New president of HCVA hails ''The age of the engineer''

10 July 2008

The time is right for HVCA members to emphasise the very positive contribution they make to life in the first decade of the 21st century, according to Gareth Vaughan, president of the Association for 2008/09.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of the Association, Mr Vaughan pointed out that the growing demand for a sustainable built environment – for low and zero-carbon technologies and renewable energy sources – was “contributing hugely to our status as highly qualified professionals, capable of original thinking and genuine innovation. Take also the increasing onus being placed on contractors to ensure that buildings comply with ever-stricter rules and regulations, and ever-higher quality standards.” . And take the increasing involvement of the engineering services sector in the overall design of today’s built environment. These developments mean that we are increasingly being seen as professionals who are expert in the very latest sustainable solutions –and who are capable of designing, installing and maintaining systems that combine maximum performance and energy efficiency with the smallest of carbon footprints and the minimum of damage to the environment.”

He went on to explain that the HVCA was already committed to the development of skills and competences across the sector. “But I believe that the time is also right for us to go one step further – by insisting that the era in which we are living might accurately be described as the ‘Age of the Engineer’,” said the president.

Mr Vaughan is a director of ductwork specialist E Poppleton & Son Ltd, which he joined as an installation assistant, in 1973. Mr Vaughan was chairman of the HVCA North West Region from 1994 to 1996. He has been a member of the HVCA Council, and the Executive Committee of the Association’s Ductwork Group, since 1997. He became president elect of the HVCA in July 2007 and succeeded to the presidency of the Association at its annual general meeting on 10 July 2008.

At the same meeting, Graham Manly of Gratte Brothers Ltd was elected HVCA president elect. Retiring president John Miller, of J H Shouksmith & Sons Ltd, will serve during 2008/09 as immediate past president.