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It was the USA’s turn to host the annual International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) General Meeting at the end of October 2022. There were many technical committee meetings taking place relevant to GAMBICA including TC17 ‘High-voltage switchgear and Controlgear’ and TC121 ‘Switchgear and Controlgear and their assemblies for low voltage.’

GAMBICA’s Technical Director, Andy Evans, represented TC66 at Advisory Committee on Safety (ACOS), which deals with safety matters which are not specific to one single technical committee (TC) of the IEC. Its task is to guide and coordinate IEC work on safety matters in order to ensure consistency in IEC safety standards.

The Standardisation Management Board (SMB) also met with Ralph Sporer (Germany) as chairman for the last time before Vimal Mahendru (India) takes over for the next meeting in February 2023.

The packed Young Professionals programme was a great success as usual. One of the UK sponsored representatives, Ed Peate, from GAMBICA member Nidec Control Techniques, said: “The IEC YP programme has been an excellent and eye-opening experience, I have heavily endorsed the scheme since returning from San Francisco.

“The biggest takeaway for me was gaining a solid understanding of how the IEC and its national and technical committees all fit together and write the standards that are such a big part of my working life. Despite using standards daily, I did not previously appreciate the complexity of this overall system and it has shed some light on why standards exist in the way they do. 

“I found the Marketing Strategy Boards presentation on SMART Standards to be particularly interesting and was very keen on the idea of machine-readable standards. I look forward to seeing where this goes next.” 

Ed added: “One of the most enjoyable sections of the week was the standard in a day bootcamp, which played out like an IEC version of a murder mystery with everyone taking a specific role such as international manufacturer, government official or regulator. The discussionsthat arose from this were sometimes conflicting, they got quite lively at points which I think stands as testament to the quality of the activity given that no one had any real vested interests in the outcome of the mock standard. 

“I would like to say a massive thank you to GAMBICA for putting me forward for this opportunity as it is not something I will soon forget.”

Jasper Barrett, Rotork YP, said: “The event put into perspective the scale and gravity of the work the IEC does on standardisation and how it effects the design, test and manufacture of products globally. 

“I learnt so much about the creation and management of standards as well as new and emerging technologies, all whilst networking with experts from all around the world. We were privileged to get a ‘look behind the curtains’ and observe meetings of the conformity assessment and standards management boards. This access and experience you simply cannot get anywhere else. 

“I feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity, to meet and network with experts from so many different countries and technical backgrounds. I have made many industry contacts and I am now in the joining process for two committees relating to Environmental Sustainability and Small Modular Nuclear Reactors. 

“I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Rotork, BSI, GAMBICA, BEAMA and AMDEA for sponsoring myself and the UK delegates.”