Civil Engineering July 2022 | Vol 30 No 6

50 July 2022 Civil Engineering T he CMA is the primary representative of the precast con- crete industry. It initiates standards in close cooperation with SANS and collaborates with its members in devel- oping new products and services. The association’s prime focus is to ensure that its members’ products are applied correctly. A CMA mark serves as a guarantee of quality and the CMA takes responsibility should a problem arise. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER In a meeting of minds, it was felt that a knowledge-based link-up held substantial value for the two entities. Both hold huge reserves of valuable technical information that can be repackaged and aired on electronic and social media platforms. This knowledge transfer would be of considerable benefit to SAICE members, civil engineering practitioners, and CMA producer members alike. Moreover, when presented in the form of webinars or online education formats, participants could earn continuing professional development (CPD) points. The collaboration exercise forms part of SAICE’s Growing Forward campaign and is being facilitated by the SAICE Knowledge Trailblazer Committee, which has a mandate to engage with industry, organisations and key specialists to seek opportunities for the collaboration and sharing of technical knowledge, research and best practice guides. Interaction between the two associations will open chan- nels of communication between the designers who use precast concrete products and the manufacturers who produce them. It will give designers better insight into precast concrete and how it is applied and will help manufacturers to better understand specifiers’ needs and their technical requirements. “The CMA can play an important role in expanding the knowledge base on precast concrete among civil and structural engineers and through this education process it will contribute substantially to the generation of CPD points,” says CMA di- rector and general manager, Henry Cockcroft. “We are able to transfer knowledge which is vital to the correct specification and proper application of precast concrete, knowledge which is generally not covered as part of universities’ undergraduate and tertiary education programmes. Professionals always qualify with gaps in their knowledge base and often lack confidence in translating theory into practice.” Cockcroft believes the CMA can assist in this regard. The organ- isation’s knowledge base on precast concrete has been honed over the past 50 years by highly skilled professionals and is predicated on best- practice field applications and SANS standards. A distillation of this information and hands-on experience can be accessed in the CMA’s technical manuals which cover both SANS specifications as well as installation methodology in almost all precast concrete products. “What is needed now is to make this information accessible to SAICE members as online educational material and in a way which earns participants CPD points. Similarly, SAICE can feed CMA members with information that will result in better engi- neered precast concrete products,” says Cockcroft. “There are many platforms open to us for the execution of this joint initiative. An effective way of presenting the information would be through small interactive chapters that can be accessed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis or at a pace determined by the participant. Releasing information in this way will engender commitment and create a sense of anticipation among participants. Both the CMA and SAICE are internet enabled, so the requisite social media infra- structure already exists. We simply have to make use of it.” The SAICE Knowledge Trailblazer Committee looks forward to further collaboration with the CMA and sharing of knowledge for the betterment of all civil engineering practitioners. Follow and like SAICE and CMA on the links provided below:   facebook.com/SAICECIVIL/   twitter.com/saice_civil   linkedin.com/company/saice   facebook.com/cmanpc   linkedin.com/company/cmasa   youtube.com/channel/UCXJwSNAyQ3zLXf9Jk01e_Mw Prepared by Tauqeer Ahmed – Chairman SAICE Knowledge Trailblazer (KT) Committee Kalaele Molai – KT Committee Member Mapule Lebata – KT Committee Member Riaan Coetzee – KT Committee Member SAICE and the CMA uncover the huge potential of a knowledge-based link-up The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) and the Concrete Manufacturers Association (CMA) have held preliminary talks to explore areas of common interest and opportunities that would stem from collaboration.