COOPERATION WITH ATSE (AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING)
Printer-friendly versionThe First Joint Science and Technology Committee Meeting between the South African Department of Science and Technology and the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research was held in Cape Town in February 2009. ATSE representatives were included in the Australian delegation. It was agreed that Australia and South Africa would hold joint research and policy workshops over the next two years. Energy was identified as a joint priority topic for attention.
Following on this and the cordial relations between ATSE and SAAE fostered by Fellow Bob St Leger who represented SAAE at various CAETS Convocations, SAAE was approached by ATSE with a proposal for a Joint International Workshop in 2010 in South Africa. Both Australia and South Africa have a high proportion of their generating capacity based on fossil fuels, particularly coal-fired power stations, and are structured around large-scale, energy-intensive mining and primary minerals processing industries. Both countries are exploring alternative technologies that can reduce carbon emissions from stationary electrical power generation. The aim of the Joint Workshop, which is planned to take place in the first half of 2010, is to identify the key strategies that need to be deployed to accelerate the introduction of new technologies for energy generation.
ATSE invited SAAE to participate in the International Workshop “Electricity Generation – Accelerating Technological Change” which was held in Melbourne from 31 March to 2 April 2009. SAAE was represented at this workshop by Fellow Adi Paterson who also presented a paper.