SUMMARY PROGRAMME OF EVENTS 2025-2026
All Talks and Meetings will commence at 2.30 pm and be held in the pavilion, Field Place, Worthing, BN13 1NP, unless another venue or time is indicated.
Visitors are welcome to attend all meetings; there is a charge for non members of £5 which includes tea/coffee and biscuits, members and spouses pay £2. To become a member see Membership under About Us.
Timings for visits and outings will be as printed in the detailed description of the activity. Click here for full details…
Coffee mornings take place at 10.30am on the 3rd and the last Thursdays of the month.
Description
| Date | Event | Detail | Place | News Letter Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ||||
| September 16th | AGM and talk by Dr David James: ‘Small Modular Reactors’ | Recent news items suggest that Small Modular Reactors are the future of nuclear power in the UK. But what are they? Why is there a growing interest in their development? What technologies do they use? And when are they likely to be putting power into the grid? This talk hopes to shed some light on to these questions. | ||
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October 14th |
Talk by David Smith: Industrial AI for Autonomous Operation |
The use of AI in Industrial Facilities such as Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Processing and Chemicals is not new; in fact machine learning techniques for monitoring the condition of critical assets (Turbines, Compressors, Boilers) has been around for almost 20 years. Advances in AI techniques, however, such as language models and reinforcement learning bring new possibilities to the way we design, operate and optimise these high integrity facilities to accomplish higher efficiency, lower emissions, greater productivity and autonomy.
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| November 11th | Talk by Clive Kessal: A History of Railway Signalling | Clive will cover the introduction of the European Train Control System in the UK. (Fuller synopsis to follow.) | ||
| December 9th | Talk by Bob Riddaway: Weather to be or not to be | The establishment of a network of telegraphs allowed the collection of weather observations in real time. This led to the issuing of the first public weather forecast in 1861. Since then technological developments and enhanced understanding of atmospheric processes have underpinned the increase in accuracy of weather forecasts. In particular, from the mid-1960s the use of increasingly sophisticated numerical models coupled with an enhanced availability of observations, especially using satellites, have led to modern five-day forecasts being as accurate as one-day forecasts 50 years ago. These developments will be discussed along with how numerical models are used to investigate climate change. Bob Riddaway After gaining a BSc in Physics and PhD in Meteorology from Edinburgh University, he joined the Met Office to do research. He soon found that training and operational meteorology were more to his liking, so his career included being Head of London Weather Centre, Head of Training, Joint Head of Forecasting and Head of Development Resourcing & Technology. Whilst at the Met Office he became involved in the education and training activities of World Meteorological Organization (WMO). After retiring from the Met Office his involvement with WMO continued and he also worked as a consultant at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for ten years. For nearly fifty years Bob Riddaway has been involved in the activities of the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS). These included running various educational activities, helping to establish professional meteorological qualifications and being the founding editor of the journal Meteorological Applications. For eight years he was the RMetS General Secretary and is currently a member of the Accreditation Board. He has also been the President of the European Meteorological Society (a society of meteorological societies). | ||
| December 11th | Christmas Lunch | Findon Manor Hotel (TBC) | ||
| January 8th | ||||
| February 10th | ||||
| March 10th | ||||
| April 14th | ||||