IoM and IMM Prepare to Launch Merged Organisation

The Interim Council, which has a mandate from the Councils of both theInstitute of Materialsand the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy to look after all matters relating to the impending merger of the two organisations, is making good progress in developing the functional organisation of the new institute, as well as the staff structure and areas of responsibility.

A broadly based Council, the membership of which will reflect the full scope of members' interests, will oversee the activities of the new institute, with the new structure providing links to the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM³) professional activities, technical interest groups and income-generating activities. The Interim Council is currently developing the procedures for the election of Council and Board members. Separate committees dealing with professional qualifications, course accreditation and legislation issues, as well as with regional issues, younger members' activities and interests, and educational issues, will all report to Council through the IoM³Professional Policy Board. The membership of the Professional Policy Board will consist of the Chairmen of these committees.

The institute’s staff will help the committees in the development of their activities, and with networking. Separate working groups will be set up to provide the vital links to other members' areas of interest and feedback on members' needs. The activities and needs of the technician-grade members will be particularly important. One of the key changes in the revised Charter of the new institute allows technician-grade members to receive corporate membership status and designatory letters. Therefore, these members will play an increasing role on the Membership Committee too. The Younger Members Committee has already considerably increased its activities during the past few years - for example, its programme of events on the subject of 'soft skills' has been a welcome and important development.

Enlarging the divisional structure to truly reflect the broad range of members' technical activities will be central to the development of the new institute. This structure, which was described more fully in the information sent to members prior to voting on the merger, is designed to provide enhanced networks for learned society activities in addition to local branch events. In effect, members will be able to become involved in any number of those divisions that deal with their own interest areas, albeit that many of the activities developed by the divisions will be on a national or an international scale. The four new divisions representing the interests of IMM members - Mining Technology, Applied Earth Sciences, Mineral Processing and Petroleum & Drilling Engineering - will provide a starting point for networking with existing IoM divisions and subsidiary working groups. Members of staff will support the chairmen of the divisions. The objective is to ensure that events and activities co-ordinated by local branches and societies are also supported through the divisional structure. Enlarging the divisional structure is also an important step forward in representing and tying together members’ interests throughout the full materials cycle.

新研究所的收入产生活动将在广泛的“通信”旗帜下组合在一起。活动的最重要领域之一是通过研究所出版物，会议和图书馆服务提供有关材料，矿物质和采矿的信息。亚博网站下载所有成员的主要好处是免费访问材料信息服务（MIS），该信息提供电话帮助和现场专家支持。亚博网站下载MIS一直是许多DTI和欧洲材料计划的关键合作伙伴，并且在合并之后，它将保留开发工业会员计划（IAS）的责任。亚博网站下载IAS的成员资格是近200家公司，是英国工程机构中最大的一家公司，这些工业链接将建立在使用MIS和IMM图书馆和信息服务组合提供的实质平台上。

The management of the new institute will be concentrated at three regional centres, in line with the proposals made in the run-up to the merger. These offices will be in London, at 1 Carlton House Terrace, and in South Yorkshire and Stoke-on-Trent. Waverley Park in Rotherham has been chosen as the ideal location for the South Yorkshire office, but owing to delays in the development of this technology park, staff working from the IoM's Sheffield office will instead relocate to the IMM's Doncaster office as an interim measure. Meanwhile, the IMM's London-based library and information service on mining and metallurgy will move to the new institute's headquarters at 1 Carlton House Terrace. All these relocations should be completed by August, and the final staff structure will be in place by the time the Royal Charter is granted by the Privy Council later this month. Full details will be published in the July issue of Materials World.

来自两个机构的所有员工都参与了开发新团队的咨询过程。新研究所的高级工作人员已经被任命，此团队的关键活动和责任在这里显示。从广义上讲，伦敦办公室将专注于通信活动，斯托克办公室将处理会员和财务管理，唐卡斯特办公室将涵盖教育，信息，区域事务和年轻成员的活动。

This issue of Materials World should be considered the starting point from which to develop the members' magazine of the new institute. The aim is to cover a broad spectrum of news and features that mirrors the interests of members, with the magazine's contents being developed during the coming months. If members have any newsworthy items of interest, information on new events and products, or suggestions for articles and features, they are encouraged to get in touch with the newly-appointed editor, Steve Hill.

In preparation for the formal launch of the new body, we are currently working on linking the contents of the two organisations' web sites, arranging a series of launch activities and events, developing a series of information updates for members, and deciding on future IT strategies and professional suppliers/advisers. Members should watch this space for further updates.