Innopro directors, Ian McKechnie and Ian Jandrell, recently participated in, and contributed to, the 2nd African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics (ACLE) International Symposium: 'Strategic Interventions to Mitigate the Hazard of Lightning'. Both McKechnie and Jandrell are appointed as Research Advisors to the ACLE.
Participants at the ACLE International Symposium held in Lusaka, Zambia, are:
McKechnie, also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of the Witwatersrand, commented: "It was a pleasure to again have the opportunity to participate in the ACLE activities and to make a meaningful contribution towards lightning safety and protection on the African continent". Having previously also participated in the 1st symposium in 2014 in Entebbe, Uganda, his formal presentation to the symposium this year was on the topic of: 'A strategic and structured approach to effective lightning safety and protection'. He added that Innopro considered the opportunity to make a contribution of their team's specialist expertise and experience, and engineering leadership, in this field to be an important element of their social responsibility in Africa.
Ian Jandrell, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, and CBI-electric Professor of Lightning, at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), noted that the opportunity was also used to initiate links between Wits and the University of Zambia and to start exploring the possibility of joint skills development activities in this space. Jandrell also made a formal presentation to the symposium on the "Physics of lightning".
Held from 11-13 August 2015 in Lusaka, Zambia, the event also saw the launch of the Zambian national ACLE centre. ACLE is a pan-African network dedicated to decreasing deaths, injuries and property damage due to lightning. The symposium and ACLE are supported and facilitated by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Science and Technology Centre, and the NAM S&T director general Prof Dr Arun Kulshreshtha was also present, along with ACLE founding director Prof Mary Ann Cooper. The ACLE is hosted at the Makarere University in Kampala, Uganda.
Enquiries: Ian McKechnie. Tel. 012 663 4804 or email email innopro@gafrica.com
