1. Introduction

I believe it would be wrong of me to write this report without mentioning the disgusting inhumane attack on the civilians of the USA and humanity in general. The meeting in Houston will be embedded in my mind for ever more as a result, regretfully for all the wrong reasons. This might seem like an unusual introduction for my report but I feel the document would not be complete if I did not mention Tuesday the 11th September 2001. I know I am speaking for all the ISA Ireland members when I say that no words would do justice to the feelings that our members are experiencing as a result of this terrorist attack, and I know that the victims and their immediate families along with our brother members in the USA have our deepest sympathies and condolences, and they will be thought of in all our prayers.

So to my report, well the agenda was as full as ever with some 93 meetings organised. As I had been through the "mill" last year I was well prepared, having taken the agenda list from the Internet before I went to Houston. The meetings as usual were categorised under the following headings.

Conference & Exhibit A&T and I&S Departments/Divisions Publications Department District Vice Presidents Sessions of Overall Interest Web Activities Department

Standards & Practises Committee Society-Level Committees and Task Forces Strategic Planning Department Leader Sessions Professional Development Department

2. Council of Society Delegates Meeting

The Council Meeting was as usual very well organised, the normal voting procedure calls for a show of hands, if the hand vote is deemed unanimous, then the motion is carried or rejected, if there is doubt an electronic vote is called for. This happened with both 2.1 and 2.2, however there was a lot of confusion/fun with 2.1 as the total number of votes in the house was decreasing and increasing. Some delegates were not aware, obviously those who did not attend Parliamentary Voting Procedures Meeting, that if they left the room the Delegate was marked absent and the total vote electronically decreased. There was a lot of confusion at the beginning of the first vote with requests for re-counts. The Parliamentarian re-explained the system and the vote was counted. I have explained this in my report to eliminate any questions re my total figures which will differ between 2.1 and 2.2. The main purpose of business for the Delegates was to vote on the following Bylaw Amendments : (this report only includes a synopsis of the motions)

2.1. The amended bylaw would read " The executive Board, with ratification by the Council of Society Delegates, may increase the annual dues for any class of membership by an amount not exceeding the cumulative percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Department of Labour for the period starting with the effective date of the last dues increase and ending three months before the effective date of the new dues increase." The Executive Board, sought similar approval for two and three year membership. I voted in favour of the motion as it seemed reasonable, however the motion was rejected. Parliamentary procedures dictate that a vote must have a 63% majority, there were 25,275 approved votes in the house, at that time, those in favour of the motion amounted to 15,600 and those against the motion were 9,675, so the motion only had a 61.7% majority and thus failed. The no vote came predominately from District 4 and 7.

2.2. On the 6th June 2001 the ISA Executive Board approved a motion to recommend to the Council of Society Delegates that the Society dues level be increased. So the Delegates had to resolve "that the Council of Society Delegates amend Bylaws Article XVIII, Dues and Assessments, Section 1 as follows :

2.2.0.1. Increase the Member, Senior Member and Fellow from $65 to $72
2.2.0.2. Increase Student member dues from $9 to $10
2.2.0.3. Increase two year membership from $120 to 134
2.2.0.4. Increase three year membership from 170 to 191

These increases would come into effect on January 1 2002. I voted in favour of the aforementioned as it seemed reasonable, due to the fact that the ISA did not have an increase for three years. (with a further view to eliminating any mail from Irish Members, yes the Ireland Section had an increase last year, unfortunately forced upon us, with currency fluctuations). There were 25,622 approved votes in the house, those in favour of the motion amounted to 18,317, with those against standing at 7,305, the vote stood at 72% and the motion carried.

2.3. On the 6th June 2001 the ISA Executive Board approved a motion to recommend to the Council of Society Delegates that the Society implement the recommendations of the MOP Task Force for defining the roles of the Boards of Department and District Vice Presidents. I voted for this and the motion was carried on a show of hands.

2.4. On the 6th June 2001 the ISA Executive Board approved a motion to recommend to the Council of Society Delegates amend bylaws Article XXII, Section 1 to enable ISA to engage in public policy activities. In brief the main purpose for this bylaw change was to enable the Society to engage in public policy discussions and related activities. Such action is just responsible practise that enables the Society to be a good "citizen" in the regions of the world where it operates, and has been an integral part of the activities of many of ISAÕs peer technical societies for many years. There was some discussion and further explanation on this bylaw. I voted for this motion and it was carried on a show of hands.

