Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the President (Trevor Osborne) and President to be (John Fletcher) of The Institute of Corrosion, otherwise known as ICorr. They have splendid offices set in the University buildings overlooking an expanse of green parkland in the UK Midlands industrial town of Northampton, not known for its natural beauty it has to be said! Anyway I digress.
The reason for our meeting was to finalise the basis of our partnership as we prepare to launch and roll out the Registered Marine Coatings Inspector (RMCI) course and education programme, initially aimed at those involved with inspecting coatings for superyachts. This has been a tricky bit of work to get right. The course programme and syllabus has taken far longer than expected to develop and we are behind schedule. ICorr personnel have contributed to the development of the materials. But finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. Also with a vested interest in this project are ICOMIA, SYBAss and paint manufacturer Akzo Nobel.
So, we are in a position to run our pilot course in early September 2014 at a UK south coast location, comprising a dozen students who will take the week long programme and sit the exam before receiving joint certification by IIMS and ICorr (assuming they pass of course)! As long as we iron out all the bugs during the pilot, further courses will follow soon afterwards.
It was good to meet my counterparts at ICorr and it is pleasing to be working with other like minded organisations who seek to develop the professionalism and capabilities of those engaged in what is a very significant, if niche sector.
Mike Schwarz
