Scottish Winner of IOM3 Young Persons Lecture Competition UK Final

Hamish Dow from the University of Strathclyde won the UK finals of the Young Persons Lecture Competition organised by the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining and held in London on 8th May 2025.

Hamish's presentation was entitled "Lights, camera, action" and described a new inspection platform for concrete structures that is an automated and robot-mountable concrete visual inspection device which uses lighting and artificial intelligence to detect, classify, quantify, and monitor concrete defects with unprecedented speed, accuracy, and precision.  This new inspection method enables fast, targeted concrete defect repair and monitoring of concrete infrastructure, extending asset lifespans and reducing carbon-intensive new-build construction.

Hamish Dow (far right) is a Research Associate at the University of Strathclyde’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and will now represent the UK in the World Lecture Competition which will be held online on Thursday 27 November 2025 at 12:00 GMT. 

R W Thomson Prestige Lecture

 How can the Mining Sector address its public image?

Presented by 

Andre van den Berg, Chief of Staff at Anglo American plc

on Thursday, 15th May 2025 at 19:00 hours start

at the Larch Lecture Theatre, Nucleus Building, University of Edinburgh King’s Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3FG

Outline

Life as we know it would not be possible without mining.  Look around…. the homes we live in, the vehicles we drive, the infrastructure delivering water and power, and the technology we use to communicate with loved ones…are all enabled by mined minerals.  In addition, macro trends such as urbanisation, decarbonisation, and food security are driving strong future demand for mined minerals.  Surely the Mining Sector should be the benefiting from these healthy fundamentals?  Well…mining ranks amongst the least trusted business sectors, and its license to operate is often under threat.  

Why is that?  Is there a way to address this?  Join us for a conversation with Andre van den Berg, Chief of Staff at Anglo American plc, to explore these questions.   

Speaker profile

Andre van den Berg has been Chief of Staff and Head of the Chief Executive's Office at Anglo American since December 2015. Andre works closely with the Chief Executive in executing the Group’s strategy, with specific accountability for the Corporate Real Estate portfolio. He has fulfilled various senior positions for over 26 years with Anglo American, during which time he has been based in South Africa, Austria and the United Kingdom. His roles have included being accountable for the company’s representative offices in Mozambique, DRC, India, China, and Mongolia as well as being programme leader for the integration of De Beers into Anglo American.

Registration

If you wish to attend, please register your attendance by emailing Angus MacGregor, Honorary Secretary of the Mining Institute of Scotland at mis.secretary@iom3materialscycle.org  with the subject “Annual R W Thomson Lecture”.

Note: The R W Thomson Prestige Lecture is an annual presentation organised by the affiliated societies of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in Scotland. The 2025 lecture is hosted by the Mining Institute Of Scotland. The event is free of charge and open to all with an interest in mining and materials.

Fly-Drive-Sail: Grant Awards for Extra-Mural Activities

 The Scottish Association for Metals has agreed to provide grants to the following student societies:

• SRC Hydrogen Racing, the University of Glasgow's Hydrogen Fuel Racing (HFR) dedicated to the innovation and development of a hydrogen fuel cell powered racing vehicle
• GCU Racing Society, Glasgow Caledonian University’s effort for the Annual Formula Student UK competition
• Strathclyde Marine Robotics Society - building Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASV's) for competitions 
• University of Strathclyde Motorsport, a student motorsport team competing in the global Formula Student initiative.
• University of Strathclyde Eco Vehicle Society, a team that designs, builds, and tests a highly efficient battery powered electric vehicle
• Team Aero-Watt - design, test and manufacture autonomous unmanned aircraft 
• HWRacing, Heriot-Watt University's formula student team
• UGAeronautics - design, build and test remotely controlled aircraft 

• 

The grants are to be used for the following purposes:

• The purchase of engineering materials 
• The cost of shaping, coating or fabricating engineering materials
• The costs of the inspection or testing of fabricated components
• Travel and accommodation costs for society members to attend events away from the home university

Please note that the Association is unfortunately unable to make any further grants available during the academic year 2024/25.  However, it is expected that our grant programmes will re-open in September for the academic year 2025/26.  

SAM Council and Committees 2024/25

COUNCIL 

President:             Dr Tiziana Marrocco

Vice-President:      Prof Brad Wynne

Hon Secretary:      Dr John Wilcox

Hon Treasurer:       Dr Neil Shearer

Council Members:  Dr Tatyana Konkova

                            Dr Peifeng Li

                            Prof Nadimul Faisal

                            Dr Faezeh Shalchy

                            Mr Chibuzor Nwanebu

                            Dr Alireza Valizadeh

Younger member:  Mr Obey Suleyman

INVESTMENT COMMITTEE                    ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Dr Norrie McPherson                                      Dr Tiziana Marrocco

Dr Salah Rahimi                                             Mr Obey Suleyman

Prof Bob Reuben                                            Dr Tatyana Konkova

Dr Neil Shearer                                               Prof Nadimul Faisal

Dr John Wilcox                                               Dr Neil Shearer

                                                                     Dr John Wilcox