2.5. I further voted in favour of the following nominees to office


2.5.1. President Elect Secretary : Robert Ives Chicago Section
2.5.2. Vice President Elect Industries & Sciences : Robert Lindeman
2.5.3. Vice President Elect Professional Development : Kim Miller Dunn
2.5.4. Vice President Elect Strategic Planning : Marjorie Widmeyer
2.5.5. DVPÕs: Dawn Mc Kerron Boston Section, Charles Morris Birmingham Section, Dawn Schweitzer Rochester Section, Alberto Cornejo Mexico Central Section, Erwin Icayan Richland Section, John Querido Orange County Section, Michael Murray Sarnia Section.

3. Treasurer Report

Not very good news again this year and the figures speak for themselves :

Heading Income Expenses *Exhib Exp Surplus

YTD Actual 13.3m 11.2m 4.1m (2m)

2001 Forcast 19.9m 19.9m 742k (714k)

2001 Budget 22.5m 21.8m 678k


* The treasurer stated that the Income was exceptionally high for YTD; this was mainly due to extra exhibition income. Included in the aforementioned table for YTD actual is an estimate of 4.1M that is directly related to the exhibition expenses not already included in the expense line.

The board are still very confident and upbeat that they will turn the "tide" and are taking the necessary measures to ensure same.

I attended the Honours and Awards Dinner at which 35 awards were presented to ISA members, the awards were for Distinguished Society Service Award, ISA Fellow, UOP Technology Award, Excellence in Documentation Award, E.G. Bailey Award, Donald P Eckman Education Kermit Award, Kermit Fischer Environmental Award, Albert F Sperry Founder Award, and last but by no means least Honorary Member Award which was presented to Glenn F Harvey retired. The eveningÕs entertainment was provided by the Shangri-Las, a good evening was had by all.

The Image and Membership Committee believe that the ISA have to work harder to increase membership. It is for this reason that they are going to table a motion, I believe at their next meeting in Jacksonville Florida to upgrade the Committee to a Department. This new standing will give them a budget to deliver on the following proposed targets.

Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Members 42,731 42,637 38,421 37,163 36,385 36,700 37,100

% Change -9% -10% -3% -2% 1% 1%

The aforementioned figures will be achieved by the following

• Conduct an effective and ongoing renewal campaign targeted at active and active members
• Conduct a "reclamation" campaign targeted at to past members who have had some activity with the Society in the past 12 months.
• Retain and convert graduating student members to regular members
• Target professionals in discrete industries for membership
• Target professionals in engineering and management services for membership
• Assist non-North American ISA Regions and Districts with the development and implementation of a membership recruitment plan
• Promote and encourage career development and awareness
• Continuously improve the diversity, breadth and quality of ISA's products, services, and internal processes to maximize their effectiveness and value to members and other customers on a global basis.

  So as you can see everybody is going to have to do a lot of extra hard work to promote membership, which is in my opinion the life blood of the society.

Well the District 12 team comprising of 3 Italians and 1 Irishman, have done us proud. They were first in the Practical Section, and second in the "Student Bowl Competition". The SBC is a quick action question and answer session, based on E&I and Science questions. The Irish Student was Kilian Murphy who was a great ambassador for Ireland, and the Irish Student Section, and a credit to his Mentor, Mr. Harvey Makin. All the students did a great job however Kilian was a shining light and contributed greatly to the team's success, which was clearly acknowledged by his team members. The writer accepted Harvey Makin's prize and will be delivering same to him in due course (see picture). Well done to all involved, a special word of thanks to Prof., Alex Bobovitch from St. Petersburg Russia and Prof Orazio Mirabella Italy, who looked after the team in Houston.

The first day of the exhibition was a great success, I did not attend as I planned to be their on the Wednesday. However 16,000+ attended the exhibition on the first day. This was a very significant figure as only 15,000+ in total attended the exhibition in New Orleans in 2000. The exhibition was rightly cancelled on the Wednesday due to the horrific tragedy.

The ISA came to the assistance of the Delegates that were stranded in Houston due to the disaster. In that they paid for the extra accommodation which each Delegate incurred. This obviously relieved the pressure some what, in that the additional expense was not a concern. Well done to all concerned, with a special mention for Molly Rodgers who went to great lengths to ensure that we were all looked after.