The 81st instalment of the IMESA Conference is drawing nearer, with time running out for discounted registration rates.

The theme for the 2017 IMESA Conference is ‘Sustainable engineering: back to basics for the future’, posing the important question, ‘Has technology in design made us forget the basic principles of engineering design?’

The speakers at this year’s event will be announced shortly, following the submission of more than 40 highly informative paper abstracts for consideration.

The IMESA Trade Exhibition has grown steadily over the past 81 years and has become an important feature of the conference, attracting delegates from across the country. For the exhibitors and sponsors, there are benefits in promoting their products and services directly to those people who formulate the recommendations and make the decisions. It also provides an opportunity to network with clients as well as other influential people in the industry.

The majority of the exhibition space at this year’s conference has already been booked, with only about 20 stands left. Sponsorship slots are also filling up fast.

“With all the challenges facing our industry today –  economic, social, environmental or political – we need to adapt and be innovative. This starts with the local authorities, where most of us perform some function to serve our communities. But it goes beyond the government corridors – it stretches into the ideas and solutions for taking municipal engineering into the future as envisaged and created by the engineers in South Africa,” says Gavin Clunnie, IMESA president and chair of the local organising committee.

Strategic partnerships

The South African Local Government Association (Salga) is endorsing this year’s IMESA Conference – a first for the annual event.

This follows on from the long-standing strategic partnership signed between Salga and IMESA in 2011. As part of the partnership, IMESA and Salga have agreed to collaborate on the goals of the partnership until they have achieved these objectives or until the partnership is terminated by mutual agreement.

When: 25 to 27 October 2017

Where: Emperors Palace, Gauteng

For information on the IMESA Conference visit www.imesa.org.za