Electricity + Control November 2016

COMMENT

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I t has become a tradition for me to write about the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists at this time of year. The event inevitably fills me with immense pride as I see what young people can do. Is there evidence of naiveté? Sure there is! Is there evidence of bad scientific process? Sure there is! Is there evidence of bad reports and data analysis? Sure there is! But make no mistake, most of these young people are far beyond where we were at that age. It is important to understand the role of the profes- sionals interacting with them. One needs to remem- ber that these young scholars have not, in many cases, learned about of the rules of the universe. So they dream up interesting things to investigate. Some of them (perpetual motion springs to mind) are crazy. But let them do it! And, if anyone of them gets something like that to work ... well, wouldn't it be amazing!

The point is, they do not get it to work. And our chal- lenge is to guide them in the understanding of their own findings - without belittling or discouraging them. You learn by doing stuff, finding out on your own. Books are useful – yet nothing compared to the lab. Once the lessons have been learned, you have a budding young scientist. This year had a poignancy to it. I interactedwith these bright youngminds - from all over the country and fromall walks of life - and re- alised how they were genuinely there for each other. I watched groups from far-flung rural areas cheering for their new found friends from top city schools. While it gave me absolute hope for the future, I found myself wondering how, exactly, another burnt bus, or burned library, or looted shop con- tributes to the vision of free, quality, decolonised education for all. I am not able to figure that out yet.

Editor: Wendy Izgorsek

Design & Layout: Adél JvR Bothma

Advertising Managers: Helen Couvaras and Heidi Jandrell

Circulation: Karen Smith

Publisher : Karen Grant

Deputy Publisher : Wilhelm du Plessis

EditorialTechnical Director: Ian Jandrell

Quarter 2 (April - June 2016) Total print circulation: 4 713

I wonder if some of the bright young folk I saw at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists may be able to.

Published monthly by: Crown Publications cc CnrTheunis and Sovereign Sts Bedford Gardens PO Box 140, Bedfordview 2008 Tel. +27 (0) 11 622 4770 Fax: +27 (0) 11 615 6108 e-mail: ec@crown.co.za admin@crown.co.za Website: www.crown.co.za Printed by:Tandym Print

The November edition of Electricity + Control repre- sents the 30 th anniversary of Crown Publications and of this magazine. The magazine was launched, as Electricity SA, in Novem- ber 1986 by Jenny Warwick. Rebranding to the title Elec- tricity + Control happened during 1990 at a time when I was privileged to become involved, initially with Mick Crabtree as co-editor. I also worked with consultant, Dag Hammerschlag. I learned huge amounts from these two in- dividuals who significantly influenced my understanding of the role of ‘engineer’ in the profession.

Three-DAgencies and Teleme- canique (now Schneider Elec- tric). In the past three decades, the economic outlook of our country has shiftedmany times and we are in a particularly tough patch at the moment. But, have no doubt, this will change too, as it always does. I would like to thank our pub- lisher, Karen Grant; deputy editor, Wilhelm du Plessis; editor Wendy Izgorsek; Helen Couvaras and Heidi Jandrell our sales managers; and Adel Bothma our layout artist, for their excellent contributions to Electricity+Control over so many years and to wish them continued success as we tackle the new era ahead!

Thirty years is a long time and I would like to thank our ad- vertisers, our readers and our editorial contributors for the support they have given us for three decades. The landscape has changed, many times, so it means a lot to us that many of our advertisers, those who placed advertisements in the very first issue, are still with us today. These include Aberdare Ca- bles, African Cables (now CBi electric: african cables), ATC (now CBi electric: telecom ca- bles, Asea (now ABB), Hawker Siddeley (now part of the Zest WEG Group), Newelec, Pham- bili Interface (nowVoltex), Fuch (nowCBi-electric: low voltage),

Electricity+Control is supported by:

Ian Jandrell Pr Eng, BSc (Eng) GDE PhD, FSAIEE SMIEEE

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA, IESSA or the Copper Development Association Africa

November ‘16 Electricity+Control

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