Its up to you what to do, so just jump in and make stuff happen.
There is a lot of stuff that I wanted to implement in my time at SAE. Unfortunately I will not get the opportunity now to do it, but I am sincerely hoping that I have set a bit of an example that you don't need to be a 30 year industry veteran to have your say where the society is going.
I've got a bit more to add to this, but it will have to wait until later because it is time to go to bed.
Cheers all,
Geoff