Hello everyone and welcome back to this week’s blog. This is my final post before Christmas and in fact, all of 2017 (desperately trying to contain my excitement!!) so, I hope it’s a good one.
This week I want to fill you all in on Adam Gould’s trip to Berlin where he represented the U.K. on behalf of the BSI Committee WEE/36 for the meeting of CEN/TC 121/SC 4 “Quality management in the field of welding” (anyone as confused as I am?).
The night before the meeting Adam, Code A Weld’s Head of Inspection, caught a flight to Berlin so he could do a little sightseeing and settle in to his hotel. Now anybody who knows Adam will know how very head sure and confident he is, so when I tell you that he accidentally caught the slow overground Berlin train rather than the direct airport express train, well let’s just say, a lot of people would pay good money to see the look on his face the moment his mistake dawned on him; I’m sure a few expletives might have ran through his mind too (#%?!#)!
Finally arriving at his destination, a lot later than planned, he had time to act like most tourists do and grab a German sausage, which apparently was the ‘Best Wurst in Town’ which actually ended up being the worst!
Adam then had time for a little walk around the Berlin Christmas market located next to the famous Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church. Any history buffs out there will know that this was heavily bombed in 1943 and left un-renovated as a reminder of World War 2. Anyway, going back to the market, I’m sad to report that it turned out to be no better than our English versions.
So with the disappointing evening over, it was time to catch some sleep before attending the CEN meeting at the DIN Headquarters, which is Germany’s equivalent to the British Standards Institute. With representatives from 5 countries attending; Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and the UK , it’s fair to say that the talk of Brexit was high on agendas with a few friendly jibes here and there!
With the meeting well underway let’s hear what Adam has to say about being the U.K.s representative…
“Representing Code A Weld at SAFed is a huge personal honour. We have many talented and knowledgeable people at Code A Weld and to be the representative on such a great technical committee is something I never take for granted.
To further represent SAFed at a National level at British Standards Institute Committee WEE/36 is again a great honour. With the financial support from Code A Weld I have worked hard to develop my understanding of standardisation over the past few years and felt that as we near the end of 2017 it was about time I bit the bullet and stepped up for my first taste of CEN meeting life.
I fully expected to be a silent observer on my first meeting, however due to unforeseen circumstances I ended up being the only delegate from the UK. The meeting was a great experience and one I will never forget. It has inspired me to try and reach the academic level of my peers and has also made me appreciate that my journey in the welding world has barely started.”
So with the meeting over you will be pleased to hear that Adam made it back to the U.K. safely and even managed to catch the right train! To let you into a little secret, this isn’t Adam’s first adventure in Berlin and thankfully he did manage to get through this trip without experiencing half of what he did on previous visits, but perhaps I will save that story for another blog!
So that’s it for my final blog of 2017! I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I am also pleased to announce that Code A Weld is open over Christmas and New Year for all your Weld Testing requirements including NDT, Lab Testing & Inspection. If you would like to book then please call 01761 410410.
From myself and everyone at Code A Weld, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.
Auf wiedersehen for now and see you in 2018!
Rachael
01761 410410
office@codeaweld.com
