It was a real pleasure to welcome over 100 delegates to the Royal College of Physicians this month. Although we were talking about future opportunities and needs for steel, the Denys Lasdun designed iconic concrete building, and its location, seemed to be appreciated by all. Our guest speaker this year was Chris Barker, from Arup but representing the Steel Piling Group. In addition to providing an insight into where the world of foundations is going, he identified five more general things that we, the steel construction sector, will be seeing by 2030; driverless delivery trucks, site glasses and smart devices with augmented reality, remote control plant and robots, greater competition from low energy and low carbon materials, ever more data being used. SCI speakers presented some ideas we are developing to help address needs that are becoming, or will become, of increasing importance to the sector; robust and effective third party certification for steel products, a way of logging and accessing steel frame elements for future re-use, a website that will provide a way of navigating between the various design codes, standards and guidance that the UK regulatory system enables. The last of these accepts that the question of whether we should continue to use Eurocodes or go back (post-BREXIT) to national standards is irrelevant – the reality is that designers currently use both, and that they will continue to do so. We should therefore facilitate the correct choice.

Our 2018 order book means we currently have an opportunity for one or more principal engineers to join our team. We seek applicants who have good quality degrees and five to ten years of previous experience in the steel construction sector. Because of our role in disseminating information we place a high level of importance on the ability to write clear and concise English as well as the ability to make high quality technical presentations.

For more information see the SCI website

The work of university researchers is assessed under the Research Excellence Framework (REF), with the next assessment due to take place in 2021. Engineering will be represented by a sub-panel as part of this process. As an organisation that has an interest in the conduct, quality and benefits of publicly funded research we would like to see the most appropriate people involved in the assessment, and we are able to nominate sub-panel members. If you would like to be involved in this process then please contact Graham Couchman explaining why you feel you would be an appropriate nominee, noting the deadline of mid-December. More information can be found at www.ref.ac.uk/about/nompan

Three-day Process Safety Course

Bassam Burgan will be presenting part of a three-day process safety course from 30th November to 3rd December 2017 in Guangzhou, China. The course is being held at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of South China University of Technology, a member of the Fire and Blast Information Group (FABIG).

PUREST Project

Nancy Baddoo presented on the PUREST Project at the XI Conference on Steel and Composite Construction Friday 24th Nov 2017, Coimbra, Portugal Read more on PUREST .

Stainless Steel World

Nancy Baddoo was in Maastricht this week, at the Stainless Steel World where she presented twice; on Tuesday her presentation was on ‘Structural Stainless Steel – Capitalising on the Growing Global Market Opportunity’ and Thursday on ‘Recent Developments in International Design Standards for Structural Stainless Steel’

Brittle Fracture: Selection of steel sub-grade to BS EN 1993-1-10 (P419) This guide presents limiting thickness for internal and external steelwork in the UK when fatigue is not a design issue.

Steel Bridge Group: Completion of Appendix 18/1 (p418) This publication provides guidance on the completion of ‘Appendix 18/1’ document to be used in conjunction with the specifications for steelwork issued by Highways England and Network Rail.

Design Manual for Structural Stainless Steel (P413) This new design manual gives design rules for austenitic, duplex and ferritic stainless steels. The rules are aligned to the 2015 amendment of the Eurocode for Structural stainless steel, EN 1993-1-4.

Liz Chamberlain is all set to retire!

Liz, who is known to many of you, joined SCI on 3 December 1990 as our HR and Office Manager. Since joining she has achieved many things for the SCI including; circumnavigating tricky leaseholds, office refurbishments, embassy visas and of course the Annual Dinner! Liz has kept us all on the straight and narrow, ensuring we are in line with ever changing employment law requirements and the smooth day to day running of our Ascot office. Over the last couple of years Liz has taken every opportunity possible to remind us all exactly how many days and minutes she has left before her final day on 8th December 2017. Liz has been part of the fabric of SCI and so as she retires almost 27 years to the day after joining, we wholeheartedly wish her a long and happy retirement. We will definitely all miss her.

Steel firm driving up industry standards

A Dorset steel firm has explained why it is happy to share technical data with clients, the construction industry – and even rival businesses. Poole-based SMD has now published its latest concept design guide that includes design look-up tables for floor decking.

The company that is shaping Britain’s skyline has issued a new White Book, the brainchild of Technical Director Jamie Turner. Available online as an interactive resource and in print format, the SMD publication contains thousands of detailed specifications. It is aimed at structural engineers, architects and anyone looking to use SMD’s products. Jamie said: “Our commitment is very much geared towards driving industry standards higher. We want to be the ‘go to’ place for technical knowledge".

Fusion is first in UK to use Dalux Field app

Fusion Building Systems, an offsite manufacturer of light gauge steel panelised superstructures has become the first company in the UK to use exclusive, interactive site management software developed by Danish company, Dalux.

Already in use on three of its developments in Durham, Leeds and Birmingham, Fusion invested in the Dalux Field app after seeing the unique way in which it enables projects to be managed and snagging issues to be raised and recorded in 3D, whilst on site.

